

At the age of 44, Billy Joel dug deep into his life for one of his most personal albums. On “All About Soul,” he delivers a stirring ode to devotion through thick and thin; on “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel),” he plays a hypnotic piano melody and croons soothing sentiments to his young daughter. The former boxer jabs at a friend’s betrayal on “The Great Wall of China,” then floats like a butterfly with the jubilation, percussion, and gospel-meets-doo-wop harmonies of “The River of Dreams.”