Attila (rock band)


Attila was an American rock band, most notable for having featured a young Billy Joel as a member. Joel was a member of a band called The Hassles; he and the drummer, Jon Small, broke away from the Hassles and formed Attila in 1969. The instrumentation was organ and drums, with Joel also handling the bass lines with a keyboard, similar to the Doors' Ray Manzarek. Their creative partnership ended in 1970 when Joel ran off with Small's wife, Elizabeth, although this did not end their collaborations, as Small produced Joel's Концерт video as well as the performance.
Their only album, Attila, was released on July 27, 1970. Attila has been selected by AllMusic critics as one of the worst rock albums of all time. Joel himself has gone on record as describing the album as "psychedelic bullshit".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "Attila undoubtedly is the worst album released in the history of rock & roll — hell, the history of recorded music itself. There have been many bad ideas in rock, but none match the colossal stupidity of Attila."
One track from the album, "Amplifier Fire, Part 1," appears on Joel's 2005 boxed set, My Lives.

Track listing

Songs written by Billy Joel and Jon Small.
Side one
  1. "Wonder Woman" — 3:38
  2. "California Flash" — 3:34
  3. "Revenge Is Sweet" — 4:01
  4. "Amplifier Fire " — 7:40
Side two
  1. "Rollin' Home" — 4:55
  2. "Tear This Castle Down" — 5:49
  3. "Holy Moses" — 4:30
  4. "Brain Invasion" — 5:43