Attila (rock band)

Lore & Background

Billy Joel and Jon Small broke away from the Hassles and formed Attila in 1969. The duo's instrumentation consisted of organ and drums, with Joel handling bass lines on a keyboard, similar to the Doors' Ray Manzarek. Their creative partnership ended in 1970 when Joel ran off with Small's wife, Elizabeth, whom he later married. Despite this, Small later produced Joel's 1982 Live From Long Island video, the 1990 Live at Yankee Stadium video, and the 2011 Live at Shea Stadium performance. Small became a music video director for artists such as Run DMC, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, and Travis Tritt.

Their only album, Attila, was released in July 1970. No singles were released, and it did not chart. Joel himself described the album as 'psychedelic bullshit.' He recalled the duo as a heavy metal act that aimed to 'destroy the world with amplification,' with song titles like 'Godzilla,' 'March of the Huns,' and 'Brain Invasion.' Joel noted they had about a dozen gigs and that their loudness drove people out of clubs. The track 'Amplifier Fire (Godzilla)' later appeared on Joel's 2005 box set My Lives.

Reader's Guide

Attila's significance lies primarily in its place as an early, failed project of Billy Joel, who would go on to become one of the best-selling solo artists of all time. The duo's only album has achieved notoriety for its poor reception. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it 'the worst album released in the history of rock & roll—hell, the history of recorded music itself.' Julian Cope described it as 'an extremely entertaining joke that Billy wasn't in on,' though he added that the record still puts him in a good mood. The album's legacy is thus one of infamy, often cited as a curiosity for fans of Joel's later work. The duo's brief existence and the personal drama between Joel and Small add a layer of biographical interest. The album's later use in a 2025 soundtrack shows a minor revival of interest. Overall, Attila is remembered as a footnote in rock history, a cautionary tale of artistic missteps, and a testament to Joel's later artistic growth.

Did You Know?

• Attila's only album was released in July 1970, and did not chart.
• Billy Joel described the album as 'psychedelic bullshit.'
• The duo drove people out of clubs due to their loud amplification.

Formation & Sonic Identity

In 1969, two young musicians from New York City—Billy Joel and Jon Small—split from their previous group, the Hassles, to launch a two-man project called Attila. The duo's setup was deceptively simple on paper: Joel on organ and vocals, Small on drums. Yet Joel also layered in bass lines through his keyboard, evoking the role Ray Manzarek filled in the Doors. What they produced in the rehearsal room and on stage was anything but restrained. Joel later recalled that they considered themselves a heavy metal act intent on obliterating audiences with sheer volume, crafting tracks with titles like "Godzilla," "March of the Huns," and "Brain Invasion." Their road manager, Glenn Evans, reportedly wired the Hammond organ straight into a Marshall amplifier to push the sound even harder. The result was so punishing that, after roughly a dozen club dates, patrons simply walked out. As Joel put it, the crowds would say the show was great but they couldn't stay in the room.

A Fractured Friendship, an Enduring Partnership

The creative engine of Attila sputtered to a halt in 1970 under circumstances no one could have predicted: Joel left with Small's wife, Elizabeth, a relationship that eventually led to marriage. One might expect such a personal rupture to sever all professional ties, yet the two men kept finding reasons to work together decades later. Small went on to direct music videos for a wide range of artists, including Run DMC, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, and Travis Tritt, while simultaneously stepping behind the camera for Joel's own visual projects. He produced the 1982 Live From Long Island video, the 1990 Live at Yankee Stadium video, and the 2011 Live at Shea Stadium performance. The fact that a former bandmate whose wife had been taken could still be trusted to shape the visual identity of a superstar's live recordings speaks to a professional respect that outlasted the personal betrayal. Small passed away in 2026, closing a chapter that had begun in a smoky New York club in the late sixties.

A One-Album Legacy and Polarized Verdicts

Attila's sole studio record, simply titled Attila, hit shelves on July 27, 1970, and vanished almost immediately from the commercial landscape—no singles were cut, and the album never charted. Joel himself dismissed the record as "psychedelic bullshit," a label that stuck with it through the decades. The eight tracks, all co-written by Joel (credited as William Joel) and Small, ranged from the three-and-a-half-minute pop of "Wonder Woman" to the seven-minute, two-part epic "Amplifier Fire," which split into "Godzilla" and "March of the Huns." Critical reception was, to put it mildly, brutal. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine declared it the worst album in the entire history of recorded music, calling it a monument to "colossal stupidity." Julian Cope offered a more playful take, describing it as "an extremely entertaining joke that Billy wasn't in on," while admitting the record still lifted his mood. Production credit went to Joel, Small, and Irwin Mazur.

Echoes in Later Decades

Though Attila existed for barely a year and produced a single, uncharted album, fragments of that early period kept resurfacing in Joel's catalog and in popular culture. The first movement of "Amplifier Fire," subtitled "Godzilla," found a second life on the 2005 box set My Lives, allowing a new generation of listeners to hear the raw, organ-driven fury that preceded the piano-bar era. In 2025, two more tracks from the original album—"Wonder Woman" and "Holy Moses"—were licensed for the soundtrack of the film And So It Goes, reintroducing the duo's work to movie audiences. Joel has used the Attila chapter to push back against the narrow narrative that he emerged fully formed from a honky-tonk piano stool. "A lot of people think I just came out of the piano bar," he has noted, reminding listeners that he spent a stretch making deliberately over-the-top, volume-maximized rock that scared club patrons into fleeing. The band's brief, loud existence remains a useful counterweight to the polished image of the man who would go on to fill Yankee Stadium.

Gallery