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CGK-40996-A2F Kontsert; Russian: Концерт, [kɐnˈt͡sɛrt]; (commonly read as Kohuept or Kohliept, English: Concert), released in 1987, is the second live album by Billy Joel. The album was recorded during the Soviet leg of Joel's 1987 The Bridge tour. This album was co-produced by Jim Boyer and Brian Ruggles and mixed by Jim Boyer. It was rereleased in 2014 with extra tracks as A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia. In 1986 Billy Joel was invited to perform in the Soviet Union the following year, 1987.[2] Joel took advantage of this opportunity to be a musical ambassador.[3] He was seen as a "nice, safe, first attempt at bringing in an American 'pop star.'"[2] The tour of the Soviet Union consisted of six shows, three in Moscow and three in Leningrad. Joel brought his family with him to show the Russians that he felt safe and trusted the Russian people. During the show Joel gave new meanings to songs such as "Honesty". Each time the song was performed, he dedicated the song to Vladimir Vysotsky, because he was an inspirational Russian man who "spoke the truth."[2] During the second of the three concerts performed in Moscow at the Olympic Sports Complex, Joel flipped his electric piano and broke his microphone stand on his grand piano. While performing "Sometimes a Fantasy", the audience kept getting attention from spotlights, which angered Joel as he felt it was making it harder to connect with them, because crowd members on whom lights shone would suddenly become silent and still.[4] He yelled, "Stop lighting the audience!" He then trashed his instruments, overturning his piano and breaking his mic stand; neither he nor the band stopped performing despite this.[4] He later claimed that "People like their privacy. They go to a concert to get that, to be in the dark and do their own thing."[2] Joel brought his daughter Alexa Ray Joel and his wife Christie Brinkley on tour with the band. He also crowd-surfed during his performances. While in Leningrad, Billy dove into the crowd during the performance of "The Longest Time". This was another way for him to show that he trusted the Russian people.[2] Joel had played a tour in Europe prior to the tour in the Soviet Union and was being interviewed during the day. As a result, his voice became hoarse. Joel himself stated that he was disappointed by the album and believed his vocals were not up to par during its production.[5] Despite his opinion, Columbia Records released the album, claiming it was a "historic event". Joel and his band jokingly refer to the album as Kaput.[5] CD. Once he had a decade of uninterrupted multi-platinum albums and had tasted the sweet fruit of the high life Billy Joel decided that it was time for something different -- it was time to get serious. The first hint of this was his celebrated Russian tour in 1987. Not many rock artists had been allowed to tour the U.S.S.R. so this was a big deal. Joel took his task very seriously embracing his role as musical and cultural ambassador from the West and acting solemnly throughout the tour. Besides the temper tantrum where he pushed his piano off stage of course but even that could be seen as a rock & roller taking his message to the people. If you re charitable that is. That defining moment of the tour is captured at the end of Kohuept (sadly it was trimmed for a subsequent CD reissue) a live double-album (single-disc) document of the Russian tour. At the time it may have been a big event and personally it was a turning point for Joel but musically it wasn t much of anything. Supported by an augmented version of his touring band Joel runs through a predictable selection of hits drawing heavily from The Bridge but making sure to hit such favorites as Angry Young Man Honesty Stiletto An Innocent Man Allentown Only the Good Die Young Big Shot and Sometimes a Fantasy. For topicality s sake he adds Back in the U.S.S.R. and The Times They Are A-Changin to his repertoire. All of it is professionally performed but most of it sounds like slicker versions of the original studio takes. Still die-hard fans would want this as a souvenir of a show they were never able to see and perhaps casual fans would want to use this as a de facto greatest-hits collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Rovi.