Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol. 1-2 [Enhanced] [Original recording remastered]

Amazon.com essential recording
It's one of the cruel ironies of music today that Billy Joel has been relegated to a kind of adult-contemporary hell, where his legacy is measured by soft-rock staples such as "Just the Way You Are," "Piano Man," and "New York State of Mind." To be sure, well-crafted ballads are a part of his legacy, but they're hardly the whole story, as this collection of his early and mid-period hits amply demonstrates. From the unbridled biographical boasting of "The Entertainer" and the ambitious storytelling of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" to the careening abandon of "Only the Good Die Young" and the thoughtful social commentary of "Allentown," Joel was as complete an artist as the last three decades have produced. --Daniel Durchholz

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol. 1-2,Billy Joel,Sony,Adult Contemporary,Album Rock,Hard Rock,Pop,Pop/Rock,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter,Soft Rock,United States of America

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol. 1-2 [Enhanced] [Original recording remastered]

Average customer rating:

wel,billy i'm 'living here in allentown,and i love it!
Billy Joel - A Decent Compilation
Greatest Hits
WARNING: Not the Complete Versions
I love it

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol. 1-2
Billy Joel
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000DCHI
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

Piano Man
Captain Jack
Entertainer
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
New York State of Mind
Stranger
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Just the Way You Are
Movin' out (Anthony's Song)
Only the Good Die Young

Tracks:

My Life
Big Shot
You May Be Right
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
Don't Ask Me Why
She's Got A Way
Pressure
Allentown
Goodnight Saigon
Tell Her About It
Uptown Girl
The Longest Time
You're Only Human (Second Wind)
The Night Is Still Young

Amazon.com essential recording

It's one of the cruel ironies of music today that Billy Joel has been relegated to a kind of adult-contemporary hell, where his legacy is measured by soft-rock staples such as "Just the Way You Are," "Piano Man," and "New York State of Mind." To be sure, well-crafted ballads are a part of his legacy, but they're hardly the whole story, as this collection of his early and mid-period hits amply demonstrates. From the unbridled biographical boasting of "The Entertainer" and the ambitious storytelling of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" to the careening abandon of "Only the Good Die Young" and the thoughtful social commentary of "Allentown," Joel was as complete an artist as the last three decades have produced. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews:

wel,billy i'm 'living here in allentown,and i love it!.......2007-07-19

billy joel's greatest hit volumes 1&2 has alot of good songs on it. piano man,say goodbye to hollywood,just the way you are,the stranger,movin out(anthony's song),my life(from bussom buddies),it's still rock n'roll to me,allentown,tell her about it,uptown girl,you're only human(second wind),and the night is still young are all good songs. thank you billy, i love the music. ed wilson

Billy Joel - A Decent Compilation.......2007-06-11

These days Billy Joel is often lumped in with Elton John as being remembered only for his top 40 radio hits and mushy ballads from the past several decades. Many people forget that like Elton, Joel put out some really strong albums in his early and mid-career. The guy was a songwriter's songwriter and not only could play a hell of a piano, but could be a very clever lyricist as well. Like Elton, Joel's output could be very inconsistent. For every "Goodnight Saigon" or "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" he wrote more throwaway stuff like "Uptown Girl" or "Tell Her About It". This two disc compilation captures all of his singles and some of his album tracks up to 1985. For the most part the material here is good, as you hear him move from an album oriented artist to a more commercial singles oriented one over the course of a little over a decade. The first disc is the best and starts out with some of the best cuts from his pre-superstar days. "Piano Man", "Captain Jack", "The Entertainer", and "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" are all great tracks and show a much different side of Joel than much of his later output. "The Stranger" is also included here. Although I was never crazy about the music or the chorus to this one, the lyrics are some of Joel's all time best. The rest of disc one starts dipping into Joel's big hit territory with the mush ballads "Just The Way You Are", and "She's Always A Woman" (written for his 1st wife who he would divorce not too many years later). The big hits "Only The Good Die Young" and "Moving Out" are also included. Disc two is not quite as strong. Three strong songs open the disc "My Life", "Big Shot" and "You May Be Right" all decent songs that got played to death on radio. Then it is back to mediocrity land with "It's Still Rock n Roll To Me" (I always think of the Weird Al Yankovic parody "It's Still Billy Joel To Me"), "Don't Ask Me Why", and "She's Got A Way". The best part of this disc is the three tracks from what is in my opinion Joel's strongest album "The Nylon Curtain". For this one Joel took a serious turn and came up with some really great songs. The 3 singles from the album are all represented here and they are all good ones. "Allentown" is a portrait of the Pennsylvania steel town after the industry pretty much pulled out. "Pressure" is another good one about the pressure of modern day life. "Goodnight Saigon" may be Joel's best all time work, and is a striking portrait of the Vietnam War. The last half of the CD covers Joel's Do Wop period with "Uptown Girl", "The Longest Time", and "Tell Her About It" (songs about his second wife whom he would eventually divorce). I am not much of a Do Wop fan so these don't do a lot for me. Two new (at the time) songs close the disc out and are pretty much both throw aways in my opinion. In the end this is a nice compilation of early Joel material. If you are looking for an overview this would be a good pick up.

Greatest Hits.......2007-05-11

Many "Greatest Hits..." albums and sets are lacking or down right suck. This set is great. The songs you want to hear the way you expect to hear them.

WARNING: Not the Complete Versions.......2007-03-31

I don't often get "greatest hits" collections, preferring instead to buy original albums, but in this case I did, because there are a handful of Billy Joel songs I wanted in my collection, but I didn't want to invest enough to purchase all of his albums. Unfortunately, they don't tell you that what you get here, at least in some instances, are the "single" versions of these songs, not the full-length versions from the original albums. Case in point: One of my favorite Billy Joel songs is "Just the Way You Are," but the version on this set cuts an entire verse. I haven't done comparisons on all of the other songs, but if they'd pull that on this song, they probably did so on others as well. It's incomprehensible to me; if someone wants Billy Joel songs, the odds are that they want the complete songs, not truncated re-edits.

I love it.......2007-01-11

I was familiar with a few of Billy Joel's songs, but I thought my disc collection would not be complete if I did not own a good sample of his material.
This product proposes a chronological approach and that suited me just fine. The two discs are loaded with all the classics. All of them wonderfully digitalized. I was able to appreciate the enormous range of Billy Joel. Great songwriter, great singer, great piano player. Although I am drummer, I do understand why people like him, or Sting, or Stevie Wonder, or Elton John, are on top of the music industry food chain. It is truly difficult to be able to master so many areas of music. And I am not talking about the performing, the band leading chores, the musical direction, production, publicity, all these extra skills to own in order to arrive where they are.
Getting one hit out is already a rare feat, but 35 or 40 like the ones presented in this compilation, require a truly great mind (something many one hit wonders wish to have).
I love this compilation. A great buy!

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