This two CD set gives us an incredible assortment of Billy Joel's greatest hits. The sound quality is excellent and the songs collected here couldn't be better. A few hits including "Honesty" are missing, but overall this remains a set of CDs in which every song is a classic Billy Joel number.

In fact, there are so many huge hits on the two CDs that I scarcely know where to start! There are many terrific ballads. "Piano Man" has a great arrangement for piano and harmonica; and Billy never sounded better. "Captain Jack" rocks really well and Billy sings this without a flaw. "New York State Of Mind" always moves me with its stunning beauty; what a homage to New York, capital of the world! Billy delivers "New York State Of Mind" without a superfluous note and his piano playing lacks nothing, either--it's all THAT good.

"Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" isn't on The Essential Billy Joel two CD set; and this is perhaps one of Billy Joel's finest numbers ever. The piano and horn work wonders for this ballad. "Just The Way You Are" is a touching love ballad with Billy, the piano, the horn and some excellent subtle backup vocals." "Movin' out (Anthony's Song)" is an excellent, gritty song about life for so many of us which only Billy could do as well as he does it here. "Only The Good Die Young" is equally stellar.

I especially like "You May Be Right" and "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me;" these classic Billy Joel hits sound every bit as good today as they did all those years ago. "Tell Her About It" is an example of Billy performing `80s pop music; and listen for "Uptown Girl" to continue this flavor. One last song that can't be left out is "You're Only Human (Second Wind);" this great song about learning from "your accidents" tells it like it is about life happening while you're planning something else and how you can learn from your mistakes.

The liner notes came in a cool booklet with some great artwork.

Overall, although not every last Billy Joel hit is here (for example, "Honesty" is missing), this would be still a solid two CD set of Billy's great hits. This is best for the casual fan who wants to avoid the expense of buying every individual album; but diehard Billy Joel fans may well want this in their collections as well.

Thank you, Billy!

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

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.

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.

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 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!

The first time I witnessed Billy Joel was on Saturday Night Live in 1978 performing "Just the Way You Are." And being it was the first time I saw the show and Billy Joel, it caught me by surprise when I found out his performance was not one of the skits. A group of us were trying to predict the punchline during the song and we all agreed halfway through that the camera was going to pan out and B.J. would be wearing no pants as the lyrics seemed to be a sardonic ode to self pleasure. To our surprise, the song ended and they cut to commercial. We still thought we were being put-on, but after watching the rest of the show and seeing B.J. perform "Only the Good Die Young," we realized this was truly the day the music died. As B.J., the disco era and new wave would give way to 30 years of complacency in popular music, with the occasional breath of fresh air like The Clash or The Talking Heads mixed in to keep us living in reality grounded, music would never again see the rush that produced the likes of Hendrix, Zappa, The Band, the Exile-era Stones, the Stooges and all the other bands that embody the true spirit of rock and roll just 10 years earlier. Do people actually get inspired or feel the passion by listening to "Uptown Girl?" If you ask me, Tom Petty got it right when he sand about an "American Girl." Or do his fans not feel the downer vibe every time "Piano Man" gets played at a bar? That song is second only in the instant depression category to "Desperado" in my opinion. And to this day I always wonder every time I hear "My Life," and listen to the lyrics, I wonder how B.J. now applies what he wrote than to his current episodes, such as the numerous occasions he crashed his car into trees, houses, and fire-hydrants with the only reasonable explanation for his behavior that comes to mind was our prediction that Mr. Joel was wearing no pants at the end of the SNL skit. Just about every musician in the history of rock has had substance abuse problems, and B.J. seems to be one of the only ones that couldn't handle the rock and roll load and got himself into these embarrassingly townie-bar-esque escapades. Skip the B.J. experience and rock just as hard as this music by buying a pair of tight stonewash Bugle Boys instead...

I bought this never having problems from Amazon.com before. They did not state that this was a Sony product and when I received it, all the CD had on it was a root kit virus. It would not even play in my CD player. When I tried to read the CD to copy and burn the "WAV" files to a new CD so I could just listen to the music, all there were on the CD was executables and no sound files.

Sony is very poor quality now and I do not want to buy it again.

I like this compilation, it has all of Billy Joel's important hits, dring the 70's-early 80's. I think the songs were well selected, just one complaint I would have is that "Sometimes A Fantasy" wasn't included, I really loved that song, when it was popular. As for this time period, you won't find a better representation. Highly recommended.

This is a good Billy Joel hits collection although there are a few songs not on this album, namely a couple of songs from
'An Innocent man" (including the title song- this would later be featured on greatest hits volume 3 along with "Keeping the Faith") and "Honesty" from "52nd Street" (although I have a copy of this album on cassette at home which I bought in about 1988 which includes this song- I'm from down under)

The two additional songs "You're only human (second wind) and
"The night is still young" are fabulous songs too.

A good representation of Billy Joel's career from 1974-1985

Why on earth would anyone purchase this anthology when these tracks can be heard anytime for free by riding the elevators of office buildings, nodding off in airport lounges, or waiting in the checkout line at Wal-Mart? Billy Joel is the gold standard of adult contemporary schmaltz; he pumps out the sludge by which all other sludge is measured. Small wonder; his gift for writing hooks is amazing, he sings on-key without being interesting to listen to (which would be distracting), his ballads are so insipid that they're certain to offend no one, and his up-tempo numbers bear an eerie resemblance to rock without actually containing any of the bite or irreverence that are the hallmarks of real rock.

As for his lyrics, he is not the poet laureate of shopping malls for no reason. Though he occasionally stumbles over content in his songwriting efforts, as he did in Allentown, he is far more at home in the woozy and comfortable world of words that, devoid of meaning, can roll smoothly from the tongue, scamper along the piano keys, and jump quickly into the cash register where they belong. Examples abound but, has there ever been a song with less of a rock sensibility than Still Rock And Roll To Me? It is pointless to deny Billy Joel's gift and his skill, he has demonstrated time and time again that his instincts for rising to the middle are infallible. Many people have found pleasure in what he's produced over the years. Awful music and wonderful music could not exist without music that is profoundly mediocre, songs that serenade the middlebrow. That is Billy Joel land, the middle of the dial. If he has any value at all, which is questionable, it is that he defines mediocrity and has made a science of it.

Another "WEASEL OF ROME" review 4 my fellow gamers looking for some music. P.S. I'm using my mom's name on her computer.

This is a Billy Joel Masterpiece collection! Ignore the 2 star review! No discs scratch easily or skip! I love every song (My 3 favorites being Allentown, [I'm from PA],Goodnight Saigon, and Captain Jack [don't get any ideas, I'm clean]! This review is not byass, it's TRUE!

I LOVE BILLY JOEL!!!! HE ROCKS!!!! IF I COULD GIVE THIS ALBUM A MILLION STARS I WOULD!!!! I LOVE THAT SONG UPTOWN GIRL! Oh, that Uptown Girl! And her crazy whitebread world! You rule, Uptown Girl! I also love Scenes from an Italian Restaurant! I especially love listening to it on the way to the multiplex after having eaten at Olive Garden!!! I love Olive Garden! I love multiplexes, too, especially the ones that play all the commercials before Harry Potter comes on! I love Harry Potter! I love commercials!!!! You know what? One time, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" was playing when I WAS IN AN OLIVE GARDEN!!! Isn't that crazy! Cuz Olive Garden is a genuine Italian restaurant! My girlfriend thought it was crazy, too! We don't date anymore! She dumped me for some other guy!!! And so I burned all my Bill Joel albums!!!! But! I'm dating now and am buying my Billy Joel albums all over again. I'm starting with this one! I can't wait to hear Piano Man! And I can't wait for Steppin Out to come to my local theater. That day will be the greatest day of my life!!!! You're the tops, BJ! :) :)

Billy Joel's "Greatest Hits Vol. 1-2" showcases what I believe to be the best part of his career. It is during this time that he released such classics as "Piano Man", "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", "Uptown Girl", "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me", "Big Shot", and "You May Be Right", in addition to others. Billy Joel is one of the greatest musicians and songwriters ever and this compilation is a good representation of some of his finest work.

Thanks again for putting your tiles on the line I have just completed downloading it . I reckon it is great when you get it for nicks. i am now sitting back in my chair with my long flowing skirt on listening to the album. Fantastic

Talk about your old time rock & roll! This CD is great for singing really loud in your car!

Let's be brutally honest for a moment. This music is very cheesy. More specifically, its melodramatic, sentimental, and irritatingly precious. Worse still are Joel's pretensions toward poetry and his tendency to lionize his own artistic talents. As easily as these melodies can lull the listener into a stupified ersatz bliss, they can just as easily dull the ear to much more challenging forms (eg jazz or classical). This is the worst kind of commodified, commercialized cheese, spewed forth not by some faceless record company (that would be forgivable) but by the singer/songwriter himself! Billy Joel succesfully did to rock and roll what twinkie did to foodstuffs, what the A-team did to theater and what Vanila Ice did to hip hop. If Billy Joel is languishing in some "Hell" of adult soft-rock contemporary music as the official review states, then its a self-imposed exile by one of that bleak wind-blown plane's arch demons himself.

I was just noticing the tracklisting Amazon put out. I could've sworn "She's Always A Woman" was on this Greatest Hits Package.

Am I correct?

With a 14 year career and 10 studio albums under his belt, Billy Joel was long overdue for a greatest hits album. At the same time, Billy Joel had established himself as premier act in the music industry. With his 1985 release "Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II", Billy Joel delivers a 2 CD set that takes his "top hits" from his previous albums. In addition, Billy adds two "new songs" ("You're Only Human" and "The Night is Still Young") - both are of the high caliber quality of music that his fans have become accustomed to. Overall, there may be some minor quirks, but this is a solid set of Billy's work

I look at Billy Joel's career as having three phases. The first phase is what I call "Old Billy Joel". This basically includes all of his material from "Cold Spring Harbor" through "Turnstiles". These are perhaps the strongest days as the piano sound, but they also contain most of Joel's least heard material. The next phase is what I call "Middle Billy Joel". This was his most successful period and covers from "The Stranger" to "Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II". Joel would go through a transition during this phase - expanding his musical horizons and exploring different avenues. The final phase is the "Later Billy Joel" phase - this covers "The Bridge" to "River of Dreams". "Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II covers the two phases - "Old Billy Joel and "Middle Billy Joel".

As mentioned above, this collection focuses on Billy's "top hits". With a few exceptions, this focuses on the songs that were the most commercially successful singles from his studio albums. As a result, some songs that are considered "Billy Joel Classics" are not on here. The most notable songs that are missing are: "Angry Young Man", "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)", "Vienna", "Honesty", "Stiletto", "Sometimes a Fantasy", "All For Leyna", "Laura", "Leave a Tender Moment Alone", and "An Innocent Man" (this song was included on a a later release "Volume 3"). In fairness, there are still 25 songs included over 2 CDs - so there is a lot of music and I can understand not being able to fit these songs. In fairness, I wouldn't have dropped any of the 25 songs that were included.

It is important to understand that there are two versions of "Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II". The original release included edited (i.e. shortened) versions of several tracks from their original studio albums. These tracks include: "The Stranger", "Just the Way You Are", "My Life", "Big Shot", and "Pressure". This original release also includes two live versions of older songs taken from "Songs From the Attic" ("She's Got a Way" and "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"). There was a remastered edition that was released in 1998. The nice thing is that these include the full versions of the edited songs as they were on their original studio albums. As for the live songs, they have been replaced with the studio versions ("She's Got a Way" from "Cold Spring Harbor" and "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" from "Turnstiles"). Although I like having the live versions, I much prefer having full versions of songs to edited versions (I have no use for any song that is shortened from its original form), therefore I would advise getting the remastered version.

In addition to "Greatest Hits Volume I and II", there are several other compilations available. In 1997 Billy would release "Greatest Hits Volume III" that would include songs from the "Later Billy Joel" phase plus "An Innocent Man" and "Keeping the Faith" ("Middle Billy Joel songs). Billy would release a boxed set called "Billy Joel: Complete Hits Collection" that includes the remastered version of "Greatest Hits Volume I and II", "Greatest Hits Volume 3", and a fourth disk that includes outtakes and live versions from a College Tour he did. In 2001, Billy Joel would release anothe two disc collection entitled "The Essential Billy Joel". This collection does include some songs missing from "Greatest Hits Volume I and II" (i.e. "Miami 2017", Honesty", and "Leave a Tender Moment Alone"), however that collection is missing "The Stranger", "Pressure", and "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant". Despite the inclusion of some of the missing songs on "Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II", I would avoid "The Essential Billy Joel" Overall, my first choice would be to go the Boxed Set collection, but if you want to focus on just Phases 1 and 2, then get the remastered "Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II".

One thing that I like about "Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II" is that the collection is in chronological order of when the songs are released - for the most part. There are some minor quirks with this: "She's Got a Way" was really from Billy's first album, so it should be the first song - however it is included just before "The Nylon Curtain" tracks because the original version of this collection had the live version from "Songs From the Attic". On the other hand, on the original version of the collection, they include the "Songs From the Attic" version of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" with the "Turnstiles" songs (they do get this right on the remastered release). By having songs in chronological order, it allows me to see how the artist progresses and changes over time.

My version of the collection came in a "double CD case" with a nice booklet. In an unusual move for a Greatest Hits collection - all of the lyrics are included. The musician and production credits are included only for the new songs. Overall, this is a great place to get those "Phase 1 and 2" Billy Joel "Hits" in one place. I'd still recommend trying for the Boxed Set, but if not - the remastered version is the next best thing.

Billy Joel has always made great music throughout his 30 year career. But undoubtedly his best material, both commerically and creatively, were his first 10 years (1975-85). 1985's "Greatest Hits Volume 1 & Volume II". You can't go wrong with two discs from this amzing period in Billy's career, when he was at the top of his game.

Basically what you get on these two discs are all of Billy's big hit singles up to 1985, including "Piano Man", "Just The Way You Are", "My Life", "You May Be Right", "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me", "Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl" . Also you get some of his best album tracks as well, including "Captain Jack", "The Entertainer", "New York State Of The Mind", "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" and "The Stranger". All of these songs are excellent rock and pop numbers that deserve the praise they so often get. When this collection was first released in 1985, two new songs, "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "The Night Is Still Young", were inclued and became singles, with the former song going to number nine on the charts, becoming Billy's eighth top 10 single in 10 years.

This is an amazing compilation of Billy's best songs. You can also pick up volume three, which has some great music on it. But please get this one. You will not be sorry.

For me, Billy Joel wrote most of his best tunes in the time period during which this two-disc collection of his first two volumes of GREATEST HITS covers. I've always been a big admirer of his '70s hits, and most of my personal favorites are here, including "New York State of Mind", "The Stranger", "Just the Way You Are", and especially his great "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant". I've never found his '80s or '90s hits to be quite as consistently terrific (personally, I find "We Didn't Start the Fire" kinda overrated), but at least this collection has perhaps one of the best of his later hits, the ambitious and moving "Allentown".

So I give this set five stars, and yet I am bothered by one thing about this release: why on Earth does this GREATEST HITS collection contain slightly edited versions of both "Just the Way You Are" and "My Life"? "Just the Way You Are" starts fading out about twenty seconds sooner than it did in its original release in THE STRANGER, and there is a brief but unmistakable edit of a few bars towards the end of "My Life". Some may see this as niggling, but I am still rather bothered by the reasoning behind releasing cut versions of two very good pop hits.

I would also be remiss not to mention the two songs written expressly for GREATEST HITS VOL. II, "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "The Night is Still Young". Neither of them really match the highs of his best work, but they are enjoyable nevertheless. (I prefer the lyricism of "Night".) Certainly, neither of them is enough to undermine a recommendation for this good collection of some true songwriting classics from Billy Joel in his prime.

The New York born Billy Joel is one of the most talented singer-songwriters to come out in history. Never a critics favorite, Joel has always been a radio staple, making his way to FM classic rock stations, album rock stations, top 40 stations, and unfortunately adult contemporary hell, which is where he is spinning today. The former boxer uses articulate storytelling with Tin Pan Alley characteristics to make his music popular, and it has been for over 30 years.

Greatest Hits Volumes 1-2 focuses on Joels hitmaking period: 1973-1985. The album opens up with the biographically "Piano Man", the ideal choice to open up with. The first disc spans 1973 to 1977, while the second disc features 1978 to 1985. The discs feature hard rock ("Captain Jack", "Big Shot", "You May be Right", etc.), storytelling ("My Life", "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"), new wave ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"), doo-wop ("Uptown Girl", "The Longest Time) and romantic piano ballads ("Just The Way you Are", "Shes Got a Way", "Shes Always a Women). Most of his hit singles and popular album tracks are included. Also included are two new songs "You're Only Human" and "The Night is Still Young", which are also hits in themselves.

Two things that detract from this collection. One, some earlier hit tracks are MIA ("Honesty", "Sometimes a Fantasy", "Miami 2017".) Two, "An Innocent Man", his 1983 release, is partially represented, but also missing some key tracks as well ("Keeping the Faith", "Leave a Tender Moment Alone", and the title track.) Two of these are included later in Greatest Hits 3, but they should have all been together to make it more cohesive. However, there are enough key songs and good listening music to make these two points forgiveable.

If you want to listen to one of the greatest sing-songwriters at his peak, or if you just want to listen to some of the finest crafted music in history, this is the CD to pick up. It's one of the few CD's, along with Michael Jacksons "Thriller" and Bruce Springsteens "Born in the USA" that I can listen to from beginning to end. Joel might not be releasing anymore new music as he has shifted his focus to classical music and compositions, but he still tours, and is one of the best concerts to go see. This edition also includes the studio version of "New York State of Mind" and the longer unedited album versions of "The Stranger", "Pressure", "Just the Way You Are", and "My Life".

The "enhanced" audio CD sucks. To listen to the music, it is necessary to load "Apple Quicktime" from the CD to your computer. It is not possible to load the CD into a computer and simply listen to the music. I wanted music on my computer, not clutter on my hard drive. Avoid buying the "enhanced" versions of Sony music CDs unless you want a lot of hassle.

Just buy it because you know all of the songs and can make your husband crazy singing them all out of tune in the car...

Billy Joel inspired my about 4 years ago at a young age of 17. My physics teacher would put him on during class and after a short time of listening I came to realize that Billy Joel is great. It is stereotypical to say that Billy Joel is not for the younger generation but anyone, no matter what age, who has an appreciation for good music would love Billy Joel. I am just about to turn 22 and graduate from college and Billy Joel is still cranked in my car and junky little apartment.

From the humble start that he had, I must admit the BILLY JOEL has become one (if not the only one) of the best musical talents to date.

Being in the early part of my 30's now, I think back and wonder "Has it been that long!!!!" since the first time I heard "An Innocent Man"... The Song, Lyrics & The Man have developted so much... CAN HE GET ANY BETTER...

I leave it to you to decide.

One of my favorite Billy Joel albums has been his Greatest Hits: Volume I & Volume II. I was given the cassette version for my birthday in 1986 -- at one of my last really big birthday bashes when I reached the advanced age of 23. I played that cassette to death -- literally -- and it served as a morale booster when romances soured, deadlines loomed (I was a student journalist at the time) or went overseas to study Spanish in Seville, Spain.

Fortunately, shortly before that much-listened-to cassette went to the Big Walkman in the Sky I was given my first stereo system with a CD component, and one of my first purchases was this 2-disc set of 25 of Joel's most popular songs. Starting with 1973's "Piano Man" and concluding with "The Night is Still Young," this collection shows the many faces of Joel (the musician).

I was still new to the whole CD technology thing and had not really looked at the song list on the back cover, so there were quite a few surprises in store for me when I first played disc 1 on my CD player. I had, obviously, played the cassette so many times that I knew what songs would play and how long they were, so when I heard "Piano Man" fade out, I expected to hear "Say Goodbye to Hollywood." Instead, I heard "Captain Jack" (a morbidly ironic ode to the decadence of the rich, spoiled and unhappy young men) and "The Entertainer" (a very upbeat yet ironic song about the lifestyle of a rock singer). I was also pleasantly surprised by the song-within-a-song of "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," with its reflective prologue and epilogue serving as musical bookends for what Joel calls "The Ballad of Brenda and Eddie."

Another happy discovery was that disc 1 contains the complete rendition of "Just The Way You Are," which on the cassette was truncated.

The second CD had fewer surprises, since the play list was almost identical to the cassette edition. The only differences were the inclusion of a "live' rendition of Joel's beautiful ballad "She's Got A Way" and a full rendition of "Pressure." Other than that, all the songs I had memorized and sometimes sang along to ("Goodnight Saigon," "Uptown Girl," "For The Longest Time" and "Tell Her About It") were where my ears and mind expected them to be.

This album has been re-released, tweaked and repackaged a few times. Not only have the two discs been included in the 4-CD Greatest Hits Limited Edition box set, but also they have been digitally remastered and placed in a smaller "slimline" jewel box (which I hate). The late 1990s re-issue boasts not only 24-bit digital remastering but also CD Extra videos designed to work with personal computers using Windows 95/98 or better operating systems.

If you are a dedicated Joel fan, you probably either own this or need no urging from me to purchase this album. But for new listeners who have yet to discover the many styles and moods of one of America's best pop/rock songwriter/performers, this set is definitely worth listening to. If the 4-disc box set is out of stock (as it sometimes is) or too expensive, buy this along with his 1997 Greatest Hits Volume III 1-disc album.

Here is a two-disc collection,like the LP,of Billy Joel's compositions. This set released in 1985,contains two original tracks,YOU'RE ONLY HUMAN(SECOND WIND) and THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG. The earliest songs are from 1973's PIANO MAN. They are the title track and CAPTAIN JACK. The latter song is not on the LP. From 1974's STREETLIFE SERENADE is THE ENTERTAINER. NEW YORK STATE OF MIND is slightly different,instrumentally,from the TURNSTILES version. Also from TURNSTILES is SAY GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD but the live version from SONGS IN THE ATTIC is on Disc 1 of this album which covers 1973 to 1977. It should have belonged on Disc 2 which covers 1978 to 1985. SONGS IN THE ATTIC was recorded in 1980,released in '81. Six on the nine songs from 1977's THE STRANGER,which went platinum,are on Disc 1. They are the title track,MOVIN' OUT(ANTHONY'S SONG),JUST THE WAY YOU ARE(a beautiful jazz style love ballad),SCENES FROM AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT,ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG and another love ballad,SHE'S ALWAYS A WOMAN. Now for Disc 2:It begins with MY LIFE,then BIG SHOT from 1978's 52ND STREET,which went platinum also. From 1980's GLASS HOUSES are YOU MAY BE RIGHT,IT'S STILL ROCK AND ROLL TO ME and the contemporary DON'T ASK ME WHY. That album was a million-seller also. SHE'S GOT A WAY was appropriately placed on Disc 2. This is a live version from 1981's SONGS IN THE ATTIC which became a hit that year like the live version of SAY GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD that same year. SHE'S GOT A WAY was recorded ten years earlier for Billy's debut album COLD SPRING HARBOR,which there are no tracks from that album on this collection. From 1982's THE NYLON CURTAIN are ALLENTOWN,GOODNIGHT SAIGON and PRESSURE. In 1983,Billy had another million-seller,AN INNOCENT MAN. From that album are TELL HER ABOUT IT,UPTOWN GIRL and THE LONGEST TIME. Then there are the two original tracks.

This Greatest Hits CD is great. When it first came out on tape, I could listen to the entire tape and there was not a song that I didn't like. When the CD came out and I bought that, though, it wsan't quite as good. On the CD it has the original recording of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," but on the tape it has the "live" version, which is much better. The tape also has a version of "New York State of Mind" which is much better than the one on the CD because it is dominated by Joel's lyrics and piano instead of the CD version which has a crazy sax player who plays a tune that does not go with the rest of the song. The CD has some really subpar songs such as "The Entertainer," "Captain Jack," and "She's got a Way." There is one good song that isn't on the tape and that is "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." Unfortunately, I can't find the tape version anywhere, on tape now or on CD. (The tapes now have the CD version.)Highlights on this CD include "Movin' Out," "Allentown," "Only the Good Die Young," and "While the Night is Still Young." If you can find the tape, you have to buy it, but until you find it, this is your best bet.

It has all hsi hits and shows him through the years. I think he was never as good after 1983, pop songs like You're only human and THe night is still young aean't worht hearing, really, but THe longest time I think is one great song as is It's still rnr to me, YOu may be right, Honesty, I love you jsut the way you are, Piano man, the entertainer, Allentown. All his best. AS I have mentioned on "the bridge" He never does all that much on the paino, it's sort of an accompaniment instrument. He should do more soloing on it. But thsi is good music, nonetheless

On one hand, this is a pretty straightfoward compilation of the Piano Man's radio hits. Yet, as you listen to it, a story of its own begins to emerge, full of emotion, and very much tied together under all the songs on this two disc set. This collection proves that Joel is far more than just some soft piano balladier, but that he is first and foremost a rocker who can craft songs full of meaning, emotion, social commentary, and meaning. Definately the place to start for all new Billy Joel fans.

The first CD in this set has something called Sony Music "CD Extra". This is a multimedia program that includes videos, etc. It will also install AOL software on your PC. In my case, it simply did not work. I am unable to play the music from the first CD on my PC. The second CD is normal and works fine. I followed the instructions and went to the Sony website, and they do have a web page for "CD Extra". I sent an email to their customer support, and it came back undeliverable because there was no such address. Looks like "CD Extra" bombed. Find another title if you want to be able to list to Piano Man.

The first time I ever heard a greatest hits album was when I first heard Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volume I and II. I first got this album on tape, but the CD has more. There are four more songs included on the CD, Captain Jack, The Entertainer, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant and She's Got A Way.

This whole double disk greatest hits album is wonderful. Billy Joel knows how to write a song that tells a distinct and very interesting story, and he does it again and again on this album. My all time favorites are Piano Man, The Stranger, It's Still Rock And Roll To Me and Don't Ask Me Why.

This excellent anthology contains all of Billy Joel's classic early hits as well as two new songs; "You're Only Human" and " The Night is Still Young". The first disc covers the years 1973-1977 and includes such greats as "Piano Man", "The Stranger", and the concert classic "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant". Disc two covers the years 1978-1985 and contains ""My Life", "Pressure", and "Uptown Girl", among others. But what really makes this cd great is the two new songs, especially "The Night is Still Young". The vocals and insturmentals on this track are top notch, and this song alone is worth the price of the cd. This cd is a must for all Billy Joel fans. Don't forget the Greatest Hits Vol. III disc as well!

This 2 disc set is an excellent summary of Billy Joel's biggest hits from 1973 to 1985,starting with his signature song "Piano Man" then rounding up FM radio favorites "Capitan Jack","The Entertainer","New York State Of Mind" before his 1977 commercial breakthrough "The Stranger" made him a household name.Two bona-fide classic album cuts from it("Scenes From An Italian Resturaut" and the title song)are included.From that point there's no stopping the hits-"Just The Way You Are","She's Always A Woman","My Life","You May Be Right","It's Still Rock n'Roll To Me","Don't Ask Me Why","She's Got A Way","Allentown","Tell Her About It","Uptown Girl","The Longest Time",plus two new songs that became hits as well,major(the trifle "You're Only Human(Second Wind)")and minor(the underrated"The Night Is Still Young").Granted,a few hits are missing("Honesty","Sometimes A Fantasy",and "Leave A Tender Moment Alone"),but overall this is the definitive compilation of one of the most talented pop/rock singer/songwriters ever.