Billy Joel - Billy Joel Greatest Hits: Vol. 1-2 (2CD)
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Free Music Notes for Billy Joel Greatest Hits: Vol. 1-2 (2CD)
Free Music Review: One of a Kind Talent
Hit: 5 Stars
One of the best of our time, just a great library of music and one heck of a good man. So many songs and his writing, words and music tell so many stories and in this collection has it all and can listen to it often from cover to cover. Another unique talent that we have yet to see anyone upcoming of similar talent.Free Music Review: a great Billy Joel retrospective........
Hit: 5 Stars
This dual CD set contains some of the most well-known (and well-loved) Billy Joel hits from his heyday (during the 1970s and 1980s). Though, he still continues on today, many of the tunes featured here really defined his career during that time. They include his signature song, the soulful and bittersweet "Piano Man," "New York State of Mind," "Just The Way You Are," and the infectious "Only the Good Die Young." And that's just disc one. Disc two includes "My Life" (for me, this will always be remembered as the theme song to "Bosom Buddies") and "She's Got a Way." Whenever I hear this music it really settles my nerves, makes me feel good to be alive and gives me a perspective on the curve balls that life throws at me. I think you'll feel the same. This definitely should be a part of your CD collection.......Free Music Review: fine collection of Billy Joel's hits
Hit: 5 Stars
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!
Free Music Review: wel,billy i'm 'living here in allentown,and i love it!
Hit: 5 Stars
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 wilsonFree Music Review: Billy Joel - A Decent Compilation
Hit: 4 Stars
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.