The Essential Billy Joel (2CD)

The Essential Billy Joel (2CD)

The Essential Billy Joel (2CD)
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Music CD Cover

Brand: Columbia
Performer: Billy Joel
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-10-02
Music Label: Sony
Product features:
  • JOEL BILLY THE ESSENTIAL (2CD)
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Piano Man
  2. You're My Home
  3. Captain Jack
  4. The Entertainer
  5. Say Goodbye To Hollywood
  6. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
  7. New York State Of Mind
  8. She's Always A Woman
  9. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
  10. Only The Good Die Young
  11. Just The Way You Are
  12. Honesty
  13. My Life
  14. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
  15. You May Be Right
  16. Don't Ask Me Why
  17. She's Got A Way
  18. Allentown
Music CD 2
  1. Goodnight Saigon
  2. An Innocent Man
  3. Uptown Girl
  4. The Longest Time
  5. Tell Her About It
  6. Leave A Tender Moment Alone
  7. A Matter Of Trust
  8. Baby Grand (duet with Ray Charles)
  9. I Go To Extremes
  10. We Didn't Start The Fire
  11. Leningrad
  12. The Downeaster "Alexa"
  13. And So It Goes
  14. The River Of Dreams
  15. All About Soul (Remix)
  16. Lullbye (Goodnight My Angel)
  17. Waltz No. 1 (Nunley's Carousel) *
  18. Invention In C Minor*

Free Music Notes for The Essential Billy Joel (2CD)

Free Music Review: A Matter Of Opinion
Hit: 5 Stars

When I saw how many negative reviews this album got, I have to admit that I was surprised. Okay, "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" is a very serious omissions. And even I would have liked to have seen "Big Shot", "Sometimes A Fantasy", "Keeping The Faith", "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "Modern Woman" included on this set. But should we really let these omissions, no matter how serious they are, affect how much we like the songs that are included? C'mon, all the songs here are great.
Okay, maybe "You're My Home", "The Entertainer", "Goodnight Saigon" (awful song), "Lullabye" and the classical pieces could've been thrown off to include more essential songs. But the majority of these songs are rock masterpieces.

Disc 1 is from his early years. The first 10 songs are from when he was a folksier, more introspective singer. Most of these songs are really among his best. "Piano Man" is timeless, probably his best. The same can also go for "Just The Way You Are". "Only The Good Die Young" is pure fun. "Movin' Out" and "My Life" are great anthems for the American dream. I really think that "She's Always A Woman" and the haunting "Honesty" are among his underrated masterworks.

The 1980s' stuff is even better. There's still a raw urgency heard when you listen to "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me" and "You May Be Right". "Don't Ask Me Why" really is one of my favorite. His voice is sly and the melody just glides along. "Allentown" is another favorite of mine that is a great way to close the album.

Disc 2 is my favorite of the two. This has when he got into some harder edged music while also returning to the doo - wop songs he loved as a kid. "An Innocent Man's" lyrics to me seem haunting after 9/11, especially "I am not willing to lay down and die 'cause I am an innocent man". "Uptown Girl" is possibly my favorite Billy Joel song. It almost sounds like a Four Seasons song, but Joel makes it untouchable. "Tell Her About It" is a great rock rave up. "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" is a great ballad. And "The Longest Time" is quite possibly one of the finest doo - wop songs ever. "A Matter Of Trust" and "I Go To Extremes" are great stabs at hard rock. "We Didn't Start The Fire" and "The River Of Dreams" were proof that Joel could appeal to a mass audience even in the 1990s'. "All About Soul" is another underrated number. The closing songs stink, but don't let them ruin the fun.

Overall, not perfect but has some great music. We have yet to have a perfect Billy Joel "greatest hits" set (even the boxed set left out "Honesty" and "Modern Woman"), butif you don't want to pay a lot for Billy's best, this is the set for you.
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The Essential Billy Joel (2CD) Poster

JOEL BILLY THE ESSENTIAL (2CD)
Early in his career, Billy Joel seemed cynical about fame, even as that distrust bore strange fruit: mainstream superstardom (thanks to "Just the Way You Are," "Honesty," and "My Life") and multiple Grammy awards, as well as the critic's-whipping-boy status that went with them. Maybe it was that restlessness--or undiluted cynicism--that inspired left turns into roots and nostalgia (the spunky "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me," "You May Be Right," "Uptown Girl," and "The Longest Time") as his career peaked. Perhaps not surprisingly, not long after Joel's songs seemed to find their most satisfying balance of angst and mature reflection on songs like "Storm Front" and "River of Dreams," he threatened to bolt the pop music business altogether. The 2001 recordings of "Waltz No. 1" and "Invention in C Minor" that round out this set are the unlikely products of Joel's commitment to classical music. Billy Joel remains both a true, if oft-lambasted, American pop icon and that rarest of animals: a bonafide crowd-pleaser with a serious case of 'tude. Both are well chronicled here. --Jerry McCulley

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