Customer Reviews

Billy Joel Greatest Hits - Volume 3, The Video [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I find myself really underwhelmed by this disc. The main problem is that it can't really decide whether it wants to be a music video compilation or a music commentary. Videos in this disc are incomplete at best, with commentary by Joel sprinkled between each one. I found the commentary rather distracting, leaving me to press the FF button on the remote quite a lot. Having been to two of his concerts (including the 2000 years New Year's Eve concert), I can safely tell you that his live performances are much, MUCH better than any "official" recordings, like music videos. If it's the music they wanted to present, a DVD of one of his concert performances would have been better. If it's commentary they wanted, I think a DVD of VH-1's Storytellers would have done much better, maybe with some music videos of a few popular tunes included as "extras" on the disc. I honestly think the latter would have been a much better choice considering the type of disc they seem to be going for here. Technically, the sound and video are competently done, though not really spectacular in any way. Actually, considering that some of these videos are 15 years old or so, the digital transfers came out well. All in all, though, a mediocre disc. Joel deserved better.

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As a fan I enjoy hearing Billy speak about his music and videos, but not at the expense of the videos themselves. The person who edited this program together chopped up most of the music videos so as to intersperse Billy's comments within them. All of the music videos are chopped up, except for:

-- And So It Goes [though Billy speaks over it]

-- No Man's Land [after a false start, the real video plays complete]

-- Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) [though Billy speaks over the last few seconds of the video]

-- To Make Your Feel My Love [though Billy speaks over the very end of the video]

It should also be noted that the last two videos are in reverse order from how they are listed on the packaging. "Hey Girl" and "To Make Your Feel My Love" is the correct order.

If you like Billy Joel as much as I do and enjoy music videos, Columbia Music Video's Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume III: The Video is a DVD you should add to your video library.

Although its running time doesn't quite allow CMV to present all the songs from the 1997 CD with the final volume of Joel's greatest hits, the DVD includes some of the best songs from that album, including "Keeping the Faith," "A Matter of Trust," "We Didn't Start the Fire," "And So It Goes," and "The River of Dreams."

Volume III covers the last 10 years of Joel's pop/adult rock and charts his artistic evolution. Creative and always exploring new musical territory, Joel is a versatile songwriter/vocalist, able to leap from style to style almost effortlessly. On this collection of videos, he goes from guitar-based rock in both "A Matter of Trust" and "We Didn't Start the Fire" to folk (the Celtic-beat-driven "The Downeaster Alexa"), to blues-tinged gospel ("The River of Dreams") and even classical, as in the hauntingly lovely "Lullabye (Good Night, My Angel)," which has a piano solo in the style of composer Edward Grieg.

While I enjoy all the videos and the interesting behind-the-song introductions by Joel, my favorites are "A Matter of Trust," particularly for its depiction of a fed-up neighbor who tells Joel and his rock-n-roll band to "Shut up!" in typical Big Apple fashion. I also take a particular shine to "The Downeaster Alexa," not only for its tale of hard-on-their-luck fishermen on Long Island, but because of its Celtic flavored backbeat and stylings. "A River of Dreams" is very catchy and I like the melody, the harmony of the gospel-styled backup singers, and the lyrics. As a Cold War kid, I loved Joel's "Leningrad," where he tells the parallel lives of Viktor, a Russian circus clown, and himself....and how they became friends when Joel toured the former Soviet Union in 1987. And because I am a sentimental person, I am always moved by both "And So It Goes" and the "Lullabye."

It's unfortunate that the original material lacked the clarity that DVD can transmit. I also really hate the fact that Billy talks over the first 10 seconds or so of each video. The numbering is inconsistent since the commentary is not always odd numbered or even numberer tracks, so it's difficult to programme the DVD to skip the commentary the second time you want to see or listen to the videos without the commentary...

In a word "greatness". That's how I would describe this man and his music. He has entertained generations of listeners with his music and stage presence. This collection is nothing less than inspired.

Yes, there is commentary before each video that some people thought messed with the continuity of the videos but they did show each video in its entirety after the commentary so nothing is missed or deleted because of it.

Commentary is interesting and insightful. I learned a lot about the background and inspiration for each song. I also developed a new respect for the songs included because of the commentary.

Don't let the naysayers discourage you from adding this DVD to your collection. Any true (and I mean TRUE) fan will appreciate Billy Joel's ability to set the tone for the video by presenting the background and origin of the music.

Granted, it is hardly a complete look at his work from past to present but other DVDs of his videos handle that nicely.

This video is okay. One of the problems is the videos aren't shown in it's complete form. The interviews are really annoying, and it's custard with live clips that are not very good. The Manodoom knows good videos from bad, and this is a bad bad video! Also, how come only volume 3 has been done, what about a volume 1 and 2? Theres a volume 3, but no 1 or 2. So if anyone who really cares is reading this, don't buy it, if it's music videos your looking for, buy the CDs, they now have music vidoes, buy this, and you'll be rather dissapointed, for his interviews go into the videos, and that's just plain annoying. I WATCH MY MUSIC VIDEOS IN COMPLETION! I can expect incomplete music vidoes on MTV and VH1, but not on a vidoe!

A DVD of Billy Joels music videos from 1983-97. He comentaries before each video and explains how each song derived. Missing the extra star because Billy Joel doesn't have very amusing videos, but the DVD is excellent. FULL SCREEN FORMAT..

This package is a lot like the audio counterpart of this video album. The only differences on this album are NO MAN'S LAND,a RIVER OF DREAMS track and live versions of ALL ABOUT SOUL,also from ROD and SHAMELESS,from STORM FRONT. See the audio counterpart for other details.

Even though I came of age in the 1980s and don't consider myself a Luddite, I've never been enamored of the music-video genre. To me, it's simply a very creative form of advertising geared at the TV Generation. I am not saying there's anything intrinsically wrong with music videos. I just find them limiting in the sense that once I (and I say this so I won't be unfairly generalizing) see a video of a song I particularly like, it's then very difficult to shake off the video-director's visualization of it, particularly if I have my own cinematic images in my mind. The "real" video then overrides my own interpretation of, say, The Beatles' "Yesterday." Call me a purist, call me a dweeb, but I prefer to hear songs with few visual aids.

In spite of this bias, I do make an occasional music-video purchase or even (are you sitting down?) watch one or two on cable. (I remember waiting rather impatiently for the world premiere of John Williams' "Duel of the Fates" video on MTV, but that was in 1999...) Sometimes the music videos are included in the extra features of a feature film's DVD -- the two Star Wars movies, Spider-Man, and both Lord of the Rings have a related music video included -- but once in a blue moon I buy a stand-alone collection of videos.

Ironically, Billy Joel doesn't like the idea of making videos, but he makes them for his label, Columbia. He says (in the liner notes to his Greatest Hits boxed set) that he is short, a bit bug-eyed and not exactly the handsomest fellow in the business, and that when he is behind his keyboard and performing he imagines himself as NOT looking short, bug-eyed and not handsome. (Or something along those lines, anyway...) Videos, for him, shatter that illusion. So in a strange dovetailing of attitudes, he's done videos, and I own some of them.

The clips Columbia Music Video assembled here for Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume III: The Video span a period of 14 years, starting with 1983's "Keeping the Faith" (from "An Innocent Man") to Joel's 1997 cover of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love." As a result, each video has a different style and look, as does Joel himself. We see him aging gracefully from '83 to '97, and his "look" evolves along with his music. And although most of the videos are conventional MTV-style "conceptualizations, there are a few songs that were shot "live" on a stage, particularly "Shameless," "All About Soul," "To Make You Feel My Love," and his cover of "Hey Girl."

Of the "concept" videos, I particularly like "A Matter of Trust." In it, Joel and his band give an impromptu (and to some, annoying) performance as they practice in a New York City apartment (my favorite bit is the angry neighbor who twice yells for the loud rockers to "Shut up!"). It not only looks realistic, it's fun, especially since "A Matter of Trust" is one of Joel's few guitar-based songs. I also like the clip for "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)." It is more abstract, but the images fit the song's melody and emotional context perfectly.

Joel also provides some explanatory comments prior to most of the clips. I was surprised to see how erudite and soft-spoken he is, and he often reminds me of my college humanities professor (who was also a trained musician), a man who spoke about music, philosophy, politics, and history without being boring. His brief intros give the viewer some insight into how and why Joel wrote each song.

While I prefer CMV's Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium, Greatest Hits Volume III: The Video is still very watchable, especially on the DVD format.

Almost didn't buy because one customer complained about Billy Joel talking before each song. I actually enjoy that part because he sets up the song. If you don't want to listen just press the fast forward key. Great list of songs for Billy Joel fans.