Ultimate Collection [Import]

Billy Joel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 29, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1973
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony Australia
• ASIN: B000050GFS
• Also Available in:
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,500 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Just the Way You Are

2. My Life

3. It's Still Rock & Roll to Me

4. An Innocent Man

5. Piano Man

6. You're My Home

7. Everybody Loves You Now

8. The Entertainer

9. Streetlife Serenader

10. New York State of Mind

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Uptown Girl

2. Tell Her About It

3. The River of Dreams

4. The Longest Time

5. We Didn't Start the Fire

6. Goodnight Saigon

7. Allentown

8. All for Leyna

9. This Is the Time

10. Leave a Tender Moment Alone

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The near definitive Billy Joel anthology, April 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

Forget all the greatest hits volumes issued in the U.S. This 2-CD collection packs in almost twice as many tracks, including most of the great hits and key album tracks. Most of the hits not included ("Big Shot", "Pressure") are ones I don't care to ever hear again. However, one egregious omission is "Only the Good Die Young," so you need to also get the remastered version of "The Stranger," which is worth having not only for that, but also for the title track and "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" (also not included here).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly the ultimate Billy Joel compilation, April 16, 2005

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

In his American homeland, Billy became one of the most successful singers of the twentieth century - he was third in the list of best selling solo artists behind Garth Brooks (whose American country hits included a cover of Shameless, written by Billy although Billy's version is omitted from this collection) and Elton John. Billy has never achieved that level of success elsewhere although he has built up a significant international following.

Success came slowly for Billy but he finally made the big time with his fifth album, The stranger, originally released in 1977. Its most famous song, Just the way you are, became a major American hit and also gave Billy his first UK hit, making the top twenty. Less than a year later, Barry White covered it and also made the UK top twenty. Other notable tracks from the album to be found on this compilation are Moving out and She's always a woman.

Great as that album was, Billy released an even greater album in 1983 - An innocent man. This set included Uptown girl (a UK number one hit), Tell her about it, The longest time, Leave a tender moment alone and the brilliant title track. With this album, Billy confirmed his status as a truly international performer.

Billy recorded many other fine albums from which he had plenty of American hits, some of which also charted in the UK. His most successful hits from these albums include It's still rock and roll to me, My life and We didn't start the fire. He occasionally sang about controversial topics, as in Goodnight Saigon and Allentown.

This is the best retrospective of Billy's career, including all his classic hits and much else besides. Plenty of great songs have been omitted but if you want those, you'll just have to buy the original albums. Even if you plan to do just that, this set provides a good start to your collection. On the other hand, you might just want one collection of Billy's music and in that case, this should satisfy your needs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of Joel's 'Greatest Hits' albums, October 13, 2004

By 

Scott "Degrassi fan" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

This is an extrordinary collection of Billy Joel's music. It contains so many songs. I liked that not all of them were Top 10 hits, etc... There were a few surprises in here. The songs come from so many albums, there's something here for everyone. This is great for car rides because there are so many songs and it takes up tons of time. Plus, theses songs are so much fun to listen to. Billy Joel's music is always something you can tap your foot to, but there's so much complexion in his songs. He's wonderfully romantic. His songs are perfect for the 'first dance' at a wedding or something like that. In this collection you get staples like 'Piano Man', 'Uptown Girl', 'River of Dreams', 'We Didn't Start the Fire', etc... but we also get gems like 'Allentown', 'I Go to Extremes', 'You're my Home' and 'New York State of Mind'. I don't see how anyone cannot like Billy Joel. His music is so universal and so well known, and for good reason.