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Billy Joel: Greatest Hits - Volume 1 & 2 (1973-1985)

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: CBS Records
Released: 1985
Time:
 53:05 / 55:26
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD Double
Web address: www.billyjoel.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2010.03.03
Price in €: 3,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


Volume 1:
[1] Piano Man (B.Joel) - 5:36
[2] Captain Jack (B.Joel) - 7:15
[3] The Entertainer (B.Joel) - 3:38
[4] Say Goodbye to Hollywood (B.Joel) - 3:54
[5] New York State of Mind (B.Joel) - 6:02
[6] The Stranger (B.Joel) - 5:07
[7] Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (B.Joel) - 7:33
[8] Just the Way You Are (B.Joel) - 3:36
[9] Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (B.Joel) - 3:28
[10] Only the Good Die Young (B.Joel) - 3:53
[11] She's Always a Woman (B.Joel) - 3:17

Volume 2:
[1] My Life (B.Joel) - 3:51
[2] Big Shot (B.Joel) - 3:43
[3] You May Be Right (B.Joel) - 4:09
[4] It's Still Rock & Roll to Me (B.Joel) - 2:54
[5] Don't Ask Me Why (B.Joel) - 2:57
[6] She's Got a Way (B.Joel) - 3:00
[7] Pressure (B.Joel) - 3:15
[8] Allentown (B.Joel) - 3:48
[9] Goodnight Saigon (B.Joel) - 7:00
[10] Tell Her About It (B.Joel) - 3:35
[11] Uptown Girl (B.Joel) - 3:15
[12] The Longest Time (B.Joel) - 3:36
[13] You're Only Human [Second Wind] (B.Joel) - 4:48
[14] The Night Is Still Young (B.Joel) - 5:28

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Billy Joel - Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals, Multi Instruments, Producer

Mark Rivera - Percussion, Saxophone, Vocals, Multi Instruments, Synthesizer Harmonica
Richie Cannata - Multi Instruments
Steve Khan - Multi Instruments
Jimmy Bralower - Percussion
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxophoe
Dave Brown - Acoustic & Electric Guitar
David Brown - Guitar
Hiram Bullock - Electric Guitar
Steve Burgh - Acoustic Guitar
Larry Carlton - Guitar
Ronnie Cuber - Baritone Saxophone, Synthesizer Harmonica
Gary Dalton - Guitar
Liberty DeVitto - Percussion, Drums
Howie Emerson - Acoustic & Electric Guitar
Don Evans - Guitar
Jon Faddis - Trumpet, Synthesizer Harmonica
Wilton Felder - Bass
Eric Gale - Guitar
John Gatchell - Trumpet
Emory Gordy - Bass
Neil Jason - Percussion
Russell Javors - Acoustic, Rhythm & Electric Guitar
Dave Lebolt - Synthesizer
Mingo Lewis - Percussion
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
David Matthews - Horn Arrangements
Hugh McCracken - Acoustic Guitar
John McCurry - Guitar
Michael Omartian - Keyboards
Dean Parks - Guitar
Leon Pendarvis - Organ
David Sanborn - Saxophone
Joe Shepley - Trumpet
Joseph J. Shepley - Trumpet
James Herb Smith - Acoustic Guitar
Doug Stegmeyer - Bass, Background Vocals
Ron Taylor - Vocals
Richard Tee - Organ, Piano
Terry Textor - Vocals
Toots Thielemans - Harmonica
Ron Tutt - Drums
Tom Whitehorse - Banjo, Pedal Steel
Phil Woods - Alto Saxophone
Patrick Williams - Orchestration

Michael Alexander - Vocals
Tom Bahler - Vocals
Rory Dodd - Vocals
Frank Floyd - Vocals
Lani Groves - Vocals
Eric Troyer - Vocals
Ullanda McCullough - Vocals
Peter Cetera - Background Vocals
Donnie Dacus - Background Vocals
Pete Hewlett - Background Vocals
Frank Simms - Background Vocals

Phil Ramone - Producer, Engineer, Remixing
Michael Stewart - Producer
Brian Ruggles - Concert Producer
Jim Boyer - Engineer, Remixing
Elliot Scheiner - Engineer, Remixing
Ron Malo - Engineer
Don Puluse - Engineer
Bruce Botnick - Mixing
Ted Jensen - Mastering, Digital Remastering
John Bradley - Production Coordination, Assistant, Production Supervisor
Laura Loncteaux - Production Assistant, Production Coordination, Assistant
Joseph d'Ambrosio - Production Coordination, Assistant
Michele Slagter - Production Coordination, Assistant
Kathy Kurs - Production Coordination
Michael Allaire - Assistant Engineer
Michael Christopher - Assistant Engineer
Chaz Clifton - Assistant Engineer
Peter Hefter - Assistant Engineer
Andy Hoffman - Assistant Engineer
Scott James - Assistant Engineer
Bradshaw Leigh - Assistant Engineer, Associate Engineer
Larry Franke - Associate Engineer
Tom Roberts - Associate Engineer
Mark Larson - Art Direction
Patrick Demarchelier - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1985 CS Columbia 88666
1985 CD Columbia G2K-40121
2002 CD Col 4911919
2002 CD Col 4911912

Billy Joel, a classically-trained pianist, was signed to Columbia Records in 1973. The title track to Piano Man, became a US Top 30 single and sowed the seeds of a highly successful recording career. However, Joel refused to bow to corporate demands for commercially-minded material and despite enjoying hits with two subsequent albums, Street Life Serenade and Turnstiles, it was not until 1977 that his fortunes flourished with the release of The Stranger, which eventually surpassed Bridge Over Troubled Water as Columbia's best-selling album. Joel's 1979 album, 52nd Street, spawned another smash single, 'My Life' while the singer's first US number 1, 'It's Still Rock 'N' Roll To Me' came from a subsequent release, Glass Houses. His image as a popular, uncontroversial figure was shaken with The Nylon Curtain, which featured two notable 'protest' compositions, 'Allentown' and 'Goodnight Saigon'. However he returned to simpler matters in 1984 with An Innocent Man which included the effervescent best-seller 'Uptown Girl'. In 1997, he announced that he would not be writing any pop songs in the foreseeable future, concentrating instead on classical scores.



Although it's missing a few important (not to mention big) hits, Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 is an excellent retrospective of the first half of Billy Joel's career. Beginning with "Piano Man," the first disc runs through a number of early songs before arriving at the hit-making days of the late '70s; some of these songs, including "Captain Jack" and "New York State of Mind," weren't strictly hits, but were popular numbers within his stage show and became radio hits. Once the songs from The Stranger arrive halfway through the first disc, there's no stopping the hits (although "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant," an album track from The Stranger, manages its way onto the collection). In fact, over the next disc and a half, there's so many hits, it's inevitable that some are left off -- to be specific, "Honesty," "Sometimes a Fantasy," "An Innocent Man," "Leave a Tender Moment," and "Keeping the Faith" aren't included. But all the other hits -- including "Just the Way You Are," "Only the Good Die Young," "My Life," "You May Be Right," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," "Don't Ask Me Why," "Allentown," "Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl," among many others -- are present and accounted for, as are two new songs ("You're Only Human (Second Wind)," "The Night Is Still Young") that became hits as well. In short, Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 does its job perfectly, encapsulating exactly why Billy Joel was one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the late '70s and early '80s.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



It's one of the cruel ironies of music today that Billy Joel has been relegated to a kind of adult-contemporary hell, where his legacy is measured by soft-rock staples such as "Just the Way You Are," "Piano Man," and "New York State of Mind." To be sure, well-crafted ballads are a part of his legacy, but they're hardly the whole story, as this collection of his early and mid-period hits amply demonstrates. From the unbridled biographical boasting of "The Entertainer" and the ambitious storytelling of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" to the careening abandon of "Only the Good Die Young" and the thoughtful social commentary of "Allentown," Joel was as complete an artist as the last three decades have produced.

Daniel Durchholz - Amazon.com
 

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