As somebody who has all of Billy Joel's studio albums, my opinion is that a one-CD 'very best of' just doesn't have the space to deliver what it promises and, indeed, with key tracks in Billy's career missing, this falls short as a satisfying overview of the piano man's career. 'Big Shot', 'Allentown' and 'The Longest Time' are just three examples of incredible tracks which any self-respecting Billy Joel collection shouldn't omit but this one, unfortunately, does. Of course, that just scratches the surface - some of Billy's best compositions are relatively unknown album tracks - but even with realistic expectations of what a good compilation should include, this album doesn't hit the mark.
To be completely fair, I should tell anyone who has a passing interest in Billy Joel's music and is thinking about buying this CD that you probably wouldn't be disappointed with the content. Most of the huge hits are here including the majestic, insanely catchy 'Uptown Girl', his breakthrough hit 'Piano Man', the gospel-tinted 'River Of Dreams', the hugely successful modern-history-as-a-list 'We Didn't Start The Fire', the achingly beautiful ballads, 'She's Got A Way', 'Honesty', 'Just The Way You Are', plus too many more to mention - the track listing is above, so - to avoid repetition - I'll just say that it's all good... extremely good. To its credit, it also includes 'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant', one of Mr. Joel's finest moments.
The music contained within this disc is all of '5 star' quality and anyone listening to this material for the first time is likely to be completely blown away by it, but the questionable track listing - given the material to choose from - loses it that 'five star' rating. Simply put, this is not the very best of Billy Joel. For those both new to the man and looking for a collection only, I'd recommend the 2CD 'The Essential Billy Joel' (Columbia) which, for a similar amount of money, gives a better overview of the man's work and is far more extensive. Better still, I would suggest that you invest in some of his studio albums (Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man, Storm Front and River Of Dreams are all excellent) which, once you listen to a 'best of', you'll probably end up doing anyway, so why not skip the middleman?
