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0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Billy throat gruff Oct 20, 2008
Billy Joel has a past, a rock and roll NY garage band secret that is hidden from this so-called "Essential" two CD set. This flip/flop CD set begins with his break out hit "Piano Man", a self-reveralional look at me! Dammit Look at Me! If that didn't make it sure then howabout. "The Entertainer"? or "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"? (At least that song was covered by Ronnie Spector with Bruce Springsteen's E St. Band backing and a terrific 45).
Billy continued to write what he knew," NY State of Mind", etc.., but a songwriter has to have a standard, a song that would be sung by Steve Lawrence, Al Martino, and scored by elevators. "Just the Way You Are" made it and offered a lifetime envelope of bucks.
With that security, Billy hit a stride of top 40 hits "My Life" "She's Got a Way" "You May be Right" Billy was hitting a strong average of .750 and pissed that he wasn't considered hip while Punk and New Wave were all over magazines (not charts tho) and his slam was "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". Like anyone cared.
Realizing that, Billy put out his finest LP/Cass/CD " An Innocent Man".
An amalgam of his love of 50's 60's influences, the 4 Seasons, "Uptown Girl" the Dion/Belmonts "The Longest Time",
Success leads to doing whatever one wants.. Billy made a political polemic "We Didn't Start the Fire" a hit with an update of Reunion's "Life is a Rock (but the Radio Rolled Me), a quick history of baby boomers in rhyme and tempo.
After that, well fine, concerts all over the world, swell, in Hell, and admired. Concerts in tandem with Elton John and piano walkin' the plank.
This 2CD has 36 songs, probably 20 more than anyone needs. No booklet, no history, no pictures of wire-terrior haired Billy, no nothin' extra.
 Just the cream Jun 22, 2008
I can't think of anything that's missing from this album, except maybe "Why Should I Worry" which he did for the animated movie Oliver and Company. Disney must have all the rights, because I don't see it on his regular albums. Probably wasn't enough of a "hit" but I wouldn't mind having a copy of that one.
I love Billy Jun 14, 2008
This collection is really great, a few harder to find hits such as "Honesty" and "An Innocent Man" as well as some others. It spans pretty much all decades of Billy's career. I just wish they had included "Pressure".
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
'Essential' is right! Jun 12, 2008
Everything you could want from his long career history of music is here.
Definitely 'essential'! Highly recommended!
Billy For Beginners Feb 03, 2008
When it comes down great guilty pleasure artists, we often seem to forget what influence they've made on music today, especially back in the 80's. For those acts, we always will think of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince. But, for Billy Joel, he really made the best that was still coming around. 35 years after he broke ground with Piano Man, he has still dominated with his music on the radio. While he hasn't recorded an album since 1993's River Of Dreams, his music still stands the test of time because it is worth while from beginning to end. But for those who seem more interested in acts like Britney Spears and anyone who has been on American Idol, and doesn't own a Billy Hoel record, than this is a start to download for your MP3 player.
The Essential Billy Joel is a collection of over 30 tracks from Billy's long and successful career from the 70's, 80's and 90's. The songs here have all been remastered well, and chronicle a innocent man who has made the music of our times. The collection includes a lot of great standards he has made his own for over 35 years like Piano Man, River Of Dreams, We Didn't Start The Fire, the delight diddy Uptown Girl, and The Longest Time, all the way to #1 hits like My Life, It's Still Rock N' Roll To Me and Allentown. There is so much that is great in music, but there are a few of his great songs that were sadly overlooked like You're Only Human (Second Wind), Modern Woman and a few other good songs. But, those are small complaints, because those songs were only minor hits. Instead, the collectin includes some of his songs from his 2001 classical pop album instead.
All in all, The Essential Billy Joel is a very strong and standard greatest hits album from beginning to end that is fun and a joy to listen to, whether you're a hard core fan, or anyone who is new to Billy Joel's songs. This album is definitely a great purchase to download off the internet, or buy from your local record store. Even though Billy Joel hasn't made anything new in awhile, his music is still making us go to extremes.
Songs: B+
Price: B 1/2+
Remastering: A-
Overall: B+
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