An Alan Jackson Retrospective

First posted 12/5/2020.

A Retrospective: 1989-2010 Alan Jackson

A Brief History: Country singer Alan Jackson was born October 17, 1958 in Newnan, Georgia. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Country Musci Hall of Fame in 2017. He has sold over 75 million records worldwide, had 35 #1 songs, won two Grammys, 16 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, and 17 Association of Country Music (ACM) awards. Compilations: G1 The Greatest Hits Collection (1995) G2 Greatest Hits Volume 2 and Some Other Stuff (2003) VB The Very Best of (2004) 34 34 Number Ones (2010) The above compilations are spotlighted on this page. The snapshots of the studio albums listed below will indicate all songs featured on any of these compilations, noted with the codes above. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts. Click for codes to singles charts. The Studio Albums: Here in the Real World (1990) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (1991) A Lot About Livin’ and a Little ‘Bout Love (1992) Who I Am (1994) Everything I Own (1996) High Mileage (1998) Under the Influence (1999) When Somebody Loves You (2000) Drive (2002) Good Time (2008) Here in the Real World (1990): Here in the Real World (1/13/90, 3 CW) G1, VB, 34 Wanted (6/23/90, 3 CW) G1, 34 Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (10/6/90, 2 CW) G1, VB, 34 I’d Love You All Over Again (1/19/91, 12 CW) G1, 34 Home (4/20/96, 3 CW) G1, 34 Don’t Rock the Jukebox (1991): Don’t Rock the Jukebox (4/29/91, 13 CW) G1, VB, 34 Someday (8/19/91, 11 CW) G1, 34 Dallas (12/30/91, 11 CW) G1, 34 Midnight in Montgomery (4/25/92, 3 CW) G1, VB, 34 Love’s Got a Hold on You (7/13/92, 12 CW) G1, 34 A Lot About Livin’ and a Little ‘Bout Love (1992): She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (10/5/92, 11 CW) G1, VB, 34 Tonight I Climbed the Wall (2/6/93, 4 CW) 34 Chattahoochee (5/21/93, 46 US, 14 CW, sales: ½ million) G1, VB, 34 Mercury Blues (9/18/93, 2 CW) G1 Who Says You Can’t Have It All (1/29/94, 4 CW) G1, 34 Who I Am (1994): Summertime Blues (6/6/94, 13 CW, airplay: 3 million) G1, 34 Gone Country (8/27/94, 11 CW) G1, VB, 34 Livin’ on Love (8/29/94, 13 CW) G1, VB, 34 I Don’t Even Know Your Name (5/13/95, 11 CW) G1, 34

The Greatest Hits Collection Alan Jackson

Released: October 24, 1995 Recorded: 1989-1995 Peak: 5 US, 14 CW, -- UK, 14 CN, 46 AU Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 7.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks: (1) Chattahoochee (2) Gone Country (3) She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (4) Midnight in Montgomery (5) Tall, Tall Trees (6) Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (7) I’ll Try (8) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (9) Livin’ on Love (10) Summertime Blues (11) Love’s Got a Hold on You (12) Who Says You Can’t Have It All (13) Home (14) Wanted (15) I Don’t Even Know Your Name (16) Dallas (17) Here in the Real World (18) Someday (19) Mercury Blues (20) I’d Love You All Over Again Total Running Time: 66:24

Rating: 4.217 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About The Greatest Hits Collection: Alan Jackson’s first greatest-hits set collected 18 songs from his first four albums alongside two new songs (Tall Tall Trees, I’ll Try). Every one of these songs hit the top 5 on the country charts and 13 of them went to #1. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Tall, Tall Trees (10/21/95, 12 CW) G1, VB, 34 I’ll Try (12/30/95, 11 CW) G1, 34 Everything I Love (1996): Little Bitty (10/26/96, 58 US, 13 CW) G2, VB, 34 Everything I Love (1/18/97, 9) G2, VB Who’s Cheatin’ Who (4/12/97, 2 CW) G2, VB, 34 There Goes (7/12/97, 11 CW) G2, 34 Between the Devil and Me (10/11/97, 2 CW) 34 High Mileage (1998): I’ll Go on Loving You (8/1/98, 3 CW) G2 Right on the Money (10/17/98, 43 US, 11 CW) G2, VB, 34 Gone Crazy (2/6/99, 43 US, 4 CW) G2 Little Man (5/29/99, 38 US, 3 CW) G2, VB Under the Influence (1999): Pop a Top (10/9/99, 43 US, 6 CW) G2, VB The Blues Man (2/19/00, 37 CW) G2 It Must Be Love (4/29/00, 37 US, 11 CW, 0.2 airplay) G2, VB, 34 When Somebody Loves You (2000): www.memory (10/7/00, 45 US, 6 CW) G2, VB Where I Come From (11/25/00, 34 US, 13 CW, 0.3 million) G2, 34 When Somebody Loves You (3/10/01, 52 US, 5 CW) G2 Drive (2002): Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (11/24/01, 28 US, 15 CW, airplay: 0.2 million) G2, VB, 34 Drive (For Daddy Gene) (2/2/02, 28 US, 14 CW, 0.2 million) G2, VB, 34

Greatest Hits 2 and Some Other Stuff Alan Jackson

Released: August 12, 2003 Recorded: 1996-2003 Peak: 11 US, 111 CW, 47 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 6.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Little Bitty (2) Everything I Love (3) Who’s Cheatin’ Who (4) There Goes (5) I’ll Go on Loving You (6) Right on the Money (7) Gone Crazy (8) Little Man (9) Pop a Top (10) The Blues Man (11) It Must Be Love (12) www.memory (13) When Somebody Loves You (14) Where I Come From (15) Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (16) Drive (For Daddy Gene) (17) It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (18) Remember When Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Job Description (2) Tropical Depression (3) Let’s Get Back to Me and You (4) You Can’t Give Up on Love (5) Hole in the Wall (6) Buicks to the Moon (7) When Love Comes Around (8) The Sounds Total Running Time: 96:46

Rating: 4.529 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Greatest Hits 2 and Some Other Stuff: Jackson’s second compilation featured 16 songs from the five studio albums he released from 1996 to 2002 as well as ten new songs. 17 of these songs were top-10 country hits; nine of them went to #1. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (6/21/03, 17 US, 18 CW, sales: ½ million, airplay: 0.3 million) G2, VB, 34 Remember When (11/8/03, 29 US, 12 CW, sales: 1 million, airplay: 0.3 million) G2, 34 Job Description G2 Tropical Depression G2 Let’s Get Back to Me and You G2 You Can’t Give Up on Love G2 Hole in the Wall G2 Buicks to the Moon G2 When Love Comes Around G2 The Sounds G2

The Very Best of Alan Jackson

Released: June 14, 2004 Recorded: 1989-2003 Peak: -- US, 47 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks: (1) Gone Country (2) Drive (For Daddy Gene) (3) Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (4) www.memory (5) It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (6) Chattahoochee (7) She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (8) Midnight in Montgomery (9) Little Man (10 Pop a Top (11) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (12) Little Bitty (13) Here in the Real World (14) Livin’ on Love (15) Who’s Cheatin’ Who (16) Tall, Tall Trees (17) Right on the Money (18) Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (19) It Must Be Love (20) Everything I Love Total Running Time: 69:52

Rating: 3.815 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

About The Very Best of: This international release was a consolidation of The Greatest Hits Collection and Greatest Hits 2 and Some Other Stuff into a single-disc retrospective. Good Time (2008): Small Town Southern Man (11/19/07, 42 US, 12 CW) 34 Good Time (4/21/08, 40 US, 12 CW, airplay: 0.5 million) 34 Country Boy (9/29/08, 49 US, 11 CW) 34

34 Number Ones Alan Jackson

Released: November 23, 2010 Recorded: 1989-2010 Peak: 37 US, 7 CW, -- UK, 77 CN, 7 AU Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: country

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Ring of Fire (2) Here in the Real World (3) Wanted (4) Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (5) I’d Love You All Over Again (6) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (7) Someday (8) Dallas (9) Midnight in Montgomery (10) Love’s Got a Hold on You (11) She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (12) Tonight I Climbed the Wall (13) Chattahoochee (14) Who Says You Can’t Have It All (15) Summertime Blues (16) Livin’ on Love (17) Gone Country (18) I Don’t Even Know Your Name (19) Tall, Tall Trees Tracks, Disc 2: (1) As She’s Walking Away (2) Look at Me (3) I’ll Try (4) Home (5) Little Bitty (6) Who’s Cheatin’ Who (7) There Goes (8) Between the Devil and Me (9) Right on the Money (10) It Must Be Love (11) Where I Come From (12) Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (13) Drive (For Daddy Gene) (14) It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (15) Remember When (16) Small Town Southern Man (17) Good Time (18) Country Boy Total Running Time: 132:48

Rating: 4.232 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About 34 Number Ones: It’s not clear what charts are being referenced that suggest Alan Jackson had 34 #1’s since only 25 of these songs hit the top of the Billboard country song chart. Quibbling aside, this is a nice overview of Jackson’s career. The collection features three songs not previously available on an Alan Jackson album. Look at Me was from the 2008 soundtrack Billy: The Early Years and As Long As She’s Walking Away was first released on Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give album. Jackson also turns in a cover of Ring of Fire, a song made famous by Johnny Cash. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Look at Me (2008) As She’s Walking Away (with Zac Brown Band) (8/9/10, 32 US, 12 CW, 0.1 million airplay) Ring of Fire (12/11/10, 45 CW) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia for Alan Jackson

Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy released

First posted 12/2/2011; updated 9/24/2020.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West

Released: November 22, 2010 Peak: 11 US, 12 RB, 16 UK, 11 CN, 6 AU Sales (in millions): 1.35 US, 0.1 UK, 1.59 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Dark Fantasy (with Teyana Taylor, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver) (12/10/10, 60 US) Gorgeous (with Kid Cudi & Raekwon) Power (with Dwele) (6/12/10, 22 US, 22 RB, 36 UK, 49 CN, 100 AU, 2x platinum single) All of the Lights (interlude) All of the Lights (with Drake & Rihanna) (12/11/10, 18 US, 15 UK, 53 CN, 24 AU) Monster (with Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver) (9/18/10, 8 US, 32 RB, 43 CN, 91 AU, platinum single) So Appalled (with Jay-Z, Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, Swizz Beatz, & RZA) Devil in a New Dress (w/ Rick Ross) Runaway (with Pusha T) (10/2/10, 12 US, 95 RB, 56 UK, 13 CN, 46 AU, platinum single) Hell of a Life Blame Game (with John Legend) Lost in the World (with Bon Iver) Who Will Survive in America Total Running Time: 68:36

Rating: 4.358 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings) Quotable: “There are few more human albums in hip-hop.” – David Amidon, PopMatters.com Awards:

About the Album: Kanye West’s fifth album “features themes regarding excess and celebrity.” WK Among the topics he explores are “decadence, grandiosity, escapism, sex, wealth, romance, self-aggrandizement, and self-doubt.” WK The A.V. Club’s Nathan Rabin said it was “darkly funny, boldly introspective, and characteristically fame-obsessed.” WK Prefix magazine’s Andrew Martin said it was a “meditation of fame” in which West laments the burden that goes with it. WK On Fantasy, West “made music as sprawlingly messy as his life” and that he crafted “songs full of the kind of grandiose gestures that only the foolish attempt and only the wildly talented pull off.” RS David Amidon of PopMatters.com said “there are few more human albums in hip-hop.” WK The latter point raised criticism from some; NME’s Alex Denney said West was “by turns sickeningly egocentric, contrite, wise, stupid and self-mocking.” WK He is “an instinctive consumer with a mouthful of diamonds and furtive bad conscience, a performer who lives the American dream to its fullest with a creeping sense of the spiritual void at its heart.” WK The Independent’s Andy Gill called it “one of pop’s gaudiest, most grandiose efforts of recent years, a no-holds-barred musical extravaganza in which any notion of good taste is abandoned at the door.” WK The album “received general acclaim from music critics, earning praise for its varied musical style, opulent production quality, and West’s dichotomous themes.” WK “Nobody else is making music this daring and weird.” SH West “goes for the grandeur of stadium rock, the all-devouring sonics of hip-hop, the erotic gloss of disco, and he goes for all of it, all the time.” SH Among the album’s musical diversity were “string sections, Elton John piano solos, vocoder freakouts, Bon Iver cameos, King Crimson and Rick James samples” RS Time’s David Browne said that “few combine disparate elements as smoothly as West” WK while Steve Jones of USA Today said it “easily outstrips anything he’s done.” WK Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield echoed that statement saying it was West’s best album and “his most maniacally inspired music yet.” SH Critics often referred to the album as a culmination of West’s previous works. Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly said this takes “the luxurious soul of 2004’s The College Dropout, the symphonic pomp of Late Registration, the gloss of 2007’s Graduation, and the emotionally exhausted electro of 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak.” WK Pitchfork Media’s Ryan Dombal said the album “largely continues where 2007’s Graduation left off in its maximalist hip-hop bent, with flashes of The College Dropout’s comfort-food sampling and Late Registration’s baroque instrumentation weaved in seamlessly.” WK Andy Kellman of allmusic.com said Fantasy “does not merely draw characteristics from each one of them. The 13 tracks…sometimes fuse them together simultaneously.” WK Power, with its “bracing prog-rock” RS sound, was the first single from the album and garnered West a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. The opening cut, Dark Fantasy, “introduces the album’s themes of decadence and hedonism” WK with “a retelling of writer Roald Dahl’s poetic rework of Cinderella.” WK In the song, West references Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology Song)” and Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” as well as musicians Nas and Leona Lewis. All of the Lights offers a story of a “character who abuses his lover, does prison time, scuffles with her new boyfriend, and subsequently mourns his absence from his child’s life.” WK The song tapped 11 guest singers including Alicia Keys, John Legend, Elton John, Tony Williams, Elly Jackson, and Rihanna. WK The song received Grammy nods for Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Devil in a New Dress is a song “about lust and heartache” WK built around a Smokey Robinson sample. One critic described the song’s mix of both sexual and religious imagery “part bedroom allure, part angelic prayer.” WK Runaway has a “spooky grandeur” RS built on a “piano-based motif comprising a series of sustained descending half and whole notes” WK and a “coda that incorporates light strings and vocoder-singing by West.” WK At about the six-minute mark, “long after the song has already sealed itself in your brain, the sound cuts out and you think it’s over. Then there’s a plinking piano, the feedback of an electric guitar plugging in, some ‘Strawberry Fields’-style cellos and Yeezy himself singing a poignant Robert Fripp-style solo through his vocoder. There’s no way it should work, but it keeps rolling for three more minutes without breaking the spell.” SH Rolling Stone named it the best single of 2010. Also on the album: Hell of a Life has “a psychedelic rock sample and a narrative about marrying a porn star.” WK There’s also “the spooky space funk of Gorgeous” SH and “the paranoid staccato strings of Monster.” SH Indie-folk rocker Bon Iver is sampled for Lost in the World. West turns the original song, “Woods”, and its alienation theme into “the centerpiece of a catchy, communal reverie.” WK The album closes with Who Will Survive in America, which builds on a sample of “Comment No. 1” by Gil Scott-Heron. The original song is “a blunt, surrealist piece delivered by Scott-Heron in spoken word about the African-American experience and the fated idealism of the American dream.” WK The album’s artwork, a portrait by George Condo, caused controversy because of its nude depiction of West and an armless winged female (a phoenix). WK The album was ranked as the top of the year by AlbumoftheYear.org, The A.V. Club, Billboard magazine critics, Pitchfork Media, Rolling Stone, Slant, Time, and The Village Voice. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album. As Rolling Stone said in its assessment of the album in its year-end review, West “made all other music seem dimmer and duller. Is the album dark? Sure. Twisted? Of course. But above all, it's beautiful.” RS

Resources and Related Links: Kanye West’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry RS Rolling Stone “30 Best Albums of 2010” SH Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone (original album review) WK Wikipedia

A Billy Joel Retrospective

First posted 9/22/2020.

A Retrospective: 1973-2001 Billy Joel

A Brief History: He was born William Martin Joel on May 9, 1949, in New York City (the Bronx), New York. He showed an aptitude for the piano and began taking lessons at age four. When he saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, he decided to pursue a full-time music career. After failed stints with the Echoes, the Hassles, and Attila, he went solo and “refashioned himself as a sensitive singer/songwriter.” A-B From 1971 to 1993, he released a dozen studio albums, charted 33 top-40 hits and garnered 23 Grammy nominations and 5 wins, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street and Song and Record of the Year for Just the Way You Are. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. He has sold over 150 million records worldwide. “Although Billy Joel never was a critic’s favorite, the pianist emerged as one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the latter half of the ‘70s.” A-B “His classical training and reverence for Broadway musicals” RH alongside a “flair for Tin Pan Alley” RH “have been counterpointed by his early grounding in the Long Island bar-band scene and his love of rhythm & blues, resulting in an enthusiastic yet musically sophisticated approach to rock and roll. His diverse influences include Beethoven, the Beatles, Dave Brubeck, George Gershwin, Phil Spector, Ray Charles and Fats Domino…From romantic balladry to hard-rocking material, with elements of jazz, pop and soul thrown into the mix, Joel has applied his skills in a diversity of settings.” RH His “popularity is such that he tied the Beatles for the most multi-platinum albums in the U.S.” RH The Studio Albums: This page offers spotlights of all of Joel’s studio albums. Links below connect to dedicated pages for the albums. Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Piano Man (1973) Streetlife Serenade (1974) Turnstiles (1976) The Stranger (1977) 52nd Street (1978) Glass Houses (1980) The Nylon Curtain (1982) An Innocent Man (1983) The Bridge (1986) Storm Front (1989) River of Dreams (1993) Fantasies & Delusions (2001) These are the compilations spotlighted on this page. Compilations: G Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II (1985) G3 Greatest Hits Volume III (1997) UC The Ultimate Collection (2000) ES The Essential (2001) VB Piano Man: The Very Best of (2004) H The Hits (2010) The snapshots of the studio albums indicate all songs featured on any of the three compilations, noted with the codes above. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts. Click for codes to singles charts. Cold Spring Harbor (1971): Joel signed a deal with Family Productions and released his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor. It went nowhere at the time, but “She’s Got a Way” would resurface in 1981 when he released a live version of the song in support of the Songs from the Attic live album. The live version of the song appears on most of the compilations cited on this page. She’s Got a Way (11/21/81: live version, 23 US, 16 CL, 4 AC, 46 CN) G, UC, ES, VB: live Everybody Loves You Now UC: live, H: studio Piano Man (1973): After Cold Spring Harbor, flopped, Joel moved to Los Angeles, adopted the name Bill Martin, and started a gig as a lounge singer. He signed a new contract with Columbia Records and released Piano Man, which garnered a top-40 hit with the title cut. It was the first of 33 top-40 hits. Of course the title track is present on every possible compilation. The album also sported two minor hits with “Worse Comes to Worst” and “Travelin’ Prayer” which don’t show up on any of the compilations. Piano Man (2/23/74, 25 US, 1 CL, 4 AC, 10 CN, 20 AU, sales: 3 million) G, UC, ES, VB, H You’re My Home (1981 live version: 100 AU) UC, ES Captain Jack (11 CL) G, ES Streetlife Serenade (1974): After the unexpected success of “Piano Man,” Joel followed quickly with another album, releasing Streetlife Serenade. He didn’t have time to develop the material as much and the album didn’t match the heights of its predecessor, but it did give him another top-40 hit with The Entertainer, “withering portrait of the music industry.” RH The Entertainer (11/30/74, 34 US, 13 CL, 30 AC, 30 CN, 89 AU) G, UC, ES, H Streetlife Serenader UC Turnstiles (1976): Joel’s move back to New York is signalled by Say Goodbye to Hollywood, a song with echoes of “Brill Building pop” RH that shows up on four of the compilations on this page – twice as the original studio cut and twice as the live version from 1981’s Songs in the Attic. The album also produced “the cabaret-styled tribute to his home turf, New York State of Mind.” RH While not a single, it became a Billy Joel fixture and appears on every compilation possible cited on this page. Say Goodbye to Hollywood (1976: 45 AU, 9/12/81: live version, 17 US, 6 CL, 35 AC, 11 AR, 27 AU) G, H: live; UC, ES: studio New York State of Mind (11 CL) G, UC, ES, VB, H Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (16 CL) UC: live; ES: studio The Stranger (1977): “With its jazzy sheen and compositional cunning, Joel hit his stride” RH “and the resulting album, The Stranger catapulted him into superstardom” A-B on the backs of hits such as Just the Way You Are – which would win the 1978 Grammy for Record of the Year and Song of the Year – Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song), She’s Always a Woman, and Only the Good Die Young. The Stranger “surpassed Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water as the top-selling album in Columbia’s history (until Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. displaced it in the Eighties).” RH While Joel had three #1 hits, it is reasonable to argue that “Just the Way You Are” may be his best known song. That makes it particularly odd that it is omitted from The Hits. “Only the Good Die Young” and “She’s Always a Woman” are noticeably absent from The Ultimate Collection. Also, while the title cut is a good song, it could have been bumped from the Greatest Hits collection in favor of one of the charting songs that didn’t make the collection. Just the Way You Are (11/12/77, 3 US, 1 CL, 1 AC, 19 UK, 2 CN, 6 AU, platinum single) G, UC, ES, VB Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) (3/18/78, 17 US, 7 CL, 40 AC, 35 UK, 11 CN, 99 AU, gold single) G, UC, ES, VB, H Only the Good Die Young (5/13/78, 24 US, 8 CL, 18 CN, platinum single) G, ES, VB, H She’s Always a Woman (8/12/78, 17 US, 6 CL, 2 AC, 29 UK, 12 AU, gold single) G, UC, ES, VB The Stranger (12 CL, 59 AU) G Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (7 CL) G, VB 52nd Street (1978): 52nd Street spent eight weeks at number one in the U.S., eventually selling 7 million copies and landing the Grammy for Album of the Year. While lead single My Life regularly shows up on compilations, Big Shot and Honesty each only make it on two of the five possible compilations. My Life (11/4/78, 3 US, 2 CL, 2 AC, 12 UK, 3 CN, 6 AU, platinum single) G, UC, ES, VB, H Big Shot (2/10/79, 14 US, 9 CL, 13 CN, 91 AU) G, H Honesty (4/21/79, 24 US, 8 CL, 9 AC, 16 CN, 80 AU) UC, ES Glass Houses (1980): This was “theoretically a harder-edged album that was a response to the punk and new wave movement.” A-B This was readily apparent on Joel’s #1 hit It's Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me, which “rebutted punk and New Wave acts who’d taken potshots at perceived old-wavers like Joel.” RH The top-10 hit You May Be Right is inexplicably absent from Piano Man: The Very Best of. You May Be Right (3/15/80, 7 US, 2 CL, 48 AC, 6 CN, 28 AU, gold single) G, UC, ES, H All for Leyna (4/12/80, 17 CL, 40 UK) UC It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (5/13/80, 1 US, 1 CL, 45 AC, 14 UK, 1 CN, 10 AU, 2x platinum single) G, UC, ES, VB, H Don’t Ask Me Why (8/2/80, 36 US, 8 CL, 1 AC, 4 CN) G, UC, ES The Nylon Curtain (1982): The Nylon Curtain was Joel’s “lushly produced concept album about America’s ‘diminishing horizons’” RH and the “baby boomers and their experiences.” A-B It was a commercial disappointment when compared to the multi-platinum success of its three studio predecessors, but still spawned top-20 hits with Pressure and Allentown. How does “Pressure” only make it on to two compilations? Pressure (9/25/82, 20 US, 8 AR, 9 CN, 16 AU) G, H Allentown (11/27/82, 17 US, 19 AC, 28 AR, 21 CN, 49 AU) G, UC, ES, H Goodnight Saigon (3/19/83, 56 US, 29 UK) G, UC, ES, VB An Innocent Man (1983): This was Joel’s “fond tribute to the doo-wop era.” RH It was a success on par with his 1977-1980 work, “eventually selling over seven million copies” A-B on the strength of six top 40 hits and his willingness to embrace MTV and music videos. Three of those – Tell Her About It, Uptown Girl, and The Longest Time – are featured on Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II and two others – An Innocent Man and Keeping the Faith – are on Greatest Hits Volume III. Both collections passed over Leave a Tender Moment Alone, but it eventually showed up The Ultimate Collection and The Essential. Tell Her about It (7/17/83, 1 US, 1 AC, 17 AR, 4 UK, 5 CN, 9 AU, gold single, airplay: 2 million) G, UC, ES, VB, H Uptown Girl (9/24/83, 3 US, 2 AC, 22 AR, 1 UK, 4 CN, 1 AU, platinum single, airplay: 2 million) G, UC, ES, VB An Innocent Man (12/17/83, 10 US, 1 AC, 8 UK, 16 CN, 23 AU) G3, UC, ES, VB The Longest Time (3/24/84, 14 US, 1 AC, 25 UK, 36 CN, 15 AU, gold single, airplay: 2 million) G, UC, ES, H Leave a Tender Moment Alone (6/23/84, 27 US, 1 AC, 29 UK, 58 CN, 76 AU, airplay: 2 million) UC, ES Keeping the Faith (1/19/85, 18 US, 3 AC, 81 CN) G3

Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II Billy Joel

Rating: 4.398 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)

Released: July 2, 1985 Recorded: 1973-1985 Peak: 6 US, 7 UK, -- CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 11.5 US, 0.3 UK, 21.4 world (includes US and UK) Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Piano Man (2) Captain Jack (3) The Entertainer (4) Say Goodbye to Hollywood (5 New York State of Mind (6) The Stranger (7) Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (8) Just the Way You Are (9) Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) (10) Only the Good Die Young (11) She’s Always a Woman Tracks, Disc 2: (1) My Life (2) Big Shot (3) You May Be Right (4) It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (5) Don’t Ask Me Why (6) She’s Got a Way (live) (7) Pressure (8) Allentown (9) Goodnight Saigon (10) Tell Her About It (11) Uptown Girl (12) The Longest Time (13) You’re Only Human (Second Wind) (14) The Night Is Still Young Total Running Time: 1:53:45

Awards:

About Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II: The first Billy Joel compilation was really two albums since he released it as Greatest Hits Volume I and II and it lives up to the titles by offering two disc’s worth of hits. Beginning with Piano Man, the first disc runs through a number of early songs…including Captain Jack and New York State of Mind [that] weren’t strictly hits, but were popular numbers within his stage show.” A-G Other early favorites include “the unbridled biographical boasting of The Entertainer and the ambitious storytelling of Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” DD an album cut from The Stranger. Mostly, though, this collection focuses on the hits, such as # 1 songs It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me and Tell Her About It as well as top ten hits like My Life, You May Be Right, and Uptown Girl. There are also his “soft-rock staples such as Just the Way You Are” DD and She’s Always a Woman. We also get “the careening abandon of Only the Good Die Young and the thoughtful social commentary of Allentown.” DD There are also two new songs: You’re Only Human (Second Wind), The Night Is Still Young. However, the collection skips top-40 hits “Honesty,” “Sometimes a Fantasy,” “An Innocent Man,” “Leave a Tender Moment Alone,” and “Keeping the Faith.” It is still “an excellent retrospective of the first half of Billy Joel’s career,” A-G “exactly why Billy Joel was one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s” A-G and is “as complete an artist as the last three decades have produced.” DD You’re Only Human (Second Wind) (7/13/85, 9 US, 2 AC, 26 AR, 94 UK, 15 CN, 6 AU) G, UC The Night Is Still Young (10/5/85, 34 US, 13 AC, 48 CN, 82 AU) G Notes: The 1998 remastered package added videos for “You’re Only Human” and “The Night Is Still Young” and replaced the live version of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with the original 1976 studio version. The Bridge (1986): “In the summer of 1986, Joel returned with the Top Ten single Modern Woman, which was taken from the soundtrack of Ruthless People…[and] was also a teaser from his new album, The Bridge.” A-B. It’s unclear why the song doesn’t get more love; it only appears on one compilation. The album’s place in the Billy Joel canon is similar to that of The Nylon Curtain: it was a top ten, two-million seller buoyed by a couple hits, but not on par with Joel’s multi-million sellers of the late seventies and early eighties. Modern Woman (6/7/86, 10 US, 7 AC, 34 AR, 27 CN, 21 AU) UC A Matter of Trust (8/9/86, 10 US, 17 AC, 14 AR, 52 UK, 15 CN, 3 AU) G3, UC, ES, H This Is the Time (11/15/86, 18 US, 1 AC, 32 AR, 26 CN, 73 AU) G3, UC Baby Grand (with Ray Charles) (4/4/87, 75 US, 3 AC, 78 AU) G3, UC, ES Storm Front (1989): Joel managed to turn “a history lesson into a hit single with his rapid-fire recitation of 20th-century names and places in We Didn’t Start the Fire…Both single and album reached #1.” RH “Storm Front marked a significant change for Joel – he fired his band, keeping only Liberty DeVito, and ceased his relationship with producer Phil Ramone, hiring Mick Jones of Foreigner to produce the album.” A-B This album is definitely over-represented on compilations. Shameless and Leningrad are good songs, but minor enough that they should be bumped from collections to make room for other more deserving hits. We Didn’t Start the Fire (9/27/89, 1 US, 5 AC, 6 AR, 7 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU, platinum single) G3, UC, ES, VB, H I Go to Extremes (1/13/90, 6 US, 4 AC, 10 AR, 70 UK, 3 CN, 48 AU) G3, UC, ES, H The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ (4/14/90, 57 US, 18 AC, 33 AR, 76 UK, 25 CN) G3, UC, ES And So It Goes (10/20/90, 37 US, 5 AC, 30 CN) G3, ES Shameless (1/4/92, 40 AC) G3 Leningrad (53 UK) G3, UC, ES River of Dreams (1993): River of Dreams “entered the charts at number one and spawned the Top Ten title track. Following the River of Dreams tour, Joel divorced Christie Brinkley.” A-B Little did anyone know that Joel was closing another chapter as well as it marked the end of his recording career as a pop artist. The River of Dreams (7/19/93, 3 US, 1 AC, 3 UK, 2 CN, 1 AU) G3, UC, ES, VB, H All About Soul (11/6/93, 29 US, 6 AC, 32 UK, 9 CN, 34 AU) G3, UC, ES, VB Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (3/26/94, 77 US, 18 AC, 27 CN) G3, ES

Greatest Hits Volume III Billy Joel

Rating: 3.767 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

Released: August 19, 1997 Recorded: 1983-1997 Peak: 9 US, 23 UK, -- CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.06 UK, 1.06 world (includes US and UK) Tracks: (1) Keeping the Faith (2) An Innocent Man (3) A Matter of Trust (4) Baby Grand (with Ray Charles) (5) This Is the Time (6) Leningrad (7) We Didn’t Start the Fire (8) I Go to Extremes (9) And So It Goes (10) The Downeaster ‘Alexas’ (11) Shameless (12) All About Soul (13) Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (14) The River of Dreams (15) To Make You Feel My Love (16) Hey Girl (17) Light As the Breeze Total Running Time: 76:16

About Greatest Hits Volume III: Designed as a companion to Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II, this one, roughly, picked up where the last one left off. Keeping the Faith and An Innocent Man were from the 1983 album An Innocent Man, but everything else came after the 1985 greatest hits set. There are also two new songs and Light As the Breeze from Tower of Song, the 1995 album of Leonard Cohen covers. The rest of the collection is comprised of cuts from Joel’s three studio albums released from 1986 to 1993: The Bridge (3 songs), Storm Front (6 songs), and River of Dreams (3 songs). The Storm Front album is over-represented, especially since a few other hits, including the top-10 “Modern Woman” and top-30 “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” could have been included. Otherwise, though, it does a solid job of gathering the most familiar of Joel’s work from the latter part of his recording career. To Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan) [3:53] (8/16/97, 50 US, 9 AC, 90 AU) Hey Girl (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) [3:57] (11/8/97, 13 AC) Light As the Breeze (Leonard Cohen) [6:12]

The Ultimate Collection Billy Joel

Rating: 4.433 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

Released: December 20, 2000 Recorded: 1973-1993 Peak: -- US, 4 UK, -- CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.3 UK, 0.3 world (includes US and UK) Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Just the Way You Are (2) My Life (3) It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (4) An Innocent Man (5) Piano Man (6) You’re My Home (7) Everybody Loves You Now (live) (8) The Entertainer (9) Streetlife Serenader (10) New York State of Mind (11) Say Goodbye to Hollywood (12) She’s Got a Way (live) (13) Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) (14) She’s Always a Woman (15) Honesty (16) You May Be Right (17) Don’t Ask Me Why (18) Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (live) Tracks, 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 (11) A Matter of Trust (12) Modern Woman (13) Baby Grand (with Ray Charles) (14) I Go to Extremes (15) Leningrad (16) The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ (17) You’re Only Human (Second Wind) (18) All About Soul Total Running Time: 153:09

About The Ultimate Collection: I’m not a fan of the non-chronological track listing, but this non-American two-disc set does an adequate job of gathering the most familiar of Joel’s hits from throughout his career. His earliest albums receive too much attention and there are some minor hits such as “All for Lenya” and “Leningrad” that could be excised, especially since there are a handful of top 40 hits that don’t make the collection, including “Only the Good Die Young,” “Big Shot,” “Pressure,” “Keeping the Faith,” and “And So It Goes.” Fantasies & Delusions (2001): After a dozen pop albums from 1971 to 1993, this was Joel’s foray into creating his own classical compositions. It is, to date, his last studio album. Waltz No. 1 (Nunley’s Carousel) ES Invention in C minor ES

The Essential Billy Joel

Rating: 4.480 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

Released: October 2, 2001 Recorded: 1973-2001 Peak: 15 US, 157 UK, -- CN, 50 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK, 3.1 world (includes US and UK) Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Piano Man (2) You’re My Home (3) Captain Jack (4) The Entertainer (5) Say Goodbye to Hollywood (6) Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (7) New York State of Mind (8) She’s Always a Woman (9) Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) (10) Only the Good Die Young (11) Just the Way You Are (12) Honesty (13) My Life (14) It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (15) You May Be Right (16) Don’t Ask Me Why (17) She’s Got a Way (live) (18) Allentown Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Goodnight Saigon (2) An Innocent Man (3) Uptown Girl (4) The Longest Time (5) Tell Her About It (6) Leave a Tender Moment Alone (7) A Matter of Trust (8) Baby Grand (with Ray Charles) (9) I Go to Extremes (10) We Didn’t Start the Fire (11) Leningrad (12) The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ (13) And So It Goes (14) The River of Dreams (15) All About Soul (16) Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (17) Waltz No. 1 (Nunley’s Carousel) (18) Invention in C minor Total Running Time: 154:43

Awards:

About The Essential: After the non-American release of The Ultimate Collection, The Essential was the first U.S. double-disc anthology covering Joel’s entire recording career. The album works through his major hits chronologically from Piano Man through The River of Dreams. There are still notable songs missing (three of which weren’t on The Ultimate Collection either), like “She’s Always a Woman,” “Big Shot,” “Pressure,” “Keeping the Faith,” “Modern Woman,” and “This Is the Time.” Like The Ultimate Collection, minor hits All for Leyna and Leningrad take up space where some of those bigger hits could have been. This is also the only one to include cuts from Joel’s 2001 classical album Fantasies & Delusions, but that’s not necessarily a positive since they aren’t familiar to the average Joel fans. Notes: A reissue added a third disc with seven songs: “Worse Comes to Worst,” “Prelude/Angry Young Man,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” “Big Shot,” “All for Leyna,” “Pressure,” and “This Is the Time.”

Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel

Rating: 4.287 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

Released: November 15, 2004 Recorded: 1973-1993 Peak: -- US, 7 UK, -- CN, 14 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.9 UK, 0.9 world (includes US and UK) Tracks: (1) Tell Her About It (2) Uptown Girl (3) Piano Man (4) New York State of Mind (5) The River of Dreams (6) It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (7) We Didn’t Start the Fire (8) Goodnight Saigon (9) My Life (10) She’s Always a Woman (11) She’s Got a Way (live) (12) Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (13) An Innocent Man (14) Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) (15) Only the Good Die Young (16) All About Soul (17) Honesty (18) Just the Way You Are Total Running Time: 79:43

About Piano Man: The Very Best of: This single-disc, non-American release hits the highlights, such as Piano Man, Just the Way You Are, My Life, It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me, Tell Her About It, Uptown Girl, We Didn’t Start the Fire, and The River of Dreams. Of course, the problem with a single-disc collection is how many songs get left out. For the third time, “Big Shot,” “Pressure,” and “Keeping the Faith” fail to make the cut. Also left out are top-10 hits “You May Be Right” and “I Go to Extremes,” as well as top-40 hits “Allentown,” “The Longest Time,” and “Leave a Tender Moment Alone.” To be fair, though, it’s hard to know what to bump in favor of any of these songs.

The Hits Billy Joel

Rating: 4.580 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

Released: November 16, 2010 Recorded: 1973-1993 Peak: 34 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Tracks: (1) Everybody Loves You Now (2) Piano Man (3) The Entertainer (4) New York State of Mind (5) Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) (6) Only the Good Die Young (7) My Life (8) Big Shot (9) You May Be Right (10) It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (11) Say Goodbye to Hollywood (live) (12) Allentown (13) Pressure (14) The Longest Time (15) Tell Her About It (16) A Matter of Trust (17) We Didn’t Start the Fire (18) I Go to Extremes (19) The River of Dreams Total Running Time: 79:34

About The Hits: Once again, a non-American release is followed by a U.S. version. This compilation suffers from the same problem as its predecessor in that too many hits have to be overlooked to create a single-disc retrospective. The most glaring omission is “Just the Way You Are,” arguably Joel’s signature song. However, “Uptown Girl” and “A Matter of Trust” are also notably absent. Overall, though, this collection works much better than Piano Man: The Very Best of and it presents the songs chronologically. Resources and Related Links: Billy Joel’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry DD Daniel Durchholz, Amazon.com review by of Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II A-B Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide bio of Billy Joel A-G Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide review of Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II RH Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bio