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"...Don't Go Thinking We're Too Familiar..."
The worldwide winner that is "The Ultimate Collection" by Billy Joel was first issued as a twofer in Japan just days before Christmas 2000. That variant also had 2CDs and 36-Tracks, but ended CD1 with "The Stranger".
I mention this, because when "The Ultimate Collection" was finally issued in the last week of March 2001 in the UK and Europe – that song was swapped out on CD1 for the lovely but largely forgotten "You're My Home" from the "Piano Man" album of 1973 (his second solo LP). In my opinion that was a genius move – it makes the play on CD1 almost perfect in terms of mood and tempo.
Sporting newly minted Ted Jensen Remasters from 1998, all the lyrics (albeit in tiny writing in the booklet) and with total playing times of 75:32 and 78:43 minutes on each CD – you were essentially getting four LPs worth of fantastic songwriting for not a whole lotta dosh. It was also issued on Columbia's SONY TV imprint, with adverts making certain the public who had forgotten his songwriting genius knew it was out there – sounding and looking good.
So not surprisingly the double-set charted immediately (31 March 2001) and soon rose to an impressive No. 4 after only a few weeks. It was issued in April in Australia, but not in the USA oddly. Fast-forward twelve years and in 2023, it can easily be found online for under three-quid – and that's a stash of the Dogs Bollox for a Catnip Cheapo cost. Here are the tender moments/serenading details...
UK released March 2001 -"The Ultimate Collection" by BILLY JOEL on Columbia/Sony TV SONYTV98CD (Barcode 5099749790827) is a 2CD 36-Track career-spanning Compilation using 1998 Remasters that plays out as follows:
CD1 (75:32 minutes):
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 Love You Now (Live Version)
8. The Entertainer
9. Streetlife Serenader
10. New York State Of Mind
11. Say Goodbye To Hollywood
12. She's Got A Way (Live Version)
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 Version)
NOTES on CD1:
Tracks 1, 13 and 14 are from the album "The Stranger" (September 1977)
Tracks 2 and 15 are from the album "52nd Street" (October 1978)
Tracks 3, 16 and 17 are from the album "Glass Houses" (March 1980)
Track 4 is from the album "An Innocent Man" (August 1983)
Tracks 5 and 6 are from the album "Piano Man" (November 1973)
Tracks 7, 12 and 18 are from the live album "Songs In The Attic" (Sept 1981)
Tracks 8 and 9 are from the album "Streetlife Serenade" (October 1974)
Tracks 10 and 11 are from the album "Turnstiles" (May 1976)
CD2 (78:43 minutes):
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 Lenya
9. This Is The Time
10. Leave A Tender Moment Alone
11. A Matter Of Trust
12. Modern Woman
13. Baby Grand (Duet 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 (Remix)
NOTES ON CD2:
Tracks 1, 2, 4 and 10 are from the album "An Innocent Man" (August 1983)
Track 3 is from the album "River Of Dreams" (August 1993)
Tracks 5, 14, 15 and 16 are from the album "Storm Front" (October 1989)
Tracks 6 and 7 are from the album "The Nylon Curtain" (September 1982)
Track 8 is from the album "Glass Houses" (March 1980)
Tracks 9, 11, 12 and 13 are from the album "The Bridge" (July 1986)
Track 17 is from 2LP Compilation "Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II" (August 1985) which had two new songs – this is one of them
Track 18 is from the CD compilation "Greatest Hits – Volume III" (August 1997); it initially appeared on the October 1993 CD single to "All About Soul" and was an exclusive version at 6:01 minutes
The 16-page booklet has all the lyrics in tiny print and a small 2-page history on Joel and his amazing singer-songwriter career by PATRICK HUMPHRIES. It's a functional affair, but the Remastered Audio is truly fab – very clean and amped in just the right way. To the listens...
I could probably go another ten years without ever having to hear the now slightly irritating Motown throwback chipper nature of "Uptown Girl" or "Tell Her About It" and the "Glass Houses" album felt like a dip when I bought it. But the ballad opener "Just The Way You Are" (lyrics above) and his magnificent 'Yesterday' moment (as far as I'm concerned) in the equally gorgeous "She's Always A Woman" never really get old. "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" is the same – so damn sweet (harmonica complimenting). I love the three live tracks from "Songs In The Attic" because that album was such a smart move at the time – reintroducing deep LP cuts that had gotten lost in the numbers swallowing behemoths that were "The Stranger" in 1977 and "52nd Street" in 1978.
Serious
smarts have also included lovelies like the early song genius of "You're
My Home" right up to the synth-plinking vs. drumming warmth inherent in
"This Is The Time" on "The Bridge" album from 1986. Two
forgotten but fan remembered moments tail-end CD2 with the popular jaunt of
"You're Only Human (Second Wind)" (a great Bonus on the first
Greatest Hits Volumes) and that Remix exclusive to the CD Single for "All
About Soul". But I have to say that "Goodbye Saigon" (his
Vietnam song for Vets still struggling with the aftereffects) and the workingman's meeting-his-bills
dilemma in "Allentown" woke many up to the less delicate side of the
US economy ("The Nylon Curtain" album is considered a forgotten classic among Joel devotees like moi).
"New York State Of Mind" too from years earlier – nostalgic but profound - a tune about that most famous of cities you can't help thinking only Joel could have articulated so well (the audience pride-roar when he sings the word Brooklyn in the live version of "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" is another huge moment). A stunning Pepsi vs. Coke set of rapid-fire hammerhead lyrics took the world by storm when he released "We Didn't Start The Fire" (Monroe and Studebakers ahoy). I'd admit though that CD2 feels at times (as the years progressed and the albums came further apart) like it wanes far more than CD1 does. But there is still sexy bombast galore in "I Go To Extremes" and touches of the old magic in "The Downeaster 'Alexa'" - while his crooner styled duet "Baby Grand" with Ray Charles is a big old dollop of piano-schmoozing class.
Having sold over 100-million albums but also having been musically inactive for decades – you could argue that Billy Joel is a spent force. Well - all I know is that I spent a lot of time loving his deeply moving songs of angst and triumph and poured over his erudite lyrics on many's a long winter evening - an intelligent impassioned Yank who seemed to speak to ordinary men and women alike with a lyrical honesty that both warmed and stung.
There are two four-disc Billy Joel Retrospectives out there that will give you more and flesh out the story with extra layers of quality. But if you want a kick-ass twofer one-stop then "The Ultimate Collection" is comprehensive enough and brilliant sounding into the digital bargain. And in July 2023 - it's available for a pittance that does not reflect its majestic innards.
Get this gift into your seaside palisades and see that
the lights don't go down on your Broadway...
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