Review: Billy Joel, The Hits

This article was first published at Blogcritics

It was August 2, 1994. Billy Joel and Elton John were in Pittsburgh for a concert at Three Rivers Stadium, a concert that had been sold out almost as soon as tickets had gone on sale. At the last minute, they opened up some of the stadium seating behind the stage. We drove in early looking to scalp a couple of tickets, but when push came to shove we settled for the newly released seats: turned out to be not such a bad deal. The seats were fairly close to the stage. Joel and John, when they were seated at the piano were always in profile, and when they were up on their feet, they always made some effort to play to those of us sitting behind. It was one great concert, one of the best.

Three Rivers Stadium is gone now. Elton John is touring with Leon Russell. And Billy Joel is set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release Cold Spring Harbor, his first solo album, in 2011. In conjunction with that anniversary, Columbia/Legacy is releasing a nineteen track collection of the Piano Man's best: The Hits. Looking back at Joel's playlist for that '94 concert, it is not strange that almost all of the songs he played that night are featured on this new album, nor that those that aren't probably should be. This was after all the zenith of the singer's career. Indeed, "The River of Dreams," the latest song on the album dates from 1993.

Nineteen, of course is no magic number. While Billy Joel fans are bound to find some of their personal favorites missing from the CD, it is hard to quarrel with what is included. It isn't a question of trading one piece for another. One disc just isn't enough to hold everything that ought to be there. If I had my way they'd have to include the whole of 52nd Street, a vinyl LP I wore out back in the day. And what about "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant?" "Prelude: Angry Young Man?" "She's Got a Way?" "Captain. . . ," well you get the idea. What we really need is another disc. Luckily, Columbia/Legacy has more on the way. Their publicity promises a 2CD/DVD edition of Joel's 2008 Shea Stadium concerts and a complete collection of all fourteen of his albums with a bonus disc of sixteen non-album tracks. Happily for Billy Joel fans there is more to come.

The Hits begins with "Everybody Loves You Now" from his first album. "Piano Man" and "The Entertainer" follow. The mellow "New York State of Mind" from the 1976 Turnstiles album is followed by two from 1977's The Stranger: "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" and his anthem, "Only the Good Die Young." "My Life" and "Big Shot" close out the songs from the seventies. Glass Houses' two classic rockers "You May Be Right" and the infectious "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" start the new decade, followed by a live performance of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood." Then there are the more socially conscious songs "Allentown," "Pressure," and the later "We didn't Start the Fire." "The Longest Time," "Tell Her About It," "A Matter of Trust," and "I Go to Extremes" round out the album.

This is a collection that not only highlights Joel's hits it also tries to pay attention to all of his different voices: from the mellow jazz piano man to the swinging pop rocker, Joel is here in all his incarnations. Three Rivers Stadium may be gone, but Billy Joel's music isn't going anywhere. It's here to stay.