Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II

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1985 greatest hits album by Billy Joel

Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II is the first greatest hits album by American Billy Joel. The album has been certified double diamond by the RIAA, selling over 11.5 million copies (23 million units) and is tied with Pink Floyd’s The Wall for sixth most certified album of all time in the US.[3]

The album includes hits from 1973 to 1985 in chronological order with one exception.
Some foreign pressings include “Honesty” in place of “Don’t Ask Me Why”.[4]
The compilation includes two previously unreleased tracks, “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” and “The Night Is Still Young”. These two songs were also available as singles and, in 1989, on the 5-disc box set Souvenir: The Ultimate Collection which included the entire Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II.[5] “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” later featured on the compilation The Ultimate Collection released in 2000, and on disc 15, Collected Additional Masters, of The Complete Albums Collection box set, released in 2011. “The Night Is Still Young” was also included on that same disc 15.
Contrary to some sources, the sax solo on “New York State of Mind” was never re-recorded by Phil Woods for the release of Greatest Hits. The only time that Phil Woods performed on a Billy Joel recording was the song “Just the Way You Are” in 1977.

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Billy Joel.

Double LP/Double cassette[edit]

Some original pressings omit “Don’t Ask Me Why” and place “Honesty” after “Big Shot”, pushing “You May Be Right” to the beginning of Side three.[6]

Double CD release[edit]

Disc two
Title Original album
1. “My Life” (Radio edit) 52nd Street 3:51
2. “Big Shot” (Radio edit) 52nd Street 3:43
3. “You May Be Right” Glass Houses 4:09
4. “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” Glass Houses 2:54
5. “Don’t Ask Me Why” Glass Houses 2:57
6. “She’s Got a Way” (Live version) Songs in the Attic; originally from Cold Spring Harbor 3:00
7. “Pressure” (Radio edit) The Nylon Curtain 3:15
8. “Allentown” The Nylon Curtain 3:48
9. “Goodnight Saigon” The Nylon Curtain 7:00
10. “Tell Her About It” (Radio edit) An Innocent Man 3:35
11. “Uptown Girl” An Innocent Man 3:15
12. “The Longest Time” An Innocent Man 3:36
13. “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” Greatest Hits Volume I & II 4:48
14. “The Night Is Still Young” Greatest Hits Volume I & II 5:28
Total length: 58:25

2017 release[edit]

Disc two
Title Original album
1. “My Life” 52nd Street 4:43
2. “Big Shot” 52nd Street 4:02
3. “Honesty” 52nd Street 3:53
4. “You May Be Right” Glass Houses 4:12
5. “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” Glass Houses 2:58
6. “Don’t Ask Me Why” Glass Houses 2:59
7. “She’s Got a Way” (Live version) Songs in the Attic; originally from Cold Spring Harbor 3:03
8. “Pressure” The Nylon Curtain 4:37
9. “Allentown” The Nylon Curtain 3:49
10. “Goodnight Saigon” The Nylon Curtain 7:02
11. “Tell Her About It” An Innocent Man 3:50
12. “Uptown Girl” An Innocent Man 3:16
13. “The Longest Time” An Innocent Man 3:39
14. “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” Greatest Hits Volume I & II 4:49
15. “The Night Is Still Young” Greatest Hits Volume I & II 5:26
Total length: 62:18

There are three versions of the CD available. The initial 1985 release has “Honesty” as the third track on disc 2, second pressings onward had “Don’t Ask Me Why” as the third track, and the 1998 remaster has “Don’t Ask Me Why” as the fifth track on disc 2. However, the disc with “Honesty” does not have “Don’t Ask Me Why” and vice versa.[7]

On the original 1985 releases, five songs are shorter than their original versions: “Just the Way You Are” is only 3:34 long (1½ minute shorter), verse 2 is totally omitted (from “Don’t go trying some new fashion” to “I want you just the way you are”) and the sax solo at the end fades early; “My Life” is 3:50 long (nearly 1 minute shorter), the intro is slightly shorter with piano notes at 0:25 omitted (before the first words), same notes are omitted between verses 1 and 2, then again after “You wake up with yourself”, piano passage also missing after “But not on my time” and the piano notes omitted several times at the end; “Big Shot” is 3:43 long (the ending with the “big shot… wow” is shortened by ½ minute approx.); “Pressure” is only 3:13 long (1½ min shorter) with more than a verse omitted (from “I’ll tell you what it means” to “I read it too, what does it mean?”); “Tell Her About It” is 3:33 long (the end fades approx. 20 seconds sooner, leaving some wording out).[8]

In 1998, the two CD set was digitally remastered and packaged with two bonus videos (“You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” and “The Night Is Still Young”) on disc 1. All of the songs that were edited in the 1985 package (“Pressure”, “My Life”, “Big Shot”, “Just the Way You Are” and “Tell Her About It”) were restored to their original album lengths. Also, the live version of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” was removed and replaced with the studio version from Joel’s 1976 album Turnstiles. Surprisingly, “Captain Jack” has been shortened instead, fading out about 20 seconds sooner (6:56 instead of 7:15).

Certifications and sales[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. “Greatest Hits, Vols. 1-2 (1973-1985)”. AllMusic.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). “Billy Joel”. Christgau’s Record Guide: The ’80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  3. ^ “RIAA List of Best Selling Albums” Archived 2007-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Sources for the Dutch and Japanese editions of Greatest Hits Volume 2:
  5. ^ Souvenir: The Ultimate Collection
  6. ^ “Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II”. Discogs.
  7. ^ “Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II”. Discogs.
  8. ^ “52nd Street Serenade ♪♪”.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 156. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ “Austriancharts.at – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II” (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  11. ^ “Top RPM Albums: Issue 0581”. RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  12. ^ “Dutchcharts.nl – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II” (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  13. ^ “European Top 100 Albums” (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 35. September 4, 1985. p. 18. Retrieved February 3, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  14. ^ “Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II” (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  15. ^ “Offiziellecharts.de – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II” (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  16. ^ Okamoto, Satoshi (2006). Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. ISBN 978-4-87131-077-2.
  17. ^ “Charts.nz – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II”. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  18. ^ “Norwegiancharts.com – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II”. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  19. ^ “Swedishcharts.com – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol. I & Vol. II”. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  20. ^ “Official Albums Chart Top 100”. Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  21. ^ “Billy Joel Chart History (Billboard 200)”. Billboard. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  22. ^ “Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1985” (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  23. ^ “Top Selling Albums of 1985 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart”. Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  24. ^ “Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End”. Billboard. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  25. ^ “Top Selling Albums of 1986 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart”. Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  26. ^ “ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2018 Albums” (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  27. ^ “Austrian album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits” (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  28. ^ “Canadian album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits”. Music Canada.
  29. ^ “French album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits” (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved September 3, 2021. Select BILLY JOEL and click OK. 
  30. ^ “Japanese album certifications – ビリー・ジョエル – ビリー・ザ・ベスト” (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 3, 2021. Select 1999年10月 on the drop-down menu
  31. ^ “Japanese album certifications – ビリー・ジョエル – ビリー・ザ・ベスト” (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 3, 2021. Select 2010年2月 on the drop-down menu
  32. ^ “Dutch album certifications – Billy Joel” (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Billy Joel in the “Artiest of titel” box. Select 1986 in the drop-down menu saying “Alle statussen”
  33. ^ “New Zealand album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits”. Recorded Music NZ.
  34. ^ “IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011” (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  35. ^ “British album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol 1 & 2”. British Phonographic Industry.
  36. ^ “American album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits”. Recording Industry Association of America.
  37. ^ “I Record”. Corriere della Sera. April 3, 1999. Retrieved March 6, 2022.