Octo_Russ

Billy Joel [The Ultimate Collection]

Way back in 1993 i bought a cassette tape of Billy Joel's 52nd Street, and it has three of the tracks on this compilation, that was a great introduction to Billy Joel, and even if i don't think any of his studio albums stand up to being really worthy of a record collection, i feel this two disc set does, wisely there are very few live tracks, and even these fit in well, Joel is an artist that is very consistent, on every album he has at least one song you would like to bring together onto one package, and here it is, in my opinion i don't think any great song is left out, and for once we have an artist that can justify a two disc set of greatest hits, a truly great collection of 28 songs.

Billy Joel was born in 1949 in America, he's now 61 and somewhat semi-retired i suppose, he certainly has a way of creating songs that have that certain something which makes them so memorable, and a

fter listening to this set, it's surprising how many tracks i just can't get out of my head, a good sign that things are memorable here, Billy Joel has also documented on some of the inspiration for his songs, and his composing techniques, some of them really are revelations out of the blue, it's inspiring to hear how he was inspired.

The two tracks that really impressed me were both from the first disc, track 5 'Piano Man', and track 14 'She's Always A Woman', 'Piano Man' is his signature tune, a song about himself, and his first real hit that got him noticed, and introduced himself as, well...the Piano Man, the guy on the keys who can sing too!, it's a great number that increases to a wonderful crescendo, and Joel has a way with words and rhyme, that make the music hit hard like punchline after punchline, 'She's Always A Woman' is a gorgeous ballad, about a woman who's loved in spite of her less endearing traits, and she's justified because well, that's just the way she is, it starts with the utmost beautiful piano refrain [0:00-0:07], and Billy Joel singing solo with just his piano as backing [0:07-0:28], which makes it all the more the powerful when the acoustic guitars come in [0:28+], and the piano starts to roll in a quicker legato [0:29+], Joel creates lots of emotions, and backs them up in the way he sings, '...she just changes her mind' changes in tone as Joel ever so slightly hesitates in an indifferent doubtful way, almost an afterthought throwaway line, which mirrors the words he's singing, my favourite line used to be '...and she'll carelessly cut you and laugh while your bleedin', for its strong and powerful visuals, Joel sings 'laugh' louder and with a degree of cracking up over an unfortunate soul, but it's the next line which captures the essence of the whole song,

'...but she'll bring out the best and the worst you can be'

now with a real degree of love and empathy, love truly brings out the extremes in us, all your faults are laid bare as you trust someone else with your heart implicitly, and yet love also brings out the noble and courageous in people as they try to be their best selves for their sweethearts, a tremendous collection, highly recommended.

Billy Joel singing 'She's Always A Woman' live in Tokyo on YouTube.