The Hits

by Billy Joel

Overview

The inaugural release in the Columbia/Legacy 2011 Billy Joel reissue series, The Hits is the first-ever U.S. single-disc overview of the piano man's full career. Even his first compilation, 1986's Greatest Hits, Vols. 1-2, was a double-LP set and so was 2001's The Essential, so just having a 19-track summation of Joel's career is useful, but fortunately, The Hits accomplishes its job well. True, it bends the rules a little -- the opening "Everybody Loves You Now" never charted, nor did "New York State of Mind," and there are some notable absences, chief among them his first Top Ten hit "Just the Way You Are" and "Uptown Girl," along with the anthem "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" -- but what's here constitutes Billy's basic canon: "Piano Man," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "Only the Good Die Young," "My Life," "You May Be Right," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," "Allentown," "Pressure," "We Didn't Start the Fire." Those double-disc sets dig deeper, offering other hits and album tracks, but there's always been a need for a single disc with most of Joel's hits, and that's what The Hits delivers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/16/2010
Label:	Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music Entertainment
UPC:	0886978081124
Rank:	33531

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 Attic Version]
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

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Billy Joel   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Edward O'Dowd   Art Direction,Design
Patrick Demarchelier   Photography
Don Hunstein   Photography
Jeff Schock   Archivist,Photography
John Jackson   Project Director
Michael Stewart   Producer
Roz Levin   Photography
Bruce Dickinson   Compilation Producer
Jim Houghton   Photography
Art Maillet   Photography
Todd Kaplan   Photography
Artie Ripp   Producer
Danny Kortchmar   Producer
Brian Ruggles   Producer
Mick Jones   Producer
Phil Ramone   Producer
Joe Nicolo   Producer
Billy Joel   Producer,Composer
Ted Jensen   Mastering