This international collection of highlights from the East Coast native's prolific career takes its choicest bits from
Columbia
's three hugely successful
Greatest Hits
compilations.
Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel
may just skim the surface of
Joel
's large reservoir of material, but it's hard to argue with the end results. All of the radio hits, minus some of the more obscure ones like
"Allentown,"
"Pressure,"
and
"Matter of Trust"
are dutifully represented. From
"River of Dreams"
"We Didn't Start the Fire"
to
"Piano Man"
"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,"
this skillfully paced compilation, which also includes a ten-track DVD, is about as good a single-disc
Billy Joel
primer as one is likely to find. ~ James Christopher Monger