I got to admit it...I almost didn't buy this album.

When "Billy Joel Greatest Hits: Volume III" was released in 1997, I wasn't sure if I wanted to purchase it. I hadn't bought many of Joel's post-"An Innocent Man" albums (although a few good friends had given me "The Bridge," "Kohcept," and the "Greatest Hits: Vols. I & II" as presents); I'd heard the quality of the songs had veered from great to good to mediocre, and because I was building up my classical music CD collection, I wasn't about to spend my limited music-buying bucks on albums that would disappoint me. So when I read a review in my local newspaper that stated, in short, that Volume III wasn't exactly the most fitting "adieu" to pop/rock recording by "the Piano Man," I said to myself, "Nah, I better not waste my money on this CD; let's get Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields' Amadeus soundtrack instead."

This I did, but about a year later, I was trying to find something worth getting with a $50 gift certificate at one of my favorite brick-and-mortar stores when I spied the Limited Edition 4-disc Billy Joel Greatest Hits Collection. My Volumes I & II CDs were getting worn out from repeated playing, and they needed replacement anyway, so I figured, "What the heck, I'll get a good bargain if I replace two discs with four."

When I got home, I decided to not listen to Discs 1 and 2 first but went for Disc 3, which of course was Volume III, the so-called "runt of the litter." I knew, just by looking at the play list, that I'd like the first five tracks; I had those songs in my cassettes of "An Innocent Man" and "The Bridge," after all. It was the other 12 songs that were, at the time, musica incognita.

To my surprise, I was totally blown away by the songs that I almost missed out on because of that "professional" music critic's review. I found myself moved to the verge of tears by Joel's end-of-the-Cold War anthem "Leningrad," which tells the parallel life stories of Viktor, a Russian circus clown born in 1944 and Joel, born in suburbia five years later. With its opening piano chords reminiscent of a Russian military march and its haunting lyrics, "Leningrad" is a very personal statement about Joel's personal peace with a citizen of what was once the "evil empire." ("He made my daughter laugh/then we embraced; we never knew what friends we had/Till we came to Leningrad.")

Although there are many songs that I loved right from the git-go ("We Didn't Start the Fire," "The Downeaster Alexa," and the Gospel-tinged "The River of Dreams"), three are particular favorites of mine.

"And So It Goes" is a bittersweet song about a love affair that is star-crossed, doomed, and that Joel knows it is not going to last. It is, like some of his best melancholy songs, restrained and accompanied only by Joel's keyboards, and the lyrics ("So I would choose to be with you/that's if the choice were mine to make...") speak volumes to men and women who have gone through the heartbreak of loving someone yet knowing the other person is moving on.

Joel's "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" started out as a purely classical piece in the style of Edvard Grieg, but acquired lyrics during the period when the songwriter/singer's marriage to Christie Brinkley was coming to an end during the creation of "The River of Dreams" album. It is a song similar to "And So It Goes" both in tone and performance, but the words are a promise to his daughter Alexa that "no matter where you go, no matter where you are" Joel will never be too far away. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and I sometimes wish Joel had included the solo piano version in his "Fantasies and Delusions" album of classical piano pieces.

Finally, there's Joel's inspired cover of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love," in which the singer takes his voice and imitates Dylan's rough-edged tone to good effect. (One thing I had not known about Billy: he's a great mimic. He can sound like a Beatle in a cover of "A Hard Day's Night" or Dylan in "The Times They Are A' Changing.") I have often listened to this song thinking about loves of the past, thinking how I, too, would do all I could to "make [them] feel my love."

I eventually ended up not only embracing Disc 3 of that boxed set, but I also later bought this original release version. Aside from the packaging and the disc's labeling, they are one and the same. For budgetary reasons, of course, the boxed set is a better buy (you get 4 discs in one nice package, plus a booklet of photos, bio and lyrics), but it's often hard to find -- even here -- so if you don't have many of Joel's albums, I recommend this edition along with Vols. I and II. It's not the most comprehensive Greatest Hits collection ever...quite a few favorites of mine were left out ("Honesty," "Rosalinda's Eyes")... but it still gives long-time fans (or new ones) a pretty good retrospective of Joel's long musical career.

I had pretty much lost track of Billy Joel's music after his "An Innocent Man" LP. I had heard some of these songs on the radio but not well enough to know them individually. I wanted "An Innocent Man" on disc so I thought I would take the risk and purchase this collection. This collection has a more serious undercurrent than his earlier work. The listener knows Joel has been burned a few times and that he speaks from personal and brutal life experiences on this CD. "Keeping The Faith" and "A Matter Of Trust" are both good radio tunes and the two most upbeat songs included (beatwise). "An Innocent Man" and "Honesty" should never have been excluded on the first greatest hits collection. At least we have one out of two here. "Baby Grand" begins the let's sit back and listen to some really good music that continues for the rest of the CD. Ray Charles and Billy Joel team up well as they share the same "mistress" for the next four minutes...their baby grand. "This Is The Time" and "Leningrad" were both new to me. I liked them both instantly. "Leningrad" has some of the poignancy of "Goodnight Saigon," only with a more tender, personal story to be told. "We Didn't Start The Fire" is a great follow-up to "Leningrad". A catchy think piece. "I Go To Extremes" good lyrics. "And So It Goes" gorgeous and personal. "The Downeaster {Alexa}" Joel's a good storyteller. "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" is a lovely gift to his daughter, and yours too. "River Of Dreams" I recognized immediately. Funky and nice. "To Make You Feel My Love" begins an obvious reaching out to someone he needs and wants in his life. Dylan did a great version of this song. Joel gave both this song and "Hey Girl" and urgency. He made "Hey Girl" into an adult piece, which it didn't have before. I like how he incorporated a sense of desperation into this one. "Light As A Breeze" I've heard before but cannot recall by whom. It balances the previous two songs with a little lightness. I didn't buy this CD with high expectations. To be very frank, the first time I considered this collection the clerk at a local music store laughed when I asked about his new greatest hits collection. He commented "what hits?" Like always, it's a personal thing. This is a good adult collection of music. A good blind date for those who aren't familiar with these songs.

Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol.3 is an exceptionally good album,but doesn't come close to 1 & 2. First of all, there's a few songs on it that weren't hits or even singles. "shameless"is one of those songs. It's a good Billy Joel song,but it wasn't a single. It was a huge hit for another artist,so maybe that's why they included it. This album doesn't necessarily mean "Greatest Hits"in the sense of the double hits album. There are a number of hits,"We Didn't Start The Fire","Leningrad","The River Of Dreams","An Innocent Man","A Matter Of Trust",and so on. The other obscure choices like,"Shameless","The Downeaster Alexa",only seem to be included to fill up the album. Not that those songs aren't good, they are, they just weren't hits. So, while this album may not be entirely filled of"Greatest Hits",it is still an exceptional album. A must for any hardcore Billy Joel fan. But,then again,if you are a big fan,you would probably already have these songs on the albums they originally appeared on. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 is a much better place to go if you were thinking of becoming a Billy Joel fan.

Billy Joel's greatest hits volume three continues hiscollection throughout 1983-1993 from the 20th century highlighted as a retrospective rock music journey masterpiece work overview. To a final chapter as singer, songwriter he lasted so well into the early late nineties. Now that this compilation covers Joel's entire career it starts off with the rest of his Columbia recording label albums like "An Innocent Man" also "The Bridge" (1986), "Storm Front" (1989) and "River of Dreams" (1993) his last solo debut. Also a few previously unreleased material that was not included for an upcoming 1997 album or a single of such songs as "To Make You Feel My Love", "Hey Girl" and "Light As A Breeze". There all digitally remastered and enchanced from their original releases except for this CD right here. It's still Joel's very best of thedefinitive prime years history showcased as a piano man!

Billy Joel's "Greatest Hits 3" is an excellent collection of his post- "An Innocent Man" work. The album begins, in fact, with 2 tracks from the album "An Innocent Man" that were for one reason or another left off of Joel's "Greatest Hits 1 and 2." These tracks are "Keeping the Faith" and the song "An Innocent Man," both very deserving tracks in my opinion. After that, we get into the meat of the collection: tracks 3 through 14 are all taken off of one of 3 post-Greatest Hits 1 + 2 albums: The Bridge, Storm Front, and River of Dreams. Although thats not a whole lot of material to be pulling "greatest hit" tracks from, all the songs are good ones, many of them great. I would like to make special note of the following tracks: "A Matter of Trust" is a rock guitar-driven, unusually optimistic self-examination of Billy's current love life. "And So it Goes" is a beautiful, touching solo-piano ode to a relationship breaking apart. "The Downeaster 'Alexa" is probably my favorite song on the collection: a tribute to the Long Island Fisherman that are fast growing smaller and smaller in number. "Shameless," while not one of my favorite songs on the album, is a Billy Joel original and it is Garth Brooks who stole the song from Billy contrary to what some nimwit reviewers may tell you. "All About Soul (Remix)" is barely changed from the original version, but the slight guitar and synth alterations make it sound even better; an emotional, powerful piece. The last 3 tracks, all covers, are nothing to write home about but they can't be found anywhere else, so its nice to have them on disc. Billy's latest mega-hits, "We Didn't Start the Fire," and "River of Dreams" are included as well.

Lets get one thing perfectly clear: Billy Joel's greatest hits 1 + 2 is a better collection. But how could you possibly top it? Joel was at the peak of his songwriting, and had many more years of songwriting to work with. Greatest Hits 3 is a worthy continuation of the Joel anthology, and it has earned itself loads of time in my CD player.