For the 8 years I've known Billy Joel I've relied solely on some CDs my brother owned (2 in all) but the main thing I wore out was the Greatest Hits 1 and 2 tape. On the tape version they cut down the songs and they leave out "she's got a way" "...italian restaurant" "captain jack" "the entertainer" and some noticable verses in "Just the Way You are" and "Pressure". My Christmas shopping online consisting of catching up with CDs I've always meant to get but always put off. I was going to get the 2 albums..Greatest Hits 1&2 and 3 but I noticed the box set and the 4th w/ Q&A is only 2 dollars more than if you bought the 2 albums insteead of the set. Well when's the last time you got a Cd for 2 dollars? Neway the whole Set is amazing! Not only have the 4 CDs not left my Cd player BUT the 2 dollars seems to be well spent as the 4th is a great Q&A thing and plus the booklet w/ ALL THE LYRICS and the Story of the Man Behind the Piano...Defintely worthy...if you're thinking about getting the Greatest Hits Albums, don't! GET THE BOX SET FOR A LITTLE MORE....money well spent

Having grown up with an older brother and a cousin who are rabid Billy Joel fans, I grew up listening to his music on a daily basis. What has always amazed me about Joel is the ease with which he can jump styles. He can rock out ("Big Shot", "A Matter Of Trust"), be tender ("She's Always A Woman", "She's Got A Way"), even do a little gospel ("River Of Dreams"). True, I like some of his songs better than others, but overall you have to appreciate his solid musicianship, both in performing and writing. It's also amazing how he can span generations--both my 66-year-old father and my 11-year-old niece are fans (in fact, "The Stranger" was the only rock album Dad would let us play in the car on family trips!). In this age of sampling being called songwriting, it's great to hear an artist who can truly write great songs, truly sing, and truly play. This set literally covers Joel's career beginning to end, and the third disk, which is a combination of a talk he gave to college students and live tracks (including a great cover of "Back In The USSR" and, of course, the awesome singalong that is "Piano Man") gives a fascinating glimpse into how some of his greatest hits came into being. A must for any Joel fan, even if you're just a casual one, because this set has everything and more.

Billy Joel has had a long, storied career as a solo performer. And this set throws together all of his best hit singles. This is a repackaging of the three Greatest Hits CDs, but the real fun is the fourth disc. It includes live versions both hits ("Piano Man", "We Didn't Start the Fire") and a cover of "Hard Days Night" interspersed with Joel lecturing a class about his insprations.

Since Billy seems to have given up performing and writing in this genre, this makes for a great keepsake.

This 4cd box set was my first Billy Joel purchase and I was NOT disappointed. The CD's come in a very well packaged box that has a 43 page booklet about Billy Joel's life and all of the lyrics to his songs. All the CD's have great songs on them, I don't know which is the best, but the all are great. I was thinking of buying greatest hits vol. 1, 2, and 3 seperately, but then I came across this box set. What a deal! The box set is $10 cheaper than the other 3 cds and they throw in the bonus cd at the end, which is really cool. If you are a true Billy fan, you gotta get this box set.

For what this costs, if you found a good sale, you could purchase most of his albums. You would then be the proud owner of "Angry Young Man", "Ballad of Billy the Kid", "Summer, Highland Falls", "Miami 2017", "Honesty", (insert your favorite)... none of which appear here. You would also own the full-length versions of "Just the Way You Are", "My Life", "Pressure", and "Captain Jack", instead of the truncations that DO appear here. Forgive me, dear marketing/repackaging people, but I simply cannot believe that the booklet or the bonus 4th disk could possibly justify the purchase of this set.