While this "Essential" collection has some positive qualities to it, the negative qualities are far more glaring and prevent this from being of any use to an already dedicated Billy Joel Fan. Let's look at the problems:

1) Every song on these two CDs is available in the exact same format on another CD - none of which is hard to come by. To any fan who has collected all of Billy Joel's albums - this album is entirely useless.

2) As many people have pointed out, this album has failed to include what is arguably Billy Joel's best song, and certainly one of his most popular songs in live performances - Scenes From an Italian Restaurant. There is no way, and I stress NO WAY, that any "essential" collection of Billy Joel material would omit this song.

3) This album has also removed key hits from Billy's repertoire including Big Shot, Pressure, and This is the Time. Although the album does try to make up for this by adding some classic, often overlooked gems (such as Miami 2017), it fails by not only adding some less essential material (You're My Home), but failing to add some more deserving fare (Angry Young Man, No Man's Land).

4) The inclusion of the two classical pieces on the end is less a problem than an enigma. Why are they there? Die hard fans who don't want to buy the full classical album will probably not need to buy this collection just to sample those two songs. Casual fans probably are buying this album for the pop material, and have no need for the two samples. While the classical tracks hold their own merit and help to display the versatility of Billy Joel, they don't fit on an essential collection.

So, why this collection? It's cheaper than buying all of his albums. It's also cheaper than buying either the 4-CD Box set or the three Greatest Hits albums separately. If I had to recommend a greatest hits option, I would strongly recommend the 4-CD box set. In that case, there are only mild omissions (I would still love to see Miami 2017 and Angry Young Man) and the fourth CD of discussions and live performances is an excellent addition.

As for the material that actually is on this album - it still shows the wide variety in music that Billy has created throughout his career and it is a testament to his well-crafted songwriting skills that he has honed throughout the years...

I give this 5 stars because it is PRIME Billy Joel but, only 3 stars as a compilation because it lacks what most die-hard fans would consider truly essential work. Hence, the (averaged) 4 star rating. Where are, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," "The Stranger," "Highland Summer Falls," "Prelude/Angry Young Man" and "Big Shot"

For anyone who watched "Billy Joel in His Own Words" on A&E, which also served as a promo piece for this compilation and for his "Billy Joel: Fantasies & Delusions," you heard Highland Summer Falls ... a wonderful yet, underrated work.

But hey, it's 2001 and many of us can burn our own compilations to CDs (I hear the record industry cringing at the thought). DO buy this title. Then burn a third CD from the rest of your Billy Joel collection to include the missing tunes (if they're important to you). Add the new CD to this jewel case ... and you WILL have the ultimate Billy Joel compilation.

Billy Joel is truly a cornerstone in the foundation of contemporary music ... what IS on this compilation will not disappoint!

It surprises me how many of Billy's fans here are so angry about this collection. It's simply a collection of good songs. SO what if it doesn't have one song that they like better than some of the songs on this one. It's Billy Joel!!! All the songs on this collection typify the kind of work he did. It's basically a nice long trip through his music. It seems to me that many people here are seeing the glass as half empty. So one song isn't included....so what. The majortity of the songs in this collection are his greatest songs. FOr someone who doesn't know Billy Joel all that well...this is an excellent way to introduce him to them. So ignore the whining of these other people. If they were really as die hard as they claim to be they would support this collection simply because they want to support Billy's career. Great 2 CD set. I highly recommend it.

I do agree with many here that many of his timeless pop hits are missing for some reason, such as Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, The Stranger, among others. I feel that if it was because of space restrictions, Sony could have perhaps released this on a 3-cd set. Indeed, it would inevitably cost more to buy, but then, Billy Joel fans I suspect will still go for it, provided that it was an intensely good collection.

The tracks included though are not bad at all and a very good introduction of Billy's music to the younger generation. The sound quality is also very good with all the tracks digitally remastered.

Where I differ from most reviewers is that I think that it is quite a good idea to include those two classical tracks onto this collection. They provide a good snapshot of what his classical work sound like. The word Essential essentially means everything that matters, everything that is, and in this case, everything Billy Joel is about. And classical music has played a very important role in his life and his development as a musician, not to mention the release of his first classical album, Fantasies and Delusions, which by the way, is also very highly recommended.

All in all, The Essential Billy Joel is a must buy for all die hard Joel fans and stronly recommended for those who have yet to get their first Billy Joel album.

This is in fact the essential Billy Joel collection. The songs are well chosen and they are in a chronological order. Which is a plus because it makes a great overview of an amazing career. Billy is absolutely one of the very best pop artists of all time. I won't say that I love everything he has done, but when you thought he had lost it he always returned with something quite amazing. I think his venture into classical music on the last two tracks is yet another of his successes. He is of course best known for his pop songs and the greats are all here. They are too many to mention, though most of them are on the first CD.

Of course, there are different opinions about the song selection, but these really are the essentials. However, I do miss The Stranger, This Night, Sometimes A Fantasy and All For Leyna. I would have preferred these to some of the later tracks like Downeaster Alexa or All About Soul.

Some of his best albums are; The Stranger, An Innocent Man and Glass Houses. If you buy these as well as this collection you don't need much else.