Billy Joel Catalog To Be Reissued, New "Hits" Compilation

I actually like the last remasters. Anybody else agree?

 

The ones done by Ted Jensen in the late 90's? No - I don't. I recently compared my 3 copies of 52nd Street & the remaster was awful!! Then I compared my 2 versions of Glass Houses. Both were VERY loud - they quite literally made me "wince" & turn down the volume dramtically! Even my wife complained about it. Those things must have been smashed hard.

Dexter

 

Beyond what was obviously a subjective choice to steer away from the slower songs (Honesty, JTWYAre, and to a lesser extent An Innocent Man and maybe And So It Goes) when possible, a few rules seem to apply:

- chronological (explains the opening track's placement)
- at one song from every album (starts to explain some omissions)
- no more than two tracks from an album (further contributes to biggest omission or two)

Both of the highest-profile omissions are from albums with two tracks on this comp. Given a choice between breaking your two-track rule (and bumping something else) to include Just The Way You Are or Honesty, vs. sticking to these rules and giving non-completist fans a good motivation to go buy the new reissues of The Stranger and 52nd Street ... well, I'd say they made the best long-term decision.

That said, I hope the bonus stuff leans on some good live choices that got lost in the peculiar (but very enjoyable) Songs In The Attic decision.

 

"Angry Young Man" would make a great Attic bonus track.

 

what? No She's Always a Woman ???? :thumbsdn:

 

I do...and I am so tired of "bonus stuff". I never listen to it anyway!

 

Good observation! This looks to be EXACTLY the approach they took. They had certain "caveats" going in: one CD ... all albums included ... no more than 2 from any album.

Dexter

 

I always get the impression that BJ isn't very interested in his body of live work, aside from the excellent attic, which actually served a purpose and is a great tour comp to boot. 2000 Years was an incomplete rush job with strange fly-in dubs, and 12 Gardens just seemed like a obligation album (although it does feature his latter-day touring band). Also in recently print:

Live From Yankee Stadium (a heavily truncated, maddeningly filmed show with that terribly dated "blurry, low frame rate" effect)
Carnegie Hall 1977 (Stranger Legacy Only)
A snippet of Nassau (my favorite show!)(again bonus only)
The Old Grey Whistle Test Stranger Show (now we're talking!) (Stranger Legacy only)
The River of Dreams Tour (again, packaged only with My Lives)

And now we're getting Shea, which is great, but there are so many release-quality shows that exist on film, video, and audio tape that have never seen the light of day (Sigma, Nassau, Sparks, CW Post (although the soundboard is a little flat), Beat Club, Houston) not to mention shows that have already been released on VHS (including UConn which hasn't been mentioned yet), and overseas releases like Tokyo 200(6?) and the HBO Face to Face show. He could even do an Elton 60 style comp of TV appearances over the years.

 

There are really only two things that could get me excited about a reissue program like this -- hi-res audio and previously unreleased (or unavailable on CD) material. I doesn't look like we're getting any hi res audio, and the thought of having to buy a 14 album box set just to get a bonus disc containing 16 non-album tracks doesn't get me all that excited.

Now if every album (or at least his best known) were released as expanded Legacy Editions, with one disc containing the remastered album, a second disc containing non-album tracks and outtakes and a bonus DVD containing live footage, that would actually give me something to look forward to. At the very least, we should get an expanded Songs In the Attic that matches the setlist from the tour from which the original tracks were taken.

 

I remember looking forward to it. But, I don't believe that show exists. It was supposed to be Live In Vienna 1998 but almost the entire European tour was canceled when Billy got sick. Elton carried on the tour without Billy and did longer shows to makeup for his absence. And for some strange reason after all these years Elton and Billy have still not done a makeup European tour.

 

Really? There's a complete, grey market, pro-recorded show on CD that claims to be Face to Face Live in Tokyo from 1998. I always assumed that it was from the HBO Concert, as I've seen a few songs with video footage that matches the audio. (Here's one of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQa6VSd6ps). Anyway, the audio from the show is great, and both of them are pretty "on" in terms of performance quality. Also, it has a complete 4 minutes or so of dueling pianos on "Bennie and the Jets."

If the Vienna concert was canceled, that would explain why the show has never surfaced or been rebroadcast 0.

 

Not a huge fan, but I've always found it odd that the label has never put "Summer, Highland Falls" on a comp. It's such a great song, and was a highlight of Twyla Tharp's "Movin' Out" show too.

 

I have that show as well. Great sound quality and performance. But, no it was not the one planned for HBO. It was definitely Vienna. If I remember correctly, there were two shows planned for Vienna with the second to be broadcast on HBO. I believe Elton did the first show and the second was canceled so there was actually no concert for HBO to broadcast on the scheduled date.

 

My mental bar was immediately set around the Costello 2-disc reissues. Any video would be an extra bonus as far as I'm concerned.

I wonder how they'll handle The Stranger given the box.

 

Well, the album from which that comes, Turnstiles, is IMHO his best album. But it has never gotten the TLC that it deserves.

If I were going to do a deluxe reissue on artistic grounds, Turnstiles is the albums I'd choose.

 

He did master the My Lives box, IIRC.

 

Exactly my feelings.

Mulichannel Hi-Rez Audio (Would be nice)

But, definitely, seperate releases for each album with bonus material.

Otherwise I'll be waiting to see what the bonus dvd has on it and if it's any good, I'll wait 'til someone puts it on ebay.

 

Although, it does say, "Among the upcoming releases", so they may well have plans for seperate releases in addition to the 14 album box set.

 

A 14 disc set for 1 disc of rarities? No thanks. I'd rather see more Joel titles from Audio Fidelity, but a reissue program such as this one makes this less likely. Only a decent sounding Turnstiles with original Richie Canata sax solo would get me excited.

 

Bump

 

On the Billy Joel fansite, they are reporting that Joel's camp has found session tapes of "a drunken, drug fueled night of free form jams" for the Atilla album, and those may appear as a second disc on a reissue of that album.

 

Here's what I think they should release as a replacement for the original 2-disc comp.

You could entice new sales with:
- The original mix of "She's Got A Way" at the correct speed
- The 45 mixes of "Sometimes A Fantasy" and "Keeping The Faith"
- Joel's only new song in well over a decade "Christmas In Fallujah" which was released only in Australia.

I divided the 2 discs between the more Top 40 stuff and the songs that were more FM Rock radio. Obviously there is crossover between the two and one could make an argument for certain songs being on the other disc.


DISC 1 - THE POP HITS
1. She's Got A Way (2:49, original mix, correct speed)
2. Just The Way You Are (4:52)
3. Only The Good Die Young (3:55)
4. Honesty (3:53)
5. My Life (4:44)
6. Don't Ask Me Why (2:59)
7. Allentown (3:52)
8. An Innocent Man (5:17)
9. The Longest Time (3:42)
10. Tell Her About It (3:52)
11. Uptown Girl (3:17)
12. Keeping The Faith (4:41, 45 mix)
13. You're Only Human (4:48)
14. This Is The Time (4:59)
15. A Matter Of Trust (4:09)
16. We Didn't Start The Fire (4:50)
17. I Go To Extremes (4:50)
18. The River Of Dreams (4:05)

Total Time 75:48


DISC 2 -THE ROCK HITS
1. Piano Man (5:37)
2. Captain Jack (7:15)
3. New York State Of Mind (5:58)
4. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:17)
5. Miami 2017 (5:12)
6. Movin' Out (3:30)
7. The Stranger (5:10)
8. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (7:37)
9. Big Shot (4:03)
10. You May Be Right (4:15)
11. Sometimes A Fantasy (4:18, 45 mix)
12. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me (2:57)
13. Pressure (4:40)
14. Back In The U.S.S.R. (2:43)
15. Christmas In Fallujah (4:21)

Total Time 72:53

 

I prefer the original mix. It is also one of my favourites, or even my favourite album of his.

There's a thread somewhere around here that lists pitch corrections (and mix differences) as compared to the remix.