Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II

Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on July 1, 1985.^[4] The album has been certified double diamond by the RIAA, selling over 11.5 million copies (23 million units) and ranking as the sixth-most-certified album of all time in the US.^[5] The compilation of recordings between 1973 and 1985 includes two previously unreleased tracks, "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "The Night Is Still Young". The two songs were released as singles and would later reappear on subsequent box sets.

Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II
Greatest hits album by Billy Joel
Released	July 1, 1985
Recorded	1973–1985
Genre	Rock
Length	87:12 (LP/Cassette) 1:53:45 (CD) 1:57:38 (2017)
Label	Family Productions/Columbia
Producer	Michael Stewart, Billy Joel, Phil Ramone
Billy Joel chronology
An Innocent Man (1983) Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II (1985) The Bridge (1986)
Singles from Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II
"You're Only Human (Second Wind)" Released: June 1985[1] "The Night Is Still Young" Released: September 1985

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s	A−[3]

The chronological compilation was later extended in 1997 by Greatest Hits Volume III.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Billy Joel.

Double LP

Side one

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Piano Man"	Piano Man, 1973	5:36
2.	"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Live edited version)	Songs in the Attic, 1981; originally from Turnstiles, 1976	3:54
3.	"New York State of Mind"	Turnstiles	6:02
4.	"The Stranger"	The Stranger, 1977	5:07
5.	"Just the Way You Are" (Radio edit)	The Stranger	3:36

Side two

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"	The Stranger	3:28
2.	"Only the Good Die Young"	The Stranger	3:53
3.	"She's Always a Woman"	The Stranger	3:17
4.	"My Life" (Radio edit)	52nd Street, 1978	3:51
5.	"Big Shot" (Radio edit)	52nd Street	3:43
6.	"You May Be Right"	Glass Houses, 1980	4:09

Side three

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"	Glass Houses	2:54
2.	"Don't Ask Me Why"	Glass Houses	2:57
3.	"Pressure" (Radio edit)	The Nylon Curtain, 1982	3:15
4.	"Allentown"	The Nylon Curtain	3:48
5.	"Goodnight Saigon"	The Nylon Curtain	7:00

Side four

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Tell Her About It" (Radio edit)	An Innocent Man, 1983	3:35
2.	"Uptown Girl"	An Innocent Man	3:15
3.	"The Longest Time"	An Innocent Man	3:36
4.	"You're Only Human (Second Wind)"	Previously unreleased	4:48
5.	"The Night Is Still Young"	Previously unreleased	5:28

Some original pressings omit "Don't Ask Me Why" and place "Honesty" after "Big Shot", pushing "You May Be Right" to the beginning of side three.^[6] Some foreign pressings also include "Honesty" in place of "Don't Ask Me Why".^[7]

Cassette

Side one

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Piano Man"	Piano Man, 1973	5:36
2.	"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Live edited version)	Songs in the Attic, 1981; originally from Turnstiles, 1976	3:54
3.	"New York State of Mind"	Turnstiles	6:02
4.	"The Stranger"	The Stranger, 1977	5:07
5.	"Just the Way You Are" (Radio edit)	The Stranger	3:36
6.	"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"	The Stranger	3:28
7.	"Only the Good Die Young"	The Stranger	3:53
8.	"She's Always a Woman"	The Stranger	3:17
9.	"My Life" (Radio edit)	52nd Street, 1978	3:51
10.	"Big Shot" (Radio edit)	52nd Street	3:43

Side two

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"You May Be Right"	Glass Houses, 1980	4:09
2.	"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"	Glass Houses	2:54
3.	"Don't Ask Me Why"	Glass Houses	2:57
4.	"Pressure" (Radio edit)	The Nylon Curtain, 1982	3:15
5.	"Allentown"	The Nylon Curtain	3:48
6.	"Goodnight Saigon"	The Nylon Curtain	7:00
7.	"Tell Her About It" (Radio edit)	An Innocent Man, 1983	3:35
8.	"Uptown Girl"	An Innocent Man	3:15
9.	"The Longest Time"	An Innocent Man	3:36
10.	"You're Only Human (Second Wind)"	Previously unreleased	4:48
11.	"The Night Is Still Young"	Previously unreleased	5:28

Double CD release

Disc one

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Piano Man"	Piano Man	5:36
2.	"Captain Jack"	Piano Man	7:15
3.	"The Entertainer"	Streetlife Serenade, 1974	3:38
4.	"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Live edited version)	Songs in the Attic; originally from Turnstiles	3:54
5.	"New York State of Mind"	Turnstiles	6:02
6.	"The Stranger"	The Stranger	5:07
7.	"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"	The Stranger	7:33
8.	"Just the Way You Are" (Radio edit)	The Stranger	3:36
9.	"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"	The Stranger	3:28
10.	"Only the Good Die Young"	The Stranger	3:53
11.	"She's Always a Woman"	The Stranger	3:17
Total length:			53:19

Disc two

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"My Life" (Radio edit)	52nd Street	3:51
2.	"Big Shot" (Radio edit)	52nd Street	3:43
3.	"You May Be Right"	Glass Houses	4:09
4.	"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"	Glass Houses	2:54
5.	"Don't Ask Me Why"	Glass Houses	2:57
6.	"She's Got a Way" (Live version)	Songs in the Attic; originally from Cold Spring Harbor, 1971	3:00
7.	"Pressure" (Radio edit)	The Nylon Curtain	3:15
8.	"Allentown"	The Nylon Curtain	3:48
9.	"Goodnight Saigon"	The Nylon Curtain	7:00
10.	"Tell Her About It" (Radio edit)	An Innocent Man	3:35
11.	"Uptown Girl"	An Innocent Man	3:15
12.	"The Longest Time"	An Innocent Man	3:36
13.	"You're Only Human (Second Wind)"	Previously unreleased	4:48
14.	"The Night Is Still Young"	Previously unreleased	5:28
Total length:			55:19

2017 release

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Piano Man"	Piano Man	5:37
2.	"Captain Jack"	Piano Man	6:57
3.	"The Entertainer"	Streetlife Serenade	3:40
4.	"Say Goodbye to Hollywood"	Turnstiles	4:39
5.	"New York State of Mind"	Turnstiles	6:05
6.	"The Stranger"	The Stranger	5:10
7.	"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"	The Stranger	7:36
8.	"Just the Way You Are"	The Stranger	4:51
9.	"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"	The Stranger	3:30
10.	"Only the Good Die Young"	The Stranger	3:55
11.	"She's Always a Woman"	The Stranger	3:20
12.	"My Life"	52nd Street	4:43
13.	"Big Shot"	52nd Street	4:02
14.	"Honesty"	52nd Street	3:53
15.	"You May Be Right"	Glass Houses	4:12
16.	"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"	Glass Houses	2:58
17.	"Don't Ask Me Why"	Glass Houses	2:59
18.	"She's Got a Way" (Live version)	Songs in the Attic; originally from Cold Spring Harbor	3:03
19.	"Pressure"	The Nylon Curtain	4:37
20.	"Allentown"	The Nylon Curtain	3:49
21.	"Goodnight Saigon"	The Nylon Curtain	7:02
22.	"Tell Her About It"	An Innocent Man	3:50
23.	"Uptown Girl"	An Innocent Man	3:16
24.	"The Longest Time"	An Innocent Man	3:39
25.	"You're Only Human (Second Wind)"	Previously unreleased	4:49
26.	"The Night Is Still Young"	Previously unreleased	5:26

Track listings do vary across different CD releases. The initial 1985 release has "Honesty" as the third track on disc 2, second pressings onward had "Don't Ask Me Why" as the third track, and the 1998 remaster has "Don't Ask Me Why" as the fifth track on disc 2. However, the disc with "Honesty" does not have "Don't Ask Me Why" and vice versa.^[8]

While Phil Woods performed the sax solo for "Just the Way You Are", he did not rerecord the "New York State of Mind" sax solo for the Greatest Hits release.^{[citation needed]}

On the original 1985 compilation, five songs are shorter than their original versions: "Just the Way You Are" is only 3:34 long (1½ minute shorter), verse 2 is totally omitted (from "Don't go trying some new fashion" to "I want you just the way you are") and the sax solo at the end fades early; "My Life" is 3:50 long (nearly 1 minute shorter), the intro is slightly shorter with piano notes at 0:25 omitted (before the first words), same notes are omitted between verses 1 and 2, then again after "You wake up with yourself", piano passage also missing after "But not on my time" and the piano notes omitted several times at the end; "Big Shot" is 3:43 long (the ending with the "big shot… wow" is shortened by ½ minute approx.); "Pressure" is only 3:13 long (1½ min shorter) with more than a verse omitted (from "I'll tell you what it means" to "I read it too, what does it mean?"); "Tell Her About It" is 3:33 long (the end fades approx. 20 seconds sooner, leaving some wording out).^[9]

In 1998, the two CD set was digitally remastered and packaged with two bonus videos ("You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "The Night Is Still Young") on disc 1. All of the songs that were edited in the 1985 package ("Pressure", "My Life", "Big Shot", "Just the Way You Are" and "Tell Her About It") were restored to their original album lengths. Also, the live version of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" was removed and replaced with the studio version from Joel's 1976 album Turnstiles. Surprisingly, "Captain Jack" has been shortened instead, fading out about 20 seconds sooner (6:56 instead of 7:15).

Charts

Weekly charts 1985 weekly chart performance for Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II Chart (1985) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 30 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12] 15 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 7 European Albums (Eurotipsheet)[14] 21 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] 28 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 33 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 4 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 18 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 45 UK Albums (OCC)[21] 7 US Billboard 200[22] 6

Year-end charts 1985 year-end performance for Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II Chart (1985) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[23] 13 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[24] 36 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 55 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 10 US Billboard 200[27] 90 1986 year-end performance for Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II Chart (1986) Position New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 47

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[29]	9× Platinum	630,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[30]	Gold	25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[31]	2× Platinum	200,000^
France (SNEP)[32]	2× Gold	200,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[33] Original release	3× Platinum	600,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[34] 2003 re-release	Gold	100,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[35]	Gold	50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[36]	Gold	7,500‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[37]	Gold	25,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[38]	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA)[39]	23× Platinum	11,500,000^
Summaries
Worldwide	—	18,000,000[40]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.