Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on August 2, 1985. 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 platinum album of all time in the US."RIAA List of Best Selling Albums" 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.
The chronological compilation was later extended in 1997 by Greatest Hits Volume III.
Track listing All tracks are written by Billy Joel.
Double LP
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. Some foreign pressings also include "Honesty" in place of "Don't Ask Me Why".Sources for the Dutch and Japanese editions of Greatest Hits Volume 2:
Cassette
Double CD release
2017 release
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. According to One Final Serenade, the saxophone solo on the *Greatest Hits* version was newly recorded by Michael Brecker.
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) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 2 European Albums (Eurotipsheet) 21Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)28 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 4 +2025 weekly chart performance for Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II Chart (2025) Peakposition
Year-end charts +1985 year-end performance for Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II Chart (1985) PositionAustralian Albums (Kent Music Report) 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 55 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 10 US Billboard 200 90 +1986 year-end performance for Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II Chart (1986) Position New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 47
Certifications and sales
References