Greatest Hits Volume III (Billy Joel album)

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Greatest Hits Volume III
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedAugust 19, 1997
Recorded1983–1997
GenreRock
Length76:08
LabelColumbia
ProducerPhil Ramone, Mick Jones, Billy Joel, Danny Kortchmar, Joe Nicolo, David Thoener
Billy Joel chronology
River of Dreams
(1993)
Greatest Hits Volume III
(1997)
The Complete Hits Collection: 1973–1997
(1997)
Singles from Greatest Hits Volume III
  1. "To Make You Feel My Love"
    Released: August 13, 1997
  2. "Hey Girl"
    Released: October 10, 1997[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Greatest Hits Volume III is the second greatest hits album from American singer songwriter Billy Joel. The volume follows Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II and includes hits from 1983 to 1993. Two previously unreleased studio tracks are included, Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love" and Goffin/King's "Hey Girl", while the third new track, "Light as the Breeze", was originally recorded for a Leonard Cohen tribute album known as Tower of Song in 1995. Cover songs are a rare occurrence in Joel's catalogue.

Joel's cover of "To Make You Feel My Love" came out two months before Bob Dylan released his own version for his 1997 album Time Out of Mind.

To help promote the album, Joel filmed music videos for both "To Make You Feel My Love" and "Hey Girl", featuring himself performing with his band. In addition, Joel performed "To Make You Feel My Love" as musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman on August 18, 1997, almost exactly four years after Joel served as the first musical guest on Letterman's premiere show for CBS.

Commercially, the collection paled in comparison to the first two greatest hits volumes, only achieving platinum status.

Chronologically, Greatest Hits Volume III continues from where Volume II left off, as the first two tracks, "Keeping the Faith" and "An Innocent Man", first appeared on his album An Innocent Man.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Joel except where noted.

No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."Keeping the Faith"An Innocent Man, 19834:38
2."An Innocent Man"An Innocent Man5:19
3."A Matter of Trust"The Bridge, 19864:12
4."Baby Grand" (Duet with Ray Charles)The Bridge4:05
5."This Is the Time"The Bridge5:00
6."Leningrad"Storm Front, 19894:04
7."We Didn't Start the Fire"Storm Front4:48
8."I Go to Extremes"Storm Front4:24
9."And So It Goes"Storm Front3:38
10."The Downeaster 'Alexa'"Storm Front3:44
11."Shameless"Storm Front4:27
12."All About Soul" (Remix)Exclusive to the "All About Soul" single, 1993; originally from River of Dreams, 19936:01
13."Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"River of Dreams3:35
14."The River of Dreams"River of Dreams4:11
15."To Make You Feel My Love" (Bob Dylan)Previously unreleased3:53
16."Hey Girl" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King)Previously unreleased3:57
17."Light as the Breeze" (Leonard Cohen)Tower of Song, 19956:12

Personnel

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[3] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[4] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[5] Gold 100,000[5]
Netherlands (NVPI)[6] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[8] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Radio & Records October 10, 1997" (PDF).
  2. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Greatest Hits, Vol. 3". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits". Music Canada.
  5. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  6. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Billy Joel" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Billy Joel in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1987 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  7. ^ "British album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol III". British Phonographic Industry.
  8. ^ "American album certifications – Billy Joel – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America.