Billy Joel - Greatest Hits, Volume 3: The Video
by Andrew Morahan, Chris Blum, Derek Horne, Ernie Fritz, Howard Deutch

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DVD Reviews of Billy Joel - Greatest Hits, Volume 3: The Video

DVD Review: Billy Joel + Video = Entertaining, even for non-video fans
Summary: 5 Stars

In spite of this bias, I do make an occasional music-video purchase or even (are you sitting down?) watch one or two on cable. (I remember waiting rather impatiently for the world premiere of John Williams' "Duel of the Fates" video on MTV, but that was in 1999...) Sometimes the music videos are included in the extra features of a feature film's DVD -- the two Star Wars movies, Spider-Man, and both Lord of the Rings have a related music video included -- but once in a blue moon I buy a stand-alone collection of videos.

Ironically, Billy Joel doesn't like the idea of making videos, but he makes them for his label, Columbia. He says (in the liner notes to his Greatest Hits boxed set) that he is short, a bit bug-eyed and not exactly the handsomest fellow in the business, and that when he is behind his keyboard and performing he imagines himself as NOT looking short, bug-eyed and not handsome. (Or something along those lines, anyway...) Videos, for him, shatter that illusion. So in a strange dovetailing of attitudes, he's done videos, and I own some of them.

The clips Columbia Music Video assembled here for Billy Joel Greatest Hits Volume III: The Video span a period of 14 years, starting with 1983's "Keeping the Faith" (from "An Innocent Man") to Joel's 1997 cover of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love." As a result, each video has a different style and look, as does Joel himself. We see him aging gracefully from '83 to '97, and his "look" evolves along with his music. And although most of the videos are conventional MTV-style "conceptualizations, there are a few songs that were shot "live" on a stage, particularly "Shameless," "All About Soul," "To Make You Feel My Love," and his cover of "Hey Girl."

Of the "concept" videos, I particularly like "A Matter of Trust." In it, Joel and his band give an impromptu (and to some, annoying) performance as they practice in a New York City apartment (my favorite bit is the angry neighbor who twice yells for the loud rockers to "Shut up!"). It not only looks realistic, it's fun, especially since "A Matter of Trust" is one of Joel's few guitar-based songs. I also like the clip for "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)." It is more abstract, but the images fit the song's melody and emotional context perfectly.

Joel also provides some explanatory comments prior to most of the clips. I was surprised to see how erudite and soft-spoken he is, and he often reminds me of my college humanities professor (who was also a trained musician), a man who spoke about music, philosophy, politics, and history without being boring. His brief intros give the viewer some insight into how and why Joel wrote each song.

While I prefer CMV's Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium, Greatest Hits Volume III: The Video is still very watchable, especially on the DVD format.

Description of Billy Joel - Greatest Hits, Volume 3: The Video

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