# TLDR Review: The Essential Billy Joel

*Published: 2025-03-03 | Updated: 2025-03-03 | Source: https://shopsavvy.com/reviews-tldr/the-essential-billy-joel*

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## Product: The Essential Billy Joel
**Brand:** Legacy

## Pros
- Contains a selection of great and timeless songs by Billy Joel.
- The collection features some reviewers' personal favorites.
- Considered relatively inexpensive and provides good value.
- Consists of 2 CDs, offering an extensive listening experience.
- Highlighted for the artist's exceptional quality and strong emotional expression.
- Highly listenable collection that remains enjoyable with repeated play.
- Provides a captivating experience, suitable for various listening occasions.

## Cons
- Purchasing process involves downloading each song individually, which may be cumbersome.
- Installation of Amazon's proprietary software player adds an extra step before accessing the content.
- Some feel these measures complicate legitimate user access without effectively deterring piracy.
- Occasional issues with receiving broken CD cases upon delivery.

## Bottom Line

For fans of Billy Joel, 'The Essential Billy Joel' delivers a comprehensive selection of his greatest hits across two CDs, capturing the timeless and strong emotional expression of his music. While there are some hassles with the purchasing process and risk of physical product issues, the collection offers great value and an extensive listening experience for newcomers and longtime fans alike.

## Pros vs Cons at a Glance

| Pros | Cons |
|------|------|
| Contains a selection of great and timeless songs by Billy Joel. | Purchasing process involves downloading each song individually, which may be cumbersome. |
| The collection features some reviewers' personal favorites. | Installation of Amazon's proprietary software player adds an extra step before accessing the content. |
| Considered relatively inexpensive and provides good value. | Some feel these measures complicate legitimate user access without effectively deterring piracy. |
| Consists of 2 CDs, offering an extensive listening experience. | Occasional issues with receiving broken CD cases upon delivery. |
| Highlighted for the artist's exceptional quality and strong emotional expression. |  |
| Highly listenable collection that remains enjoyable with repeated play. |  |
| Provides a captivating experience, suitable for various listening occasions. |  |

## Current Prices

| Retailer | Price | Availability |
|----------|-------|-------------|
| Darkside Records | $7.99  | Check |
| Graywhale Entertainment | $7.99  | Check |
| CCVideo.com | $13.13  | Check |
| Oldies.com | $13.50  | Check |
| Amazon | $13.72  | Check |
| Walmart | $13.72  | Check |
| booksamillion.com | $13.94  | Check |
| Portland Distro | $13.94  | Check |
| Bull Moose | $13.97  | Check |
| CCMusic.com | $13.98  | Check |
| Tower Records | $14.90  | Check |
| ImportCDs | $14.94  | Check |
| Amoeba Music | $14.98  | Check |
| Mad World Records | $14.99  | Check |
| VINYL | $14.99  | Check |
| FYE | $15.99  | Check |
| sgrecordshop.com | $15.99  | Check |
| Barnes and Noble | $17.99  | Check |
| Grooves-Inc.com | $18.50  | Check |

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*About this review: We pulled together findings from professional and user reviews, and cross-referenced them with ShopSavvy's pricing data from thousands of retailers to give you the short version.*