The Ultimate Collection is a double-disc

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

. It was first released by Sony Music Entertainment Japan

Sony Music Entertainment Japan

is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....

 in December 2000, and subsequently issued in the most of European and Oceanian countries with slightly different track listings (replacing Japanese top-3 charting hit "The Stranger

The Stranger (song)

"The Stranger" is a song by rock artist Billy Joel from his 1977 album of the same name, The Stranger. The song was released as a single in Japan where it became very popular and peaked at #2 on the Oricon chart...

" with live version of "You're My Home

You're My Home

"You're My Home" is a single by Billy Joel. It was originally on Billy Joel's 1973 album Piano Man, and also appears on Songs in the Attic , The Ultimate Collection The Essential Billy Joel and 12 Gardens Live ....

").

This career-spanning compilation features some of Joel's early notable compositions and hit singles which were disregarded on his Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits (Billy Joel albums)

Billy Joel's Greatest Hits is a collection released in two sets, 12 years apart. The first set, consisting of two discs, titled Volume I and Volume II, was released in 1985. The second, single disc titled Volume III was released in 1997. All songs but the last three on Volume III, "To Make You Feel...

series, although several fan favorites like "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 album The Stranger.Although never released as a single, it has become one of Joel's most celebrated compositions among fans, appearing on most of his compilation albums. The song is effectively a medley of three individual songs...

" and "Big Shot

Big Shot (song)

"Big Shot" was the second hit single from Billy Joel's 1978 album 52nd Street. The song was released in early-1979, just as his other hit single from that same album, "'My Life", was peaking at #3...

" were excluded alternatively. It became a smash hit worldwide, entering top-5 on the charts in several countries including United Kingdom.

The Ultimate Collection was not issued in the United States, because Legacy Recordings

Legacy Recordings

Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...

 released another similar compilation The Essential

The Essential Billy Joel

The Essential Billy Joel is a Sony music compilation of songs by American singer/songwriter Billy Joel. It was released on October 2, 2001, and has been certified Double Platinum by the RIAA...

in October 2001.

Chart positions

Chart (2001–03)	Position	Weeks
New Zealand Albums Chart (top 50)	2	30
Danish Albums Chart (top 40)	2	9
Norwegian VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...  Albums Chart (top 40)	3	7
Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....  (top 60)	3	13
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...  (top 75)	4	24
Australian ARIA Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...  (top 50)	12	12
Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...  (top 100)	21	10

Chart (2006–07)	Position	Weeks
Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...  (top 300)	19	33

End-of-year charts

End of year chart (2001)	Position
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	36

Certifications

Country	Certification	Shipments	Date
United Kingdom	Platinum	300,000	March 1, 2001
Japan	Platinum	250,000	May 2007