Joe Jackson - Classic Joe Jackson (The Universal Masters Collection) (2000)

Everything on this Joe Jackson collection is right musically, and there are many hits here including no less than three from his breakthrough album, Night and Day. The album is curiously compiled, following a rather strangely placed aesthetic order rather than a chronological one, which makes no sense on a single-disc compilation. There are two tracks from Look Sharp! ("Is She Really Going Out with Him," and "Sunday Papers") and only one from I'm the Man ("It's Different for Girls" not even the title cut!), while there is only a single cut from Beat Crazy ("Mad at You"). There are a couple from Body and Soul ("Happy Ending" and "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want),") and his version of Jimmy Cliff's "Harder They Come." The other tracks come from live dates and later albums. It's OK as far as it goes, but this should have been a double-disc.