Truth be told, most casual Doors fans only need a well-assembled single-disc collection, containing all the hits and radio staples. Since that doesn't exist -- Rhino's 2001 collection The Very Best of the Doors missed too many key songs to suit the bill -- they'll have to settle for the comprehensive 2003 Rhino compilation Legacy: The Absolute Best, a double-disc set that replaces the previous double-disc Doors comp, the 1985 set The Best of the Doors. That collection contained 19 tracks, the number of songs that are on the first disc of this exhaustive 34-track overview. Every one of the tunes from The Best of the Doors is on Legacy, but not in the same order, since the songs on this compilation are put in roughly chronological order. Legacy also tries to give equal weight to each of the Doors albums, pulling anywhere from four to eight tracks from all the studio albums, adding "Gloria" from Alive, She Cried and a previously unissued "Celebration of the Lizard" to the end of the record. This winds up giving a thorough overview of the band's peak, whether it's on the familiar hits or on strong album cuts like "My Eyes Have Seen You" or "The Changeling." There are a couple of omissions -- most notably "Love Street" and "Summer's Almost Gone" from Waiting for the Sun and also "Ship of Fools" and "Land Ho!" from Morrison Hotel -- but overall, this draws as complete a picture as possible. It still may be a little bit much for those who just want the hits (they're all here, plus a whole lot more), but there's little question that Legacy is the best Doors compilation yet assembled. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist 1:
1 Break On Through (To The Other Side) 2:29
2 Back Door Man 3:34
3 Light My Fire 7:08
4 Twentieth Century Fox 2:33
5 The Crystal Ship 2:34
6 Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 3:19
7 Soul Kitchen 3:35
8 The End 11:46
9 Love Me Two Times 3:16
10 People Are Strange 2:12
11 When The Music's Over 11:02
12 My Eyes Have Seen You 2:29
13 Moonlight Drive 3:04
14 Strange Days 3:09
15 Hello, I Love You 2:16
16 The Unknown Soldier 3:25
17 Spanish Caravan 3:01
18 Five To One 4:27
19 Not To Touch The Earth 3:54
Tracklist 2:
1 Touch Me 3:12
2 Wild Child 2:38
3 Tell All The People 3:21
4 Wishful Sinful 2:58
5 Roadhouse Blues 4:04
6 Waiting For The Sun 4:00
7 You Make Me Real 2:53
8 Peace Frog 2:58
9 Love Her Madly 3:18
10 L.A. Woman 7:51
11 Riders On The Storm 7:10
12 The Wasp (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) 4:15
13 The Changeling 4:21
14 Gloria 6:18
15 Celebration Of The Lizard 17:01
Notas
Original album sources:
Tracks 1.01 to 1.08: from The Doors
Tracks 1.09 to 1.14: from Strange Days
Tracks 1.15 to 1.19: from Waiting For The Sun
Tracks 2.01 to 2.04: from The Soft Parade
Tracks 2.05 to 2.08: from Morrison Hotel
Tracks 2.09 to 2.13: from L.A. Woman
Track 2.14: from Alive, She Cried
Track 2.15: previously unissued
