Track Listing

1. Break on Through (To the Other Side)
2. Light My Fire
3. People Are Strange
4. Riders on the Storm
5. L.A. Woman
6. Love Her Madly
7. Back Door Man
8. Touch Me
9. Hello, I Love You
10. Love Me Two Times
11. Twentieth Century Fox
12. The Crystal Ship
13. WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
14. Peace Frog
15. End
16. Roadhouse Blues [Live]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #220569 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

Looking for a Doors single-disc greatest hits package?
I was always a fan of The Doors. Not a Doors nut, and not so much a casual fan, either. But, casual fans of any band usually look for single-disc greatest hits packages to satisfy their desire to own a certain group. This disc is perfect for those people.

Up until about 5 years ago, the only greatest hits package that The Doors released was the two-disc "Best of". In the mid-90's, there was a single-disc enhanced Greatest hits disc. That disc satisfied my thrist for Doors music, but "The Very Best of The Doors" blows that (and all other previous Doors compliations) out of the water.

"The Very Best of..." satisfies all the criteria for what casual fans are looking for: 1 disc, digitally remastered songs, and 16 album-length songs. It has all the songs that "Greatest Hits" does (with the exception of 'The Ghost Song') and more. Also, it doesn't cost quite as much as the 2 disc set "The Best of..."

This disc also has some non-familiar songs, like "Twentieth Century Fox" and "Peace Frog", which are two of my personal favorites. I, personally, would've included "The Alabama Song" with this package, considering that there is some extra time remaining at the end of the disc, but I'm not too upset. Out of all the Doors' compliations (and there are many), this is the best one yet.

A great place to start for new fans.
This is a great place to start if you are just getting started with the Doors, but for those of us who who are old fans this is just another "best of" package.
Let's take a look...
"Break On Through"-a staple of "greatest hits" packages since 1972's "Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine". This is a great addition also, because it doesn't have those annoying edits in the middle (Jim says "she gets high" on this disc but the others are edited to just "she get")
"Light My Fire"-another radio/greatest hits staple ever since "13" released in 1970(now out-of-print).
"People Are Strange"-another fan favorite since "13".
"Riders On the Storm"-long hailed as one of the band's signature "epics" this is another greatest hits staple.
"LA Woman"-the rorsach test of Door's fans: if you love this song, you'll love the Doors; if you hate it you're likley just a casual fan.
"Love Her Madly"-another popular tune-heard on "Forrest Gump" from the "LA Woman" album.
"Back Door Man"-a rare Doors' cover tune popular in concert and on greatest hits sets.
"Touch Me"-the only hit single from the "Soft Parade" album. Another radio/greatest hit.
"Hello,I Love You"-by far the most over-played Doors' song- and deservedly so.
"Love Me Two Times"-also very popular, a greatest hits favorite.
-up until this point the songs have been mostly staples of greatest hits discs and radio favorites, but this part is what makes this CD unique-
"Twentieth Century Fox"-a relitavely unknown song, this is its first greatest hits apperance, but also a great song.
"The Crystal Ship"-a great song that is also a nice change of pace, very psychadellic, very good.
"The WASP"-a nice addition to this set, a great example of Jim Morrison's better poetry put to music.
"Peace Frog"-a rare occurence on best of sets. Arguably the best track from "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe" thankfully, however the semi-connected "Blue Sunday" was left off.
"The End"-here in all eleven minutes and fourty-four seconds of its glory, unlike the origional "Greatest Hits" disc which had the "Apocalypse Now" version.
"Roadhouse Blues"(live)- a great example of the Doors' onstage power. This is the edited version from a New York concert, on the "Box St" (on the un-edited version, Jim tells the audience that, "everything is ... up, as usual" right before the start.
This is, like I already said, a good starting point, but there were some questionable exclusions,as there were about 9 minutes left at the end of the disc here are some songs that were left out:
"When the Music's Over"
"Unknown Solidier"
"Ship Of Fools"
"Moonlight Drive"
"Roadhouse Blues"(studio version)
"Shaman's Blues"
"Waiting For the Sun"
"Spanish Caravan"
but still a good compilation!

Import Is Better.
"The Very Best of The Doors" is a wonderful little compilation of some of the best songs by one of the most influential of all bands. The only problem is, it's not worth anything when you have the other version, the Canadian import available. This sucker is only 1 disc. The import, simply titled, "The Best of The Doors," is a two disc set packed with almost 19 tracks each. I don't see why the American release is so much weaker, they both even have the same covers with the exception that the letters here are red and those for the import are gray. It includes classics missing here like "When The Music's Over," "Soul Kitchen" and "You're Lost Little Girl." Still, I must be clear, for those STARTING to get into The Doors, this is a nice sample. The sound is incredibly superior to that of the original 1985 Best Of release and it includes some truly timeless pieces like "Light My Fire," "Break On Through," "People Are Strange," "Love Her Madly," "The Crystal Ship" and "Backdoor Man." The Doors have a unique, hypnotic and poetic style and this is a good showcasing of it. Here you get a basic idea of the band, it's music and the mythic rock icon Jim Morrison. But...if you want a better deal, purchase the Canadian import which was all the rage before this set was released to wider distribution (as in Wal-Mart, where even the tribute album, "Stoned Immaculate" is barely available). Whatever the case, these will always be great songs.