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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide