Legacy: The Absolute Best

Last updated
Legacy: The Absolute Best
Legacy TheDoorsalbum.jpg
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedAugust 12, 2003 (2003-08-12)
Recorded1966–1971
Genre Rock
Length155:49
Label
Compiler
  • The Doors
  • David McLees
The Doors chronology
The Very Best of The Doors
(2001)
Legacy: The Absolute Best
(2003)
The Very Best of The Doors
(2007)

Legacy: The Absolute Best is a two-disc compilation album by American rock band the Doors. Released in 2003, it includes the uncensored versions of both "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" and "The End". Also included is a previously unreleased studio version of Morrison's epic poetry piece "Celebration of the Lizard," a rehearsal outtake from the band's Waiting for the Sun sessions.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Legacy: The Absolute Best has received perfect ratings in scales from both The New Rolling Stone Album Guide , [2] and AllMusic. [1] The latter's critic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, notes in his review:

This [album] winds up giving a thorough overview of the band's peak, whether it's on the familiar hits or on strong album cuts ... There are a couple of omissions ... but there's little question that Legacy is the best Doors compilation yet [as of 2003] assembled. [1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by the Doors (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison), except where noted. Details are taken from the 2003 U.S. Elektra/Rhino CD with discographical annotation by Gary Peterson, [4] except running times, which are taken from the AllMusic review. [1] Other releases may show different information.

Disc one

  1. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" – 2:29
  2. "Back Door Man" (Willie Dixon, Chester Burnett) – 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)" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 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

Original releases

Disc two

  1. "Touch Me" (Krieger) – 3:12
  2. "Wild Child" (Morrison) – 2:38
  3. "Tell All the People" (Krieger) – 3:21
  4. "Wishful Sinful" (Krieger) – 2:58
  5. "Roadhouse Blues" (Morrison, the Doors) – 4:04
  6. "Waiting for the Sun" (Morrison) – 4:00
  7. "You Make Me Real" (Morrison) – 2:53
  8. "Peace Frog" (Krieger, Morrison) – 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" (Van Morrison) – 6:18
  15. "Celebration of the Lizard" (Morrison) – 17:01

Original releases

Personnel

Per liner notes: [4]

The Doors

Technical

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [5] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Doors: Legacy: The Absolute Best – Review" . Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (January 2008). "The Doors". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 255. ISBN   978-1439109397.
  3. Larkin, Colin (May 27, 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 764. ISBN   978-0857125958.
  4. 1 2 Peterson, Gary (2003). Legacy: The Absolute Best (CD booklet). The Doors. Burbank, California: Elektra Records. pp. 18–21. R2 73889.
  5. "American album certifications – The Doors – Legacy: The Absolute Best". Recording Industry Association of America.