The ultimate collectible: a limited edition (12,500 copies worldwide), 7-disc vinyl box covered in faux lizard skin with 12-inch 180-gram HQ vinyl re-issues of the original stereo mixes of the band's six Morrison-era studio albums, plus a copy of the '67 debut ("The Doors") in mono. Includes "The Doors", "Strange Days", "Waiting For The Sun", "The Soft Parade", "Morrison Hotel", and "LA Woman".
The Best of The Doors delivers exactly what it promises. Rather than relying solely on the hits, this collection also mines the darker, and often richer, recesses of The Doors material resulting in a fairly representative statement. The hits are here: "Light My Fire" with Ray Manzarek's keyboards on a dizzy, psychedelic spree; "People Are Strange," with Morrison's tortured psyche barely being held in check; "L.A. Woman," with its bluesy sexuality. More important, favorites of fans are here, like the controversially (at the time) explicit "The End," which was one of the first of Morrison's forays into narrative poetry. In hits like "Break on Through," "Hello I Love You," "Roadhouse Blues," and others, The Doors melded psychedelia, blues, hard-edged rock, and poetry from the edge like no other band before. The Best of The Doors is a trip in every sense of the word. --Steve Gdula
