Greatest Hits (Rhino Reserve)(Rocktober)

Originally released in 1980 to coincide with the Jim Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, the life of Greatest Hits began as a ten-track release on vinyl that acted as a very succinct introduction to the Doors, with several of the band's most enduring songs -- "Light My Fire," "Break on Through," "Touch Me," "Hello, I Love You," "Riders on the Storm" -- included. The only poor choice was "Not to Touch the Earth," which could have been replaced with any number of more significant songs in the band's catalog. When Elektra reissued the title on CD in the mid-'90s, the label removed "Not to Touch the Earth" and added a couple additional tracks to the program. This time, the extended version of "The Ghost Song," which had surfaced on the reissue of An American Prayer (the original version is a couple minutes shorter), was the poor choice -- it too is not the kind of thing a casual fan needs on an overview. As of 2006, a better choice for a single-disc Doors compilation remained Rhino's The Very Best of the Doors. The two-disc Legacy: The Absolute Best, released in 2003, is truly the best place to begin. [The Japanese edition of Greatest Hits adds "Wintertime Love."] ~ Andy Kellman