The Very Best Of (Eagles album)

The Very Best Of (released as The Complete Greatest Hits in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand) is a two-disc compilation album by the Eagles, released in 2003.[3] This album combines all tracks that appeared on the two previously released Eagles greatest hits albums (Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) & Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2), along with other singles not included on the first two compilations, album tracks and the new track "Hole in the World".

The Very Best Of
Greatest hits album by Eagles
Released	October 21, 2003
Recorded	1972-2003
Genre	Rock
Length	140:33
Label	Warner Strategic Marketing
Producer	Glyn Johns, Bill Szymczyk, Eagles, Elliot Schiner and Rob Jacobs
Eagles chronology
Selected Works: 1972–1999 (2000) The Very Best Of (2003) Eagles (2005)
The Complete Greatest Hits

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

The accompanying booklet to The Very Best Of features commentaries on all of the songs from Glenn Frey and Don Henley, as compiled by Cameron Crowe.

The Very Best Of was also released as a limited-edition three-disc set with the third disc being a bonus DVD containing the video for the new song "Hole in the World," as well as a making of the video featurette and "Backstage Pass to Farewell 1."

Artwork

The artwork for the cover, a horse skull with feathers, is by Boyd Elder. Elder also produced the skull artwork for the Eagles' 1975 album One of These Nights and their compilation album Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975).[4]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 on November 8, 2003 at number 3, with 162,000 copies sold. It spent 62 weeks on the chart. The album was certified and awarded gold, platinum, and double platinum records by the RIAA on December 17, 2003, and on December 13, 2004, it achieved triple platinum status. The album has sold over 5 million units in the United States.[5]

As of December 2007, it has spent over 325 weeks in the Irish Album Charts, effectively not having left the chart since its release. In the UK the album (as The Complete Greatest Hits) entered the charts on November 1, 2003 at its initial number 27 peak position, the album did however re-enter the charts in June 2006 when it peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart.

Track listing

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Take It Easy"	Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey	3:29
2.	"Witchy Woman"	Don Henley, Bernie Leadon	4:10
3.	"Peaceful Easy Feeling"	Jack Tempchin	4:16
4.	"Desperado"	Henley, Frey	3:33
5.	"Tequila Sunrise"	Henley, Frey	2:52
6.	"Doolin-Dalton"	Browne, Frey, Henley, J.D. Souther	3:26
7.	"Already Gone"	Tempchin, Robb Strandlund	4:13
8.	"Best of My Love"	Henley, Frey, Souther	4:35
9.	"James Dean"	Browne, Frey, Souther, Henley	3:36
10.	"Ol' '55"	Tom Waits	4:22
11.	"Midnight Flyer"	Paul Craft	3:58
12.	"On the Border"	Henley, Leadon, Frey	4:28
13.	"Lyin' Eyes"	Henley, Frey	6:21
14.	"One of These Nights"	Henley, Frey	4:51
15.	"Take It to the Limit"	Randy Meisner, Henley, Frey	4:48
16.	"After the Thrill Is Gone"	Henley, Frey	3:56
17.	"Hotel California"	Don Felder, Henley, Frey	6:15
Total length:			1:13:09

• Tracks 1–3 from Eagles (1972)
• Tracks 4–6 from Desperado (1973)
• Tracks 7–12 from On the Border (1974)
• Tracks 13–16 from One of These Nights (1975)
• Track 17 from Hotel California (1976)

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Life in the Fast Lane"	Joe Walsh, Henley, Frey	4:46
2.	"Wasted Time"	Henley, Frey	4:55
3.	"Victim of Love"	Felder, Souther, Henley, Frey	4:11
4.	"The Last Resort"	Henley, Frey	7:25
5.	"New Kid in Town"	Souther, Henley, Frey	5:04
6.	"Please Come Home for Christmas"	Charlie Brown, Gene Redd	2:58
7.	"Heartache Tonight"	Henley, Frey, Bob Seger, Souther	4:26
8.	"The Sad Café"	Henley, Frey, Walsh, Souther	5:35
9.	"I Can't Tell You Why"	Timothy B. Schmit, Henley, Frey	4:56
10.	"The Long Run"	Henley, Frey	3:42
11.	"In the City"	Walsh, Barry De Vorzon	3:46
12.	"Those Shoes"	Felder, Henley, Frey	4:56
13.	"Seven Bridges Road" (Live)	Steve Young	3:02
14.	"Love Will Keep Us Alive"	Pete Vale, Jim Capaldi, Paul Carrack	4:00
15.	"Get Over It"	Henley, Frey	3:29
16.	"Hole in the World"	Henley, Frey	4:19
Total length:			1:11:30

• Tracks 1–5 from Hotel California (1976)
• Track 6 was a non-album single (1978)
• Tracks 7–12 from The Long Run (1979)
• Track 13 from Eagles Live (1980)
• Tracks 14 and 15 from Hell Freezes Over (1994)
• Track 16 is a new track (2003)

Personnel

• Glenn Frey – guitars, piano, keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Don Henley – drums, percussion, guitars, vocals
• Randy Meisner – bass guitar, guitars, guitarrone, vocals (disc one and songs 1–5 on disc two)
• Bernie Leadon – guitars, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, vocals (songs 1–16 on disc one)
• Don Felder – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals (songs 7, 13–17 on disc one and songs 1–15 on disc two)
• Joe Walsh – guitars, keyboards, organ, synthesizer, vocals (song 17 on disc one and all of disc two)
• Timothy B. Schmit – bass guitar, vocals (songs 6–16 on disc two)

Additional personnel

• Steuart Smith – guitars (song 16 on disc two)
• Scott Crago – drums, percussion (songs 14–16 on disc two)
• Will Hollis – piano (songs 14–16 on disc two)
• Jim Ed Norman – piano, string arrangements (songs 4, 13, 15 on disc one and songs 2, 4 on disc two)
• David Sanborn – alto saxophone (song 8 on disc two)
• Al Perkins – pedal steel guitar (song 10 on disc one)

Production

• Producers: Glyn Johns, Bill Szymczyk, Eagles, Elliot Scheiner and Rob Jacobs
• Engineers: Allan Blazek, Michael Braunstein, Glyn Johns, Ed Mashal, Bill Szymczyk, Michael Verdick, Don Wood
• Assistant engineers: Allan Blazek, Howard Kilgour, Tom Trafalski
• Remastering: Ted Jensen
• String arrangements: Jim Ed Norman

[6]

Charts and certifications

Album charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Austrian Top 75 Albums[7]	43
German Albums[8]	56
Netherlands Top 100 Albums[9]	29
Norwegian Top 40 Albums[10]	29
Swedish Top 60 Albums[11]	8
Swiss Top 100 Albums[12]	71
US Billboard 200[13]	3

Chart (2006)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart[14]	9

Chart (2007)	Peak position
New Zealand Top 50 Albums[15]	5
US Catalog Albums[13]	1

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[16][17]	10

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[18]	3× Platinum	210,000^^
Canada (Music Canada)[19]	2× Platinum	200,000^^
Italy (FIMI)[20] sales since 2009	Gold	25,000^*
Netherlands (NVPI)[21]	Platinum	80,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[22]	2× Platinum	30,000^^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[24]	2× Platinum	600,000^^
United States (RIAA)[25]	5× Platinum	5,000,000^^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[26]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^*
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Eagles: The Very Best Of". Allmusic.
2. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). Eagles. Simon and Schuster. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
3. "Eagles - The Very Best Of (2003)". allmusic.
4. Butcher, Sterry (February 2018). "Boyd Elder Is the Most Famous Artist You've Never Heard Of". Texas Monthly. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
5. Thompson, Gayle (May 27, 2015). "21 Years Ago: The Eagles Reunite for Hell Freezes Over Tour". The Boot.
6. http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-very-best-of-2003-mw0002114338/credits
7. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
8. "Chartverfolgung / EAGLES / Longplay". Music Line (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
9. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
10. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
11. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
12. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Swiss Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
13. "The Very Best of (2003 Bonus DVD) – Eagles". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
14. "Chart Archive: Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive – 24th June 2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
15. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
16. "Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2013-06-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
19. "Canadian album certifications – Eagles – The Very Best Of". Music Canada.
20. "Italian album certifications – Eagles – The Very Best of Eagles" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 8, 2020. Select "2014" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "The Very Best of Eagles" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
21. "Dutch album certifications – Eagles – The Very Best Of" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved January 10, 2020. Enter The Very Best Of in the "Artiest of titel" box.
22. "New Zealand album certifications – Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
23. "Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990" (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
24. "British album certifications – Eagles – The Complete Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Complete Greatest Hits in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
25. "American album certifications – Eagles – The Very Best Of". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
26. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2003". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 2, 2020.