The Very Best Of (Eagles album)

For the 2001 compilation, see The Very Best of the Eagles.

Untitled

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. 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 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."

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.

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	6:30

• 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

• 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)
• Willie 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 Schiner 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

Charts and certifications

Album charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Austrian Top 75 Albums	43
German Albums	56
Netherlands Top 100 Albums	29
Norwegian Top 40 Albums	29
Swedish Top 60 Albums	8
Swiss Top 100 Albums	71
US Billboard 200	3

Chart (2006)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	9

Chart (2007)	Peak position
New Zealand Top 50 Albums	5
US Catalog Albums	1

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	10

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)	3× Platinum	210,000^
Canada (Music Canada)	2× Platinum	200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum	600,000^
United States (RIAA)	4× Platinum	4,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.