I came around to the Doors fairly late in my music education, but hoo boy, was it worth the wait. Of course, even though they only put out six studio albums (and no, I'm NOT about to spend any money on the two Morrision-less albums), the idiotic radio community has still managed to neglect huge chunks of their discography - I used to know of more than a couple of people who claimed they loved the Doors but had never heard anything off of Strange Days. Honestly, how many Doors songs do you ever hear on the radio? I've personally only heard five - Break On Through, Light My Fire (the single edit, of course), Roadhouse Blues, LA Woman and Riders on the Storm.
Well, that's just an absolute shame - there's so much more to be found in the wonderful world of the Doors than just those five songs (not that they're at all bad, though!!!!). See, the Doors are just one of those bands that you HAVE to own a complete discography of to have any real credibility as a classic rock buff (and since there are only six albums, you have no excuse). Oh sure, there was a short period there after exploding onto the music scene where it seemed like they were about to stagnate, but even then, the melodies were mostly good. And when the Doors were good, they were just simply awesome. Throwing rollicking piano and organ solos and entertaining-as-hell guitar work into a stew with Jim Morrison's dark, mystical lyrics and good singing voice, and not showing reluctance to draw upon other sources when needed, the Doors created a sound that you may love or you may hate, but you cannot deny was fiercely original and unique.
Anyhoo, the Doors' career basically went like this - their debut created a style and atmosphere totally uncharacteristic of the times, filled with darkness, despair, and ... stupid pop songs a la I Looked At You. Fortunately, their second album took the style of the first, weeded out everything bad from the debut, expanded upon and added to that which worked, and in the process created one of the finest albums of all time. Then Morrison started taking a bit too much acid, and acting a bit too wild on stage, and the band started to get a bit sissyish. Not bad (and hell, I love The Soft Parade), but the difference in style between their '69 and their '67 albums is simply too huge to not be noticed.
And then, just as it seemed stagnation had snuffed out one of the finest bands around, the group started incorporating some blues rock elements. And say what you will, but given the fact that the band was never a real 'blues band', this made their sound on the next two albums reaaaaally interesting. The melodies returned in full force, the guitar work became more amazing than ever, the keyboard parts were great as ever .... then Jim died, and the band put out two albums without him. What a bunch of morons.
Ok, now the actual members of the band. The person you all (hopefully) know well is lead singer and lyricist Jim Morrison. His lyrics may seem a bit cliche today, as there are plenty of lame imitators all throughout the music world, but you cannot for a second accuse Jim of being 'fake'. He had a good singing voice, too (not fabulous, though, and it lost a lot of power near the end). Most importantly, it was good enough to bring his lyrics to life (or death, as the case may be), and his ability to suck the listener in was totally incredible.
As far as the actual playing went, the most important member was unquestionably keyboardist Ray Manzarek. This guy was good - oh sure, he might not have been up to snuff with your Keith Emersons and Rick Wakemans as far as pure technical ability went (though even then, I'm not sure; maybe it's just the fact that he's more in a jazz tradition than those two and doesn't delve into any classical pastiches that provides that illusion), but Ray had two things going for him. The intelligence shown in his arrangments astounds the mind, and he made his parts exciting. If ever a keyboardist could be complimented by it being said that he 'played with feeling', it was Ray Manzarek.
Oh, and we mustn't forget good ole Robbie Krieger, the guitarist, or John Densmore, the drummer. Say what you will about his songwriting abilities, but as a guitarist, Robbie was just what the band needed. Nothing too flashy, and feedback was never a serious part of his bag-o-tricks, but as far as 'just playing the guitar' went, he was fabulous. Good solos, good riff-work, knowledge of when to mess around in the studio, etc. As for John, well, he was good. Not amazing or breathtaking, but I would never accuse him of sucking.
So yeah, the Doors were a good little band. Their melodies were virtually always top-notch, the playing was fascinating, and it all had Jim Morrison to top it off. And even though they only put out six albums before Jim joined the great lizard in the sky, I easily give them a 4. After all, three of these albums are easily among my favorites of all time, two are ones I consider minor classics, and the remaining one ... well, it has Five to One on it. So there.
What do you think of the Doors?
Pat D. (blppt@hotmail.com)
Man, i really like the Doors. In my opinion they were one of the very few
big bands that came out of the 60s or 70s that wasnt overrated. Jim
Morrison had a wonderfully dark and provocative voice for the early part
of his career, though he obviously blew it out when you listen to later
tracks like L.A. Woman.
And man, how many people have ever sounded like good old Ray on the
keyboards. Nobody ever really sounded like the Doors before them, or
after them for that matter thanks largely to Ray. Krieger had a great
fingerpicking guitar style and Densmore is one of the most underrated
drummers of any era, with the technical prowess and the precision of a
Prog rock drummer.
Oh yeah, and they were pretty decent songwriters too. ;-)
No1Yanks23@aol.com
Are you kidding? 5 radio hits? They have ten huge hits despite the five you
mentioned. There's also "Love Her Madly", "People are Strange", "Love me Two
Times", "Touch Me" and "Hello, I love You". The last one was a number one
hit!! How isn't that a song you dont hear on the radio? Those 5 and the 5 you
mentioned are played constantly on the radio. But anyway, I like the Doors.
They are kind of overated, they never made a perfect album. Many times, their
"circus" stuff is kind of annoying. And I never really liked "The End" that
much either.
(author's note): For what it's worth, I'm thinking the problem is just that classic rock radio in the Chicago area sucks incredibly.
Casey Brennan (bevan@voicenet.com)
Yep the Doors are a fairly great band. Along with The Beatles, Queen,
David Bowie, and a few others, they were one of the first bands I have ever
gotten in to. They were never my real favorite, but with only six 'real'
albums under their belt, I don't think that they ever made an album below
the standard of 'very good'. Then again, I don't think that they ever
made an album that was better than 'excellent'. Maybe it was the way I
grew up listening to the Doors, but 'Waiting For the Sun' and 'L.A. Woman'
always struck me as being some of the finer Doors releases... I'm probably
alone when it comes to rating the former at least an 8(11) on your scale,
but I always thought that they did the poppy thing very well. 'Yes, the
River Knows' always had a gentle power to it(and very decent melody too),
and i've always loved stuff like 'the unknown solider', 'hello, i love
you', etc. etc.. I don't like to buy the whole sell-out thing; I just
think that like any other band from the decade they effortlessly changed
their style from time to time.
Somehow, 'Strange Days' never struck me as being fabulous, in contrast to
most of the reviewers on the web. Being one of the last Doors albums I
actually bought(i think 'Morrison Hotel' was last), it didn't hit me like
several of the other ones did, even though still very good. I'd give it a
7(11) overall. I've always liked the circus feel, but in the beginning
'Love me two times' and 'people are strange' were among my least favorite
'major' Doors tracks. Hell, I was only a 12 or 13 year old kid though, and
had more biases than i do now on stuff. Then again, I still have this
little bias for 'Strange Days' and don't know if I'll ever find it in my
heart to raise the rating...
Speaking of radio hits...
classic rock radio in chicago must suck...
(author's note): Yup. There used to be two classic rock stations in Chicago, one of which prided itself on a fairly diverse playlist (the downside being, though, that they played a lot of crap by minor artists). Now there's only one, 97.9, with 3 AC/DC songs every day at 3, 3 Zeppelin songs every day at 7, and usually the most amusingly predictable playlists the rest of the day.
There are a about eleven or so
radio hits from the band that are frequently played on philly classic rock
radio. "light my fire", "break on Through", "Take it as it comes"(every
now and then), "love me two times", "people are strange", "hello, i love
you", "touch me", "roadhouse blues", "love her madly", "la woman" and
"riders on the storm" are all played a good amount, though some more than
others obviously
But hell, who needs to listen to the radio anyway, when you have
albums. The radio in my car actually broke a few months ago and I haven't
missed it... the classic rock station here(while pretty good) plays an
overkill of Chicago, and ELO(a good band), while HARDLY playing jethro
tull, yes, Bowie, or even Zeppelin. Whatcha gonna do...
well time for me to put a Simon and Garfunkel album on :)
"Sittinger, Brian D" (brian.d.sittinger@lmco.com) (7/29/01)
The Doors were a great band, period. There's no way I can disagree with your
rating on the band here. Each band member seemed to have a significant role
in the Door's sound. Who can possibly replace Ray Manzarek? He had a very
unique sound (as well as playing position: hunched over the keyboards). With
his basic equipment, he certainly was able to coax quite a bit of stuff out
of them. If the Doors stuck around longer, it would be interesting to see
how he would have used the technology (nevertheless, more tastily than
Emerson). Robbie Krieger was just perfect for the band, his playing was
satisfyingly to the point. And, he could play more classicly, too!
(Check out the intro to "Spanish Caravan"). Jim Morrison, well ... we know
all about him!
As my father owns all their (Morrison-led, of course!) records, except The
Soft Parade (which I subsequently heard most of on the radio), I have heard
a majority of their catalog one time or the other. And most of it is quite
good! Again, as usual, the radio misses some of their great songs ("Spanish
Caravan", "Strange Days", "Wild Child" to name a few), but what can one do?
Also, this is the band that introduced me to the world of 5+ minute songs!
Sure, some of them meander a bit, but at least I was primed to make the
quantum leap into ... Yes! Yes, that's true...
Kathleenamy2@aol.com (6/16/04)
Although you do raise alot of interesting points, which fall of the wall
of you being a doors fan. Your missing the real point of there music. The
funny thing is you think the band itself putting out two albums after Jim
Morrison died is a mistake is really the best thing they ever did. Jim
Morrison was an amazing song writter but your just like the other doors
fan who focus completely or mostly on him. The other three members Ray
Robby and John are ware it is actualy at. They have to be the most
creative and just simply talented muscieans i have ever herd. And putting
out two albums after there front man died shows it. It also goes to show
you that alot of doors fans abandon there music when he died because they
believe he was the backbone. Wrong he was one of the 4 yes 4 members
therefor he is a minority. Its not your fault, you should have listened
more instead of just herd. In my opinion screw Morrison its John denzmore
one of the best drummers i have ever herd who i idalize, Ray Manzeric A
keybordist who not many other can compare to and Robby Krieger one of the
most creative and talented men i have ever met. Please man Listen more
the doors are playing again with a new singer and are going on tour go
see them and realize the truth dude the truth.
Greenday1778@aol.com (4/16/05)
hi, i love your site! i just recently stumbled across the doors my
slef, thanks to my friend andy, thank god for him, well just sayin
your site is awesoem.
sarah
"Saenz, Jason" (jsaenz@sagetelecom.net) (6/11/2005)
Hi John, I just wanted to know why did you give The Doors 4 stars? I
don't really think they deserve that, one of the most overrated bands
of all times. I personally think their music was just plain average,
of course they had some decent tunes and all but that doesnt make
them a 4 star band, I would give them 2 stars at the most. Anyway, I
love reading all the reviews you have made out and keep up the good
work.
Eric Benac (sonicdeath10@hotmail.com) (03/03/06)
I love The Doors; one of the first "classic" bands I got into. I always say
it was The Who, but I always also forget that one of the first albums I had
was the classic double disc Doors collection. It took me almost 8 years
after that to collect their albums.
You hit the head on their albums quite well; I think they're mostly stellar,
but I like Waiting For The Sun just a bit more than you. Manzarek may not
play as fast as Emerson or Wakeman, but he's much more intelligent in every
way about music; his arranging, his EXCITING playing, his melody writing
skills. And Krieger is and always will be one of my favorite guitarists
ever; never playing with a pick, able to play bass, rhytmn, and lead lines
at the same time, and possessing a modest attitude that's always amazing.
Jim; amazing voice, magnetic personality, truly interesting and insane
person. I hate his lyrics, but that's just because they're so often horrible
poetry. I actually sometimes prefer Krieger's lyrics, because they're not as
pretentious (but I admit, Jim has a way with lyrical lines, on the
occasion.) It's a shame that everybody tends to think Jim was the main music
writer in the band; he never wrote any music for the band, a fact he readily
admitted constantly (in the movie The Doors, for example, he says "well, we
write the songs" in apology for the rest of the band, as they're ignored. I
think he was a very loyal guy to The Doors and he knew that without them, he
would never have been around as long as he had. He was obviously gracious to
them, which is nice.)
Also, Densmore is, along with Ringo, probably the most underrated drummer of
all time. Not as technically advanced as a Bruford, he was, however, just as
inventive. Some of his drumming is so great on these albums, that it boggles
the mind. Great band.
Leslie Young (ruleroftheelves@verizon.net) (09/29/07)
I can never understand how people can put down bands like the
doors... even if you dont like the sound, at least listen to the
poetry and respect what the person was saying. I think Jim put a lot
of thought and meaning into his words and I really wish people would
listen, because a lot of what he had to say really needs to be
heard... but then again the people who need to hear certain things
never seem to hear them, do they? That's what makes this world the
sickening place that it is, with all of its blind inhabitants. Well
that's the end of my rant, 'cause I doubt it will change anyone's
thinking... but I would like to say that The End was an extremely
amazing song, like everything The Doors put out...
Daniel Bosch (bicycle_legs@optusnet.com.au) (10/13/07)
At the risk of getting flamed, I think The Doors are one of the most
over-rated bands ever. They did some good songs, and I like them when
they come on the radio. But Jim Morrison a genius? IMHO, no way!
People rave about his lyrics (and, contrary to popular belief, he
didn't even write ALL the lyrics), but to me there are many, MANY
better lyricists than Jim Morrison. And musically, they are good, not
great, and sometimes downright boring.
If Jim hadn't died so young, while The Doors were still going, I
don't think they would be remembered nearly as reverently as they
are. It's true what they say - dying is a great career move!
Now let the shit start getting flung at me!
Steve Beazer (sbeazer911@googlemail.com) (05/13/09)
You are a CUNT !
Best song: Light My Fire
I hate to say this after praising the band so much in the introduction, but The Doors is overrated. DON'T GET ME WRONG, I'd never say this is a bad album. Stylistically, the revolutionary aspect of this album cannot be overrated, and several of the songs are just hunky-dory. So what's my problem?
Well ... the problem is that the songwriting is a bit too ... er ... inconsistent for my tastes. Take the closing The End, for instance. Ok, yes, it's revolutionary status is absolutely unquestionable, for better and for worse, and there some aspects that I definitely appreciate. Some (heck, most) of the lyrics are interesting, but eGAD is the music boring. Monotonous as hell is what it is - I can understand that the band really wanted to drive home the dark, dreary atmosphere conveyed by the lyrics, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. Nope, not a chance, and the attempt would be done much more convincingly on the next album. Goodbye one point.
But that's not all of the filler. Both I Looked At You and Take It As It Comes pass me by every time I hear them. I mean, they're not bad ... but they just seem like the prototypes of the entire Waiting For The Sun album (which is not much of a compliment, btw). They're just gloomy pop songs - not dark, not despairing, just ... mopey. Bleh. Goodbye one more point.
Fortunately, the rest of the material is soooo good that I have absolutely no problem giving this album a high 8. Do I really need to describe the big hits (Break on Through, Light My Fire)? Of course, if you only know the Doors from the radio, you may not know about the fabulous guitar solos in the middle of the unedited version of Light My Fire, so there's an incentive to look for the album itself, heh. As for Break on Through, well, there's a hard-rocker that pretty much came out of nowhere from a creativity standpoint, and arguably has never been matched in terms of all the elements it brings together. Yes, there have been dark hard-rockers after this, and yes, there have been rockers (especially from various 'proggish' bands) that had lots of precise guitar and keyboard solos, but how many other songs can you think of that combine these two aspects while (a) never losing their underlying rhythmic propulsion and (b) making sure to finish in the time span of 'normal' pop-rock songs? A great song this one is.
There are six other songs, and they're mostly terrific. The 'pop' camp is represented (more or less) by the great Twentieth Century Fox, which has Jim just ever-so-slightly over-enunciating his phrasing during the bridge and the chorus, to very nice effect. Nice guitar solo, too. The 'blues' camp is represented by the cover of Willie Dixon's Back Door Man, which features the band stripping the song all the way down to its main riff and then rebuilding it in the Doors manner we all know and love. And, once again, a nice guitar solo, providing a perfect cross between regular blues wailing and the psycho-darkness of the band.
The 'mystical' camp is represented by The Crystal Ship, with some *very* lovely piano work in the middle to go with the usual moody keyboards, and the gorgeously dark and dreary End of the Night, which summarizes the "goth" feel of the band and the album better (imo) than The End ever could in a milion years. The notes that go with the chanting of the title, the keyboard sounds, and the haunting guitars of that one are amazing, I'll tell you what. But if you think that the band is relying too much on gloom and doom, we have, on the other end of the mood spectrum, a couple of upbeat covers. Soul Kitchen has a fabulous litle organ riff underpinning it, and the FABULOUS cover of Alabama Song manages to filter fatalistic and nihilistic lyrics through music that alternates between sounding like a Russian Jewish pastiche (at least, to my ears, though I have no idea how to explain it) and a generic Broadway musical, and to do so with a flair. Yay for cleverness.
So yeah, the album is very good. It's by no means the band's masterpiece, and in retrospect seems more like a training course for their true masterpiece, but still, a great album. One you should have, definitely.
Casey Brennan (bevan@voicenet.com)
This is probably the review I agree most with you on the Doors. One
difference is that I like "Take It as it Comes" quite a bit. But anyway,
this really is a great album if just for "Light My Fire", "Alabama Song",
and "Crystal Ship". You are right about it being monotonous as hell too..
that's what probably pissed me off when I first bought the album years
ago. But now I pretty much love it, and call it my second favorite Doors
album. A mid to high 8 on my scale at least. Maybe even higher.
Federico Marcon (federicomarcon@libero.it)
I have another point of view about "The End" : I find the music surely
uniform and sometimes monotonous, without the musical sophistication and
complexity of "When The Music Is Over" or "The Soft Parade", but maybe
it' s made so on purpose ; after all the effect is quiet hypnotic, don 't
you think so?On the other hand I don' t like very much the lyrics :
sometimes they are able to transmit a real oppressing mood and
atmosphere, but for me, they often fall into self-indulgence ; I mean
sometimes I feel that the "dark" elements are put into the lyrics with
the purpose of saying "Ehy we are innovative, here you are tons of dark
elements put all together!" ; howewer the lyrics are suerly
fashinating.And about "End Of The Night"?Very cool and suggesting, mainly
for the "Gilmour-ish" guitar solo, according to me.Personally I don' t
put on the same level "I looked at you" and "Take as it comes" ; the
second is, thanks to Jim' s vocals and Manzarek' s exquisite solo, very
catchy.
Andy Slater (andy@sfslater.com) (1/22/03)
First of all, Soul Kitchen was written by Morrison, and is not a cover.
But more importantly, I feel very strongly that 'The Doors' is the band's
best album. It seems that you and other reviewers sell this album short
because they don't like The End. It's true that one should only when they
have a lot of time and are in the right frame of mind; when you do,
however, The End comes off as one of the greatest, most profound songs of
all time. The combination of Break on Through, Light My Fire, and The
End, three essentially revolutionary songs, alone make this album one of
the best. Sure there are a few not-so-great songs (Twentieth Century Fox,
Alabama Song, I Looked At You, and Take It As It Comes) but even these
are very listenable and do not detract from the album as a whole. 'The
Doors' is one of the supreme and emblematic albums of the counterculture,
meaning it's one of the best albums to listen to if you want to know what
the Sixties were all about. The three important elements of the
counterculture are represented here: alienation (The End), rebellion
(Break on Through) and liberation (Light My Fire). All in all, I think
it's utter tomfoolery to rate 'Strange Days' higher than 'The Doors.'
Trfesok@aol.com (08/25/06)
I'm in the camp that thinks they never quite bettered this one, on
the whole. The songwriting is the most consistent, I think. I don't
find the mood of "The End" all that monotonous at all, really -- the
gloom and dreariness fits the lyrics to a tee. The upbeat pop songs
contrast well with the darker pieces. This is, I tihnk, where a big
part of the Doors' brilliance lies -- the dark and the light
together, rather than just the darkness. Plus, the band was able to
stamp its identity on the covers better than on the later albums.
Still, it's always a tough call rating the Doors' albums.
Best song: I dunno, but I really love My Eyes Have Seen You
Yeah, like I'm not gonna give this album the ten. Have you noticed that the belief that Strange Days is the Doors' best album was once, for all intents and purposes (ie with the exception of the belief that The Beatles could do practically no wrong), the ONLY belief held in common by virtually every major web reviewer? (That being said, I don't mean to imply that if you don't agree with this, you aren't major. But man, Mark Prindle, George Starostin, Nick Karn and myself ALL agreeing on an album? Wow!) Of course, the allmusic guide considers this a huge stepdown from the debut, that the tracks here sound mostly like leftovers, but that just goes to show that AMG and I aren't on the same page.
Seriously, I really don't understand how one could consider this album inferior to its predecessor. Well, ok, there are some reasons I can understand. The weird poem in the middle, Horse Latitudes, is bizarre and slightly out of place. The album is monotonous. Some of the tracks recycle themes from the first album; in particular, When the Music's Over steals its intro from Soul Kitchen, and the "turn out the lights" is sung using the same hook as in End of the Night. But you know what? I don't notice or care about these things when I'm listening, and when the album is done, these are only factors that keep me from giving the album a 15; they don't come close to making me see this as an inferior followup to the debut.
First of all, the stupid, happy pop songs a la I Looked at You have been thrown away, leaving only darkness and despair in its wake. But if you thought that the debut was dark, well, you obviously haven't given this one a listen. Why do I say that? It's because NOTHING from the debut even approaches the vein darkness that runs through this album. End of the Night came fairly close, and The End may have been dark in its own way, but the dullness got in the way of it too much.
Second of all is a much more important reson; this album features some of my absolute favorite melodies of all time. This time around, they made damn sure to compliment the darkness with solid, memorable melodies, and to say the least, they succeeded. And how!. EVERY song on here is catchy (except for Horse Latitudes, which isn't a song anyways, so it doesn't count) in both the vocal melodies and the instrumental parts. And that's what makes the album such a huge improvement over the debut - by making the songs take root in the listener's brain, the band was able to make the accompanying despair and darkness have that much more of a lasting affect. Put another way, when I listen to The End, I want to fall asleep, but when I listen to When the Music's Over, I want to kill somebody (not that I will, I'm just making a point). Which, I think, is more in line with Morrison's intent.
Oh, you want me to mention individual songs? I guess I could, but really, there's only so many ways to say "this song kicks ass, why aren't you listening to it right now?" Strange Days has a fabulous keyboard riff and spooky lyrics, You're Lost Little Girl has a great "bass" line and a tender, but dark vocal melody, Love Me Two Times has that fabulous guitar riff, Moonlight Drive has one of the coolest guitar sounds I can think of playing off of Ray's keys and the vocal melody, People are Strange has one of the most gleefuly enjoyable melodies I can think of ... sheesh. My Eyes Have Seen You is my favorite, with a wholly dark and eerie riff that quickly leads us into a fabulous rocker, but every other song is a close second. Including When the Music's Over, which some people I know don't like (*cough* Rich *cough*), and which goes from a great mellow groove to all sorts of guitar-led mood freakouts, back into quieter sequences and back into louder sequences while Jim bellows about whatever in a way that I don't get sick of (even if the lyrics are goofy on paper).
It may seem to be odd that I give a relatively short review to an album I profess to like so much, but it's one that I enjoy to such an extent that I'm not sure how to approach an attempt at longer descriptions. If you don't like it, well ... I'm sorry. I'm glad I'm not you.
Federico Marcon (federicomarcon@libero.it)
Sincerly, I understand you a bit when you say your favourite song here is
"My eyes have seen you" : it has one of the best solo by R. Krieger but
the entire song is quiet "lightweight" for my tastes.Maybe I'mone of the
few person on Earth who consider "Love Me Two Times" a solid but quiet
plane and unmemorable song ; Morrison is convincing in singing but fot me
the lyrics are on the same offensive level of, for instance, "I Looked At
You" .Ehy man, it s only rock' n' roll ( even if one of the best genre
)!I agrre with your 14 : after all, even if an album it' s extremely
good, an album have to be compared with giants like Beatles, Rolling
Stones and Who and for what worth it is, it often has to knee itself.
Trfesok@aol.com (08/25/06)
It's got a lot more variety than the first album, I'll grant you
that. But I really don't find the songs quite as interesting. "When
the Music's Over" strikes me more as a retread of "The End" rather
than an upgrade. And "Horse Latitudes" is the type of pretentious
Morrison raving filler that sometimes gave the Doors a bad name. The
rest is more the listenable, of course, but I have to agree with the
AMG (as much as I hate to) -- a slight slump here over the first
album.
max (mbycsquared@yahoo.com) (03/30/07)
I have to say, Strange Days is the best Doors album in my opinion ...
Everybody that listens to The Doors (that I know) agrees on that. I
also have to ask, "Bizarre and slightly out of place"? Get real! That
era was full of drugs ... You can't really appreciate the music as it
was inspired if you haven't listened to them under any psychedelic
influence ...
daniel penner (dzpenner@hotmail.com) (008/30/07)
a stupendously fantastically supersexyawesome album, Strange Days is.
Underrated by everybody (even you, i might say. 15!!!) in favor of their
SLIGHTLY inferior debut. My main point however is that while you mention
Horse Latitudes as being a 'bizarre, slightly out of place' point of the
album and a slight turn-off, I'd have to urge you to listen to the album on
vinyl. I just got it in the mail and while I never really got the point of
it before, it REALLY hit me hard this time. It's SERIOUSLY terrifying when
played on a vinyl through speakers that surround your line-of-hearing
completely. No joke.
Best song: Not To Touch The Earth
I guess that it would be unreasonable to expect the group to try to make another Strange Days, seeing as it's pretty tough to top a nearly-perfect album, but why on earth did The Doors decide to make a mostly 'normal' pop album? I mean, didn't anybody bother to point out to them that I Looked At You and Take It As It Comes were two of the weakest songs on The Doors? Because, in a lot of ways, those two songs are basically a prototype of virtually this entire album - happy-or-at-worst-slightly-mopey pop songs, a mood that, let's face it, seems utterly fake coming from The Doors.
Now, don't get me wrong - melody-wise, most of the songs aren't terrible (though few are truly great). But, listening to Jim sing, you can just tell that he's totally out of his element on songs like Wintertime Love (a WALTZ) or Yes, The River Knows (which passes me by completely). And that lack of emotional spark on the part of Jim (again, remember, no matter how fake his dark world might seem to the outside observer, he believed in it, and that's where a large part of the strength of the first two albums resided) is what kills this album.
It's no coincidence, then, that the two truly dark songs on here are the only out-and-out classics to be found on this album. First of all, there's an excerpt from the Celebration of the Lizard suite, here given the title Not to Touch the Earth. After having suffered through the entire suite courtesy of Absolutely Live, I must say that I'm extremely glad that the band had the restraint to not include the entirety of it on any studio album, since it's probably the best single argument against the idea of The Doors as a great band, but this excerpt is certainly the exception, and I'm very glad it's here. From the ominous synth line in the beginning, to the way the piece gradually picks up steam, to the fascinating lyrics, it's truly frightening, and the only place where Jim is able to approach the beautiful darkness of Strange Days.
The second classic is the album closer, Five to One, which contains one of Jim's most infamous lines, "Five to one, baby, one in five, no one here gets out alive." Of course, it's not just lyrics (or delivery, which is fantastic) that make this such a classic; the bass-heavy synth crunch of the beginning has to be one of the darkest instrumental sounds to ever come from the band (and that sure says something, believe you me), and the brief guitar solo is just incredibly intense and spectacularly well-written (and the one in the background as the song fades out is no slouch itself). I'm really puzzled how the band could have been able to record a song like this amongst all the happy-dippy stuff it did for the rest of the album; was this done early and then the rest later after Jim had found some sort of anti-depressant combination in his drugs, or did the band do the rest early on and then do this when Jim was pissed off at what he'd been coaxed into recording? Hmmm.
The rest, alas, is mostly annoying. The opening Hello I Love You is probably the only other song on here to even fall into the "minor classic" category, in spite of the fact that the opening vocal melody, with the exception of a slight change in meter, is almost identical to the chorus to The Kinks' All Day and All of the Night. Ah well, it still drips lust as well as any song can, and I don't mind hearing it. The Unknown Solider also displays some potential to enter that same "minor classic" category, as the gloom at the beginning (and in reprises) is quite nice, but then the melody becomes inexplicably happy in stretches. Bleh.
And the rest is just kinda blah (come on, Love Street? Summer's Almost Gone? Whatever). Again, not bad (else I would have given a lower rating), but not of Doors quality. In other words, don't get this album first if you want a clear idea of greatness of The Doors.
Trfesok@aol.com (06/15/08)
Yes, I'd rate this as the weakest of their studio albums, but it's
enjoyable enough. A bit too heavily weighted towards the lighter,
poppier end of things, I must agree. Still, everything is enjoyable
enough. "Hello, I Love You" is a fun opener. "Spanish Caravan" has
some great flamenco work from Kreiger. You have to wonder if Jim is
singing "Love Street" totally tongue in cheek, since he had such
contempt for the hippie movement. However, it's interesting that the
most popular songs from here after "Hello, I Love You" are "The
Unknown Soldier", "Five to One" and "Not to Touch the Earth", which
suggests that most people are like you -- they like their Doors dark.
The loser in the bunch, to me, is "My Wild Love", more dumb Jim
filler along the lines of "Horse Latitudes". A good album otherwise,
but should definitely be saved for last in a Doors collection.
Best song: The Soft Parade
When I wrote my original review for this back in 2001, it was right after I had dislocated my shoulder for the second time, and I was pretty wiped both physically and mentally. Consequently, when it came time to give these reviews some touch-ups, it occurred to me that maybe I had made a mistake in giving this album a 9(12) way back when, since after all I couldn't really remember much about it apart from the obvious highlights, and I was curious to see, in my first listen to it in more than four years, to see if I still liked it that much.
Well, guess what, I still enjoy this album way too much. Yeah, I'm probably a hypocrite for giving Sun only a 7 and this a 9. Yeah, I'm probably an idiot for esteeming this one more than the debut, especially when that one was so revolutionary and this one just isn't. But I can't help it - this album is such a fun, fun listen. This isn't The Doors trying to be serious or make a true artistic statement - this is The Doors, drugged out of their brains, playing an acid-filled type of lounge jazz and inviting whomever to come and join them. So yeah, there are horns and violins, which by themselves make a lot of people hate this album, but they sound good. And Jim, well, he doesn't sound like the Strange Days Jim, but he comes up with a hilarious variant - imagine a drugged-up Wayne Newton.
And the melodies, well, they're hokey as hell, but they're all the better for it. Tell All The People may have some of the stupidest lyrics ever written (though the fact that Jim is actually able to sing them makes them really funny), but heck, it's catchy and bouncy, with great violin breaks. And of course, there's the infamous Touch Me, with possibly the corniest classic melody ever written, but still, a classic is a classic. Yay for catchiness. And while most of the other songs of this type on the album aren't necessarily classic, they're still perfectly ok; only Runnin' Blue can be tagged with the dreaded "mediocre filler" tag, as far as I'm concerned.
If you're looking for more of the 'traditional' Doors spirit, though, don't despair - Jim threw on some perfectly solid dark songs. First of all, there's the wonderful Shaman's Blues - with its great riff complimented by Jim's usual menace (not to mention Rob's winding guitar work and Ray's usual wizardry), it might well have been the best song here (and would easily have been the best on Sun). But just as good (and maybe better) is Wild Child, with yet another fabulous riff, MORE interesting guitar work, and a neat little twist at the end!
And, of course, there's The Soft Parade. Does it mean anything? Honestly, I don't know, and I don't care - it's utterly fascinating both lyrically and musically. It has the infamous opening poem, a snippet of a dark ballad, then it moves into an up-tempo pop song, and so on and so on (actually, if I had to come up with a good comparison, I'd say it's like a slightly less schizoid version of The Beatles' You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)). Then, at the end, we get layers and layers of Jims singing in unison, until all but one Jim disappear and then he sings yet another creepy line, and then the song fades out. Again, it may not have a point, but egads is it entertaining.
And there you have it. This album gets trashed all of the time by 'professional' critics (though not really by the web-reviewing community) for being so whacky, but honestly, professional critics are dorks. Don't listen to them - listen to me, get this album, and enjoy it. Granted, it might have been annoying if they decided to subsequently remake this album, but fortunately, that never came up, so stop complaining.
Trfesok@aol.com (06/15/08)
Good review. I like this one a lot, too. Most everyone who trashes
it are Doors purists, pointing to the orchestration, complaining that
it dilutes the band's sound. I don't really agree with that, thinking
it's a nice change. Except, maybe, for "Wishful Sinful", where the
group is just about buried -- I can't hear Ray at all on this one.
But it does have a good melody and a nice vocal from Jim. That one
and "Tell All the People" sort of forced him into singing in a more
gentle style -- different, but not bad, convincing. I even like
"Runnin' Blue" -- country and soul form the Doors. "Do It" is
probably the only filler tune, sounding like an unfinished jam
("Listen to me, children/You are the ones who will rule the world" --
couldn't we have found any lyrics less hippie-cliched, guys?). "Touch
Me" was one of my first AM favorites back when I started listening to
AM radio at age 11. And the title track is now my favorite of their
epics, rocking harder than "The End" and "When the Music's
Over". More varied, too, moving from the trivial ("The monk bought
lunch" -- very funny) to the mystical and back again so many times
that it's mind-boggling. The album may not the best place to start
with them, but certainly its reputation as a dud is totally
undeserved.
Best song: Dead Cats Dead Rats/Break On Through
Would you believe that my copy of this originally belonged to my mother?... Anyway, this live album honestly didn't impress me much on my first listen, but I think I got it the second time. The thing about the album is that it's well-played, and it's not just a redundant "greatest hits live" affair, yet it seems to be missing something when I listen to it. Honestly, I think the biggest problem is that this particular live album REALLY requires that the listener have been there back in the late 60's in order to get the full effect, as much of it delves into bits that don't really enthrall me. The most obvious culprit is the 14-minute Celebration of the Lizard suite, which I still refuse to see as much more than slightly amusing noise (despite the presence of Not to Touch the Earth), but I can't say that the rest of the album made me jump up and down.
Still, when clearer heads prevailed, I found that I'm able to basically enjoy the rest. The band does a good job of stringing together various tracks that you wouldn't automatically expect to find on a Doors live album, and the result is a listen that at worst is unpredictable and at best is really neat. Lots of them are covers, some from the debut (all done superbly), and one of them even a cover of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love (which does in fact sound like it could have been a Doors song all along, even though it wouldn't have been that great of a Doors song - dunno why, but it doesn't really enthrall me as much as the other stuff here). It's also interesting that the covers from the debut, Alabama Song and Backdoor Man, are slammed into a medley with Five to One and some rarity called Love Hides, where Jim rambles on about love being in molecular structures.
Covers aside, there's also a quite good runthrough of When the Music's Over, with Jim delighting in mocking the audience and deflating the whole "we are here to lift up your mind, man" atmosphere that seemed to surround the band at times. They also followup the horrid Lizard suite on a good note, deciding to end the show with a TERRIFIC runthrough of Soul Kitchen, one that really makes me consider the album as better than it probably is. The best part of all, though, comes in the middle of the show, where the band begins playing the opening riffs to Break on Through, while Jim sings lyrics to some darkly hilarious song called Dead Cats, Dead Rats. What I find most amusing about this little excercise is that the music manages to be just as powerful and rousing even when Jim isn't singing the standard lyrics, strongly suggesting that the actual music is, in fact, the most important part of the Doors experience. Regardless, Jim eventually switches over to the "proper" verses, and the result is simply dark rock heaven.
The rest is the rest. There are some nice excerpts from The Soft Parade, a couple more rarities, and that's basically it. The playing is fine throughout, Jim is obviously in top form (or close to it), and I can definitely see why the Doors got such a good reputation as a live band. Regardless, though, the feeling that one had to be there to really get it hangs over the album like a dark shroud, and can't help but hurt things a bit. I know that's probably not the most satisfactory explanation you're looking for, but I'm on what seems like my 200th headache this month, so I'm not in any position to get deeper on this particular release. Sorry.
Trfesok@aol.com (09/03/06)
This one is also on the first disc of a 2 CD set called In Concert.
I find it very entertaining. The sound quality is a lot better than
most of the major pre-1975 live rock albums (which makes me wonder if
there was some studio overdubbing). I think "Who do You Love?" is
fantastic, the best Doors cover outside of the original "Back Door
Man." I wonder how they managed to slip "Poontang Blues" ("Build Me A
Woman") past the censors? I don't even mind "Celebration of the
Lizard" so much, but I think this is one song where you definitely
had to be there to appreciate it. Jim's odd fascination with animal
corpses seems to be a predominant theme in a lot of the album. More
from The Soft Parade would have been nice, but I suspect this was
recorded before that album was. Still, you do get a good feel for the
live Doors, although I recommend finding In Concert to get a broader
spectrum of live performances.
Best song: Roadhouse Blues or Maggie M'Gill
And you thought the group had completely stagnated. Ha! Now, granted, many fans of the 'traditional' Doors style might feel a bit uncomfortable with the fact that, all of a sudden, The Doors have embraced 'roots-rock.' But, while I'm not really somebody who gravitates towards music just because it's roots rock, I've discovered that there's one condition under which I really enjoy roots rock - when it's given the Beggar's Banquet treatment. And what is that, you may ask? Why, it's combining roots-rock
with all sorts of creative and stylistic variations (and great riffs and melodies, which this album definitely has). So while there's a more-or-less traditional blues number that kicks off the album (which, btw, turns out to be one of the best songs on the album, imagine that), the rest of the album throws in jazz, funk ... and whether you believe it or not, some traditional Doors spirit.
The most obvious example of this, of course, comes from Waiting for the Sun (which, btw, knocks the crap out of virtually every song on that album), with a great forboding synth riff and Jim building the tension as only he can. But even in the 'lightweight' songs, Doors-ness can be found. Like in The Spy, where Jim does a perfect job of freaking you out with the idea that he's, well, a spy. Especially the way he knows "your deepest secret fear," the creepiest and most memorable parts of the song.
And don't forget the closing Maggie M'Gill, either. In addition to the AWESOME way the guitar flits between each speaker (not to mention the peculiar riff work), there's also the awesome vocal melody (not to mention that, let's face it, it's the last time that Morrison sounds truly great on an official release) and just, well, the overall vibe to the song. A bluesman sitting around, watching the world going by, and not really giving a crap about it. Yee-haw!
In some other situations, the lightweightness doesn't really have any connection at all to the 'traditional' Doors spirit, but the songs still rule because, dagnabbit, the instrumentation is entertaining as hell and the melodies rule. Like in the silly Land Ho!, which is just pure fun and does a good job of conveying the 'pioneering spirit' of those who went out on the sea in search of treasure. Or like in the piano-guitar boogie You Make Me Real, which sounds like it could have come from ... I dunno who, probably anybody but The Doors. Still good, though. Not as good as Peace Frog, though. The way that funky wah-wah-driven guitar riff interacts with the keyboard riff which interacts with Jim's vocals ... wow. Wow. Great guitar solo, too - remember how I mentioned in the intro that this period had some of Krieger's best guitar work? Well, this song is pretty much the best available example.
Now, granted, some of the songs are kinda weak, else I would have given a 14 or 15. Blue Sunday passes me by each time I hear it, and Queen of the Highway, well, if you want to make the argument that The Doors made a mistake by going to roots rock, this could be your first exhibit. It's boring, plain and simple - it tries to be exciting solely by virtue of its lyrical subject matter, but ultimately fails. And as for Indian Summer ... well, you might like it, as almost it sounds 'dark' like The End, but ultimately it puts me to sleep even quicker than the closer of the debut.
But those are just minor gripes. The band rolled the dice here by making such a drastic change, but I hold that they came out on top, and in a big big way. And if you will remove an preconceptions of what the Doors must sound like, you'll probably enjoy it too; it's my contention that anybody who doesn't like this album has way too much of a knee-jerk allergic reaction to anything resembling "roots-rock."
Best song: Riders On The Storm
Inspired by the artistic success of Morrison Hotel, the Doors decided to incorporate more and more blues elements into their sound, and in the process became a full-fledged blues band. That's right, The Doors became a blues band. And while some fans may have screamed "sell-out" at this prospect, time has shown the continuation of the Hotel developments to be a correct decision - not because the Doors were totally comfortable as bluesmen, but because they weren't. Jim tries in many cases to gruff up his voice in such a way as to make himself sound like an old black blues singer (though it's not always pleasant, as his voice was starting to lose power as is), but in most cases, the band's attempts to do the same are so unbelievably screwy that they can't help but be entertaining.
Not in all cases, of course. The opening The Changeling doesn't really work at all - Jim's voice sounds kinda crappy, and the melody is awkward and not very memorable. The organ riff is decent enough, but other than that, it tries hard to be an anthemic classic, but mostly fails; that said, its placement as the opening track allows to work well enough that it seems tolerable while listening, even if it seems really dumb once the album's over and I'm taking in the overall effect. Elsewhere, neither Hyacinth House nor the generic blues Crawling King Snake have ever really interested me. The former is reasonably pretty in spots, but not much more, and the latter strikes me as nothing but a way to get Jim's snake motif onto the album.
But the rest, hoo! The other two generic blues songs are fabulous, for one thing. Been Down So Long is the most successful instance of Jim imitating an old bluesman, as he does a great job of making his depressing and clever lyrics come to life, while Krieger throws in some, ahem, not-so-traditional guitar parts. As for Cars Hiss by my Window, at first seems much more 'normal' as the band takes a slower tempo and uses more normal instrument parts ... until the end where Jim sings a perfect imitation of a wah-wah'd guitar solo. NOW do you see why I gave this band a 4 rating?
A couple more minor classics can be found on the album, too. First, there's L'America, which distinguishes in two primary ways. First, there's the way Jim uncharacteristically sings the same melody as the riff the band's playing, which makes the song more menacing in a Black Sabbath sort of way (which makes sense, since Ozzy Osbourne was infamous for doing the same thing on virtually every Sabbath song). And, of course, there's that great passage in the middle, "A change of weather, a change of luck, and then they'll teach you how to ... find yourself ...". Eeeexcellent. Anyways, the second song I'm referring to is The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat). If you're really looking for some traditional Jim ravings, this is the place to go - in addition to a great monotonous musical track, several of the lyrical passages are just neat.
All of these pale, of course, to the three major classics of the album. First, there's Love Her Madly, which has it all, from an insanely catchy but totally non-obvious vocal melody to a nice counterpoint in the middle to some clever organ breaks from Ray. Even better, though, is the title track, which takes the listener through several fascinating passages of vocal melodies (with neat lyrics too), interspersing them with more terrific instrumental passages and even some guitar-vocal duels here and there. The song isn't quite perfect (I've never completely cared for Jim's vocals on this song), but still, it's friggin' great.
But not as great as the album closer, Riders on the Storm. I always enjoy songs that strongly evoke a specific image, especially when that image is related to the title of the song, and oh boy, does this song do that - it requires virtually no effort to see the band members in cowboy gear, riding on horses through a pooring thunderstorm, first approaching the scene and then gradually riding off into the far-off gloom. The melody of course rules, as do the lyrics, but the true hero, as usual, is Manzarek. Granted, it may take a couple of listens to understand the point and importance of the jazzy keyboard solo in the middle, but when it hits you, it really hits you. And that's all I want to say about the solo and the song - none of my words can do either justice.
Get this album as soon as you can - as both a perfect farewell to Jim's Doors (he died shortly after the album's release) and a demonstration of what strange ideas can be produced even from a genre as supposedly 'limited' as the blues, it really cannot be topped. Some songs are weak, yes, but the overall strengths of the album FAR outweigh them.
Pat D. (pd6941@albany.edu)
Wow, i agree with everything you wrote here. Is that amazing or what?
By the way, if you have a decent turntable, people, get this on Vinyl.
The CD cannot come close to the dynamics and liveliness of the record.
Whether it was a poor job remastering on the CD, or the limitiations of
CDs in general, the digital disc version sounds dull and lifeless
compared to the shiny black analog disc. Just my $.02.
Best song: Whiskey, Mystics And Men
An apt title. Apparently, this is a 1-CD summary of the 3-CD boxset issued a couple of years previous, and it was definitely a nice gesture on the part of the record company to issue this for those who lacked the resources to obtain the boxset. With a good mix of live cuts, demos, alternate versions and previously unreleased tracks, it never gets boring or monotonous in the least.
In the category of live tracks, the best of these come from the 1970 Madison Square Garden show, with Roadhouse Blues and The End making appearances here. The former absolutely ROARS, mostly thanks to a strong vocal delivery from Jim, and the rendition of The End here is practically revelatory for me. Perhaps it's simply courtesy of the fact that it's live that breathes a sense of, well, "life" to the proceedings, but the whole performance seems just that much less artificial and better flowing than on the studio version. Hearing Jim's calls of "bring out your dead" manage to suck me in here, and as he sings the "ride the snake" parts and messes with the Oedipus section, I really start to understand WHY it is that everybody seems to worship this track.
The other live tracks aren't quite as stunning, but they're very good nonetheless. Break On Through, taken from the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, has extra gloom stuck into the introduction through Ray's keyboards, and the execution of the rest of the song lives up to the wonderful introduction. Elsewhere, there's a a doo wop number, a decent (though not really special) otherwise unreleased track called Someday Soon, and even a live performance of The Soft Parade! Unlike many, I actually enjoy this rendition - obviously, it's destined to be inferior to the original, simply because of all the vocal overdubs in the original, but it's entertaining as HELL to witness Jim do his best to pull them all off himself.
On the other side, we have the unreleased studio stuff, and they're mostly interesting as well. Who Scared You is a Soft Parade outtake, with horns and other related stuff, and the melody is sufficiently entertainingly hokey enough to make it worthy of inclusion on that album. Whiskey, Mystics and Men, on the other hand, comes from the Morrison Hotel sessions, and it's almost certainly the best Doors song you've never heard. The melody is simple, swaying back and forth, but the distant delivery from Morrison is eerie as hell, punctuated by the "na na na"'s at the end of most of verse lines, and the weird instrumental combination of mandolin-sounding guitars and an accordion is enough to make it enjoyable by itself.
Later on, we also have the soft, mournful Orange County Suite, with Jim lamenting a lost love as only he could, without making the song sappy. I mean, he's sad and all, but the bitterness of his state overrides any mopeyness he might have. One line in particular just grabs me and sums up the whole mood perfectly - "We had all that lovers ever had, we just blew it, and I'm not sad, and I'm MAD." Yay Jim!
If it's demos and alternate takes you're into, you won't be disappointed either. They're mostly just historic curiousities, and none are superior to the regular studio versions, but they're still ok. Two of the demos in particular are noteworthy; Moonlight Drive and Hello, I Love You, rather than sounding like dark moody pop, sound like regular 60's pop. No darkness, just some upbeat harmonies, piano and a desire to "break on through" to commercial success. Not spectacular, but still quite nice.
And that's your album. Most everything is good, and while you'd mostly be better off with the "regular" versions, the album is perfectly enjoyable while on. Guess that's one of the benefits of having a high talent/output ratio - unreleased stuff will inevitably be enjoyable.
The Doors - 1967 Elektra
8 (12)
*Strange Days - 1967 Elektra*
10 (14)
Waiting For The Sun - 1969 Elektra
7 (10)
The Soft Parade - 1969 Elektra
9 (12)
Absolutely Live - 1970 Elektra
7 (11)
Morrison Hotel - 1970 Elektra
9 (13)
LA Woman - 1971 Elektra
9 (13)
Essential Rarities - 1999 Elektra
8 (12)