The Doors
Rhino / Wea - Rhino / Wea
The Doors
Release date: 2007-03-27
Audio CD
Album Rock, Hard Rock, Pop, Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock Music, Proto-Punk, Psychedelic, Rock, Rock & Roll, Rock/Pop, United States of America
1. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
2. Soul Kitchen
3. The Crystal Ship
4. Twentieth Century Fox
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
6. Light My Fire
7. Back Door Man
8. I Looked At You
9. End Of The Night
10. Take It As It Comes
11. The End
12. Moonlight Drive (Version 1) (Bonus)
13. Moonlight Drive (Version 2) (Bonus)
14. Indian Summer (8/19/66 Vocal) (Bonus)
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The Doors
Date undefinedbreaks on through to the other side
Notwithstanding what audiotechnophiles may say, "The Doors" classic self titled debut album loses nothing from the transfer to digital media and the listener can now experience to the opus without interruption. This 40th anniversary edition also provides two versions of "Moonlight Drive" and a partial rendering of "Indian Summer", both contemporaneous recordings which did not make the original.
"The Doors" sweeps straight into "classic" status (and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) on the basis of the opening track, the smash and grab, "Break on Through," the pinnacled mid-point ridge, "Light my Fire" and "The End", like Scott in the Antarctic, an inspiring and ultimately devastating exploration.
New listeners should avoid the "greatest hits" urge and listen to "The Doors" from start to finish. Explore the intervening tracks which take the listener off in interesting asides and diversions that ultimately put the three "hits" in relief. Your journey will be rewarded and you will find your own favorites.
What makes this set all the more inspiring is that it was recorded in just a few days, using minimal equipment, sometimes with the first take making it onto the record. Of course in 1966, this was the way that things were done. A band would not "make a record", a construction that occurred only in the studio, they would go into the studio to record what they did, with slightly better sound quality than the live rendering - and, in the case of Jim Morrison, the cleaning up of some of the lyrics.
The Doors were a group of students who met at UCLA, Jim Morrison, vocalist, Robby Krieger, guitar, John Densmore, drums and Ray Manzarek keyboards. Interestingly, the Doors did not have a regular bass player, Manzarek added many bass lines from his keyboard or organ pedals and he adds some "real" bass to this recording along with Larry Knetchel who plays on "Soul Kitchen," "Twentieth Century Fox," "Back Door Man," "I Looked At You" and "Take It As It Comes."
From the opening up-tempo off-beat drum beat and keyboard bass line to the abrupt end, "Break on Through" picks you up and shakes you all about - "...try to run, try to hide, break on through to the other side!" This two and one half minute rocker makes anyones top ten list of "debut album, side 1, track 1" (see the book or movie, "Fever Pitch" if you missed that cultural reference).
"Soul Kitchen", "Crystal Ship" and "Twentieth Century Fox" give the recording the feel of a theatrical piece. The prominence of the keyboard, Morrisons storytelling delivery, clipped percussion and the post surf - pre heavy metal wail of Manzareks guitar give the impression of a pit band or hipster club session. The inclusion of the Berthold Brecht/Kurt Weill song "Whisky Bar (Alabama Song)" only adds to the drama.
One half expects a Jaques Brel tune to follow but a sharp drum beat spins the listener off into "Light my Fire". Being a child IN the sixties I first experienced "Light My Fire" via Jose Feliciano and numerous other covers of less repute my first personal Doors experience would be L.A. Woman when I was old enough to find my own music. For those who have experienced the loungeinized "Light My Fire", the full seven minute original version is a revelation. You need to hear Morrison yell "... come on baby light my FIYERRRR!" to truly get what this song is about.
The majesty of "Light My Fire" is that it is a simple tune, basically a jingly introduction, a repeated riff and a three chord refrain (or thereabouts), which through repetition and adding and removing layers of instrumentation, becomes a complex, almost symphonic work, in the twentieth century style. In the mid-sixties, the extended rock/pop track was still a novelty and the blues based rock bands of Britain and the US were just beginning to experiment with the concept. "Light My Fire" is a perfect platform for the extended solo over the verse/riff, in the style of the jazz greats (Coltranes My Favorite Things etc.) who had led the way during the preceding decade. Manzarek gives us variations on a theme through three minutes and ten seconds, at which point, if you haven't done so already, crank up your machine to full volume for Jim Kreigers guitar solo before the whole band come crashing back together for a final verse chorus. Gold standard.
In the second half of "The Doors" their west coast sound comes more to the fore. "End of the Night", "I Looked at You" and "Take it as it Comes" hint at the darkness of The End (sic.) to come, along with the addled optimism of the age. "Back Door Man" a reworking of the Willie Dixon classic, pays homage to the blues roots of their sound and gives Morrison another opportunity to express his unambiguous lusts.
"The End" is the most overtly theatrical piece, based loosely on the greek tragedy Oedipus Rex with contemporary allusions to drug culture, the developing war in Vietnam and the draft. The piece is largely free form and dreamy, in a psychedelic manner, with Indian raga like guitar lines, a classical organ sound held together by tabla percussion and drum fills from Densmore. The vocal meanders and builds to the disturbing crescendo; "Father. Yes son? I want to kill you. Mother, I want to... " According to Ray Manzarek, Morrison "...wasn't saying he wanted to do that to his own Mom and Dad. He was re-enacting a bit of Greek drama. It was theatre!"
Theatre? Bravo! A tour de force!
Listeners to this version of "The End" should note that this runs close to 12 minutes - not a shortened version, as appears in "Appocalypse Now" for example. Other live and unedited versions are also available, giving a clearer idea of Mr. Morrisons intentions towards his mother.
I was able to scare my parents with The Velvet Underground & Nico records. But the Velvets didn't scare me because I had already listened to "The End"
The Doors
Date undefinedthis cd gets away from the tired fm airplay and into some of the longer and more interesting songs
The Doors
Date undefinedAlthough this is the doors' first album, it might as well be a greatest hits. Every song is a well known classic from the genius of morrison and manzarek. This cd is every music lover's dream!
