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Fans Album Reviews For:
THE DOORS
(8 reviews sent in so far)
L.A. Woman
By Zack Taylor
May 13, 2007
Rating: 10.0
For the record, Jim Morrison did not show his cock on stage. He definitely led a
shocked audience on that hot steamy Miami night to believe that he might whip it out, but
more than 150 photos from the March, 1969 concert were introduced into evidence at his
subsequent trial for felony lewd and lascivious behavior, and not one of them captured his
willy in the spotlight. Morrison was nonetheless convicted of lewd and lascivious behavior
and sentenced to six months of hard time; the case was on appeal when he died. Miami not
only threatened Morrison’s liberty – it nearly ruined the Doors’ career.
Tours were cancelled, and venues willing to book them insisted on a “fuck
clause” of $5,000 to be forfeited if any obscene act took place on stage. When all
seemed lost, the Doors restored their artistic credibility with Morrison Hotel,
their strongest album in three years, but their charismatic leader was a shattered man.
Habitual heavy drinking began to take its toll: Morrison's nerves were shot, relationships
in tatters. With long, lank hair, huge beard, and ragged army jacket, he looked homeless
– and if you don’t count a seedy motel – actually was. The young Dionysus
of 1967 was gone forever.
Not surprisingly, the rest of the Doors were in a panic as they watched their franchise
going down the drain. In desperation, they stoked the creative fire by suggesting they do
a bluesy album – something Morrison often talked about doing – in a laid back
setting at their rehearsal room, rather than a studio. Long time producer Paul Rothchild,
however, was having none of it. Having sweat bullets to maintain musical standards amid
Morrison's antics on five previous studio albums, he dismissed the new material as weak
and walked away, leaving production to engineer Bruce Botnick and the band. Thus was born
a new, short-lived, era for the Doors. The sound of Morrison’s voice on the new
album, L.A. Woman, was little short of shocking: those golden pipes had
transformed into a near-unrecognizable husky growl, yet possessed a new maturity and
appeal. Behind it, the band played their hearts out in their funkiest style ever, and
sustained musical excellence throughout the disc. “Love Her Madly” was a slice
of irresistible radio pop from Robbie Krieger; original blues “Cars Hiss By My
Window” featured Morrison's vocal imitation of a guitar solo following some of the
old lyric menace. The tripartite, eight-minute title cut, among the Doors’ finest
work, was a self-portrait that introduced Morrison’s mythologizing anagram Mr. Mojo
Risin,’ which ironically portended a mysterious end for its author. In “Hyacinth
House,” Morrison exposes his own interpersonal conundrum: “I need someone who
doesn’t need me.” The rapped verses of the delightful “Texas Radio and the
Big Beat” include two of Morrison’s greatest-ever one liners: “I’ll
tell you this, no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn” and
“Out here on the perimeter there are no stars/Out here we is stoned,
immaculate.”
The album’s finale, appropriately, is a second, and for the group, final epic. The
song Rothchild hated most of all, “Riders on the Storm” nonetheless managed to
package a sordid tale of murder on the highway into a hit single, thanks to catchy
keyboard work from Ray Manzarek and an irresistible after-midnight ambience atmosphere.
The Doors' last song ended with Morrison's vulnerable plea to his long-suffering
girlfriend, Pamela: “Girl you got to love your man./Take him by the hand, make him
understand.” Sadly, that never happened. Jim and Pam left for an extended holiday in
Paris while the others were still mixing the album, arguably the Doors' best; just days
after getting a call from drummer John Densmore informing him that L.A. Woman was
a big hit, rising fast in the charts, the Lizard King lay dead in his hotel bathtub, more
than likely of a heroin overdose. Perhaps Jim Morrison, 27, just couldn’t live with
any more success.
To listen to some soundclips from
L.A. Woman
or to purchase it, click on: L.A. Woman [Bonus Tracks]
Waiting for the Sun
By Zack Taylor
November 5, 2004
Rating: 7.0
After a brilliant debut album and the worthy follow-up Strange Days, the
Doors found themselves one of the biggest acts in pop music. At concerts, fans screamed
for singer Jim Morrison with beatlesque fervor. An educated, thinking man, Morrison
understood with withering clarity the superficiality of his stardom that had nothing to do
with music. He rebelled hard against the adulation, manifesting contempt and feelings of
unworthiness by constant, absurdly heavy drinking. That cheers for his new inebriated
buffoonery on stage got even louder didn’t help--Morrison devolved into a cartoonist
stock character egged on to further outrageousness at every gig.
When the time came for the third Doors album Waiting for the Sun, Morrison
couldn’t pull it together, arriving at the studio hours late, once famously passing
out and pissing himself at the microphone. “Jim was useless 99-and-a-half percent of
the time,” producer Paul Rothchild said later. “What you hear on that record is
half of one percent.” Still, Rothchild pulled a pretty decent LP out of the mess. He
tapped into Jim’s anger to make “Five to
One” an effective anti-hippie anthem, as a clearly drunk Morrison growls “You
walk across the floor with a flower in your hand/trying to tell me no one
understands” provocatively contradicts the earlier “Unknown Soldier.” In
this, one of the most explicit anti-war songs of the sixties, Morrison is literally shot
by firing squad, which implies the same end result as sending the boys off to Saigon.
“Hello, I Love You” is a commercial sugar-coated treatment of a demo from 1965,
directly copping the Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night.” It predictably
went to #1, but sorely disappointed fans that saw the group as “artists” as
newly defined by the Beatles. “Love Street” is kitschy jazz about Jim’s
girl Pam; “Summer’s Almost Gone” is the final gem from Morrison’s
initial burst of creativity in 1965. Robbie Krieger’s contributions are strong,
though “Wintertime Love,” the again season-themed follow-up to the previous
number seems a bit contrived. “Spanish Caravan” features some dandy guitar work;
and “Yes, the River Knows” is a beautiful guitar-piano duet with Ray Manzarek,
as Morrison does his best Sinatra.
Every previous Doors album closed with an epic, and this one was to be the most ambitious
of all. “The Celebration of the Lizard” is a grisly 110-line surrealistic
odyssey through the grim landscape of Morrison’s
mind. But in his condition, Jim couldn’t pull it off. Only one section made the
grade, assaulting teeny bop listeners with “the minister’s daughter’s in
love with a snake” and “dead president’s corpse in the driver’s
car” as Manzarek beat the Hammond with his fists—-a far cry from “Hello, I
Love You”
The Doors haven’t aged well, but every note and line from this album like the others
is no doubt indelibly etched in the mind of millions of former adolescent males like your
humble reviewer. As far as this LP goes, it’s a metaphor for Morrison’s
contrasts, soft-spoken intellectual one moment, raving asshole the next. It also marks the
beginning of the end for one of rock’s greatest stars. He was 25 years old at the
time.
To listen to some soundclips from Waiting for the Sun or to
purchase it, click on:
Waiting for the Sun [Bonus Tracks]
The Doors
by Darius Henry
December 15, 2007
Rating: 10.0
When it comes to The Doors’ self-titled album, you will get one of the greatest
psychedelic albums of all time. Never have I heard a Psychedelic album like this. This
album is just that damn good. I mean, who else had a organ as their lead instrument? All
you need is a very deep Singer/Songwriter (Jim Morrison), and you have yourself a great
band. Let me explain.
This album starts off with “Break on Through,” which is one of my favorite song
on this album. It’s one of those songs that you like to play while skateboarding. On
this song, you get to hear, “She gets high,” which was edited for the reason we
already know. The next song, “Soul Kitchen,” is a pretty cool tribute to a Soul
Food Restaurant and he used to stay late at that restaurant with his lady. Pretty cool
vocal by Jim. “The Crystal Ship” is one of those songs that I truly love to
listen. Cool goodbye song to his love ones. Or is it about drugs? I don’t care what
it’s about. It rules. And listen to the Organ part. It will give you chills.
“20th Century Fox” is a song that a lot of people love. I like it a little bit.
But still a cool song about a woman who dresses good but she doesn’t have any
feeling. Great music to listen to as well. “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” is a good
cover of a German Opera song in the 1920s. Another great song about materialism. The next
song, “Light My Fire,” proves to be their best song of all time. Great vocal,
great lyrics, great organ, great guitar solo. What more can you ask for in this song?
It’s like a perfect psychedelic song.
“Back Door Man” is a great Blues cover of Willie Dixon by the Doors. It’s a
great song about a man who ran out of the back door so his lover’s husband won’t
catch him. Listen to the organ and Jim’s vocals as well. It’s great. “I
Looked at You” is one of those love song, I guess. Great organ and great drumming.
It’s very underrated in my book. And so is “End of the Night.” This is a
very dark, spooking poetry. The organ and the guitar just add some spooking ness in it.
And that is why I love this song. Great song that is basically Jim Morrison’s
confession of life. “Take It as It Comes” is another underrated song by the
Doors. It’s a great song about meditating. You gotta listen to his lyrics. The last
song on this album is the haunted “The End.” With almost 12 minutes, it’s a
perfect way to end this great album. It’s basically about death. Listen to the guitar
and the organ and the lyrics. Although the lyrics was controversial at the time, and still
is, it’s still great.
This is a near perfect album from start to finish. I can’t believe that this album is
over 40-years-old. It’s a great Psychedelic album. So please check out this album.
The Doors
by Chris
October 8, 2004
Rating: 9.5
One of the greatest debut albums in rock and roll history. The Door's first album is
probably their best. The album starts with "Break on Through", with a nice Latin
beat that plays throughout the song. The next song is "Soul Kitchen", with great
lyrics and great music. The next song is "The Crystal Ship" that sets a mellow
mood, and has a really good piano solo. The next song is "Twentieth Century
Fox", a pretty good song, but not the best on the album. The one after that is
probably the weirdest one on the album, "Alabama Song" with weird lyrics and
weird music. The next song is one of their masterpieces, "Light My Fire", with
killer vocals, and the organ solo is outstanding. The next song is "Back Door
Man", a blues song with a cool organ and great vocals by Morrison. "I Looked at
You", "End of the Night", and "Take its as it comes" are really
just filler songs, they're not too good. The last song "The End" is a haunting
song that runs over 11 minutes long.
The album remains one of the best in rock history. It's just sad that Morrison died
in Paris in 1971. The band probably would have put out another string of albums in the
70's.
The Doors
by Brad Larkin
December 2, 2003
Rating: 10.0
An essential album for anyone who dares to call themselves a worshiper in the temple of
rock and roll. No wasted line, no unnecessary track exists on this record of eternal
value. This is not a record to listen to for mundane enjoyment or the like, it is written
to shake you up, make you uncomfortable. Pop fanatics need not apply. Many casual
listeners will purchase this record simply for two songs that are currently the victim of
overplay by the radio station (Heil Clear Channel!), “Light My Fire” and
“Break on Through (To the Other Side).” And while these are fantastic songs
worthy of the praise they receive, there are numerous other songs worth noting. “The
Crystal Ship” is a work of poetic beauty. “End of the Night” takes the
unsettled listener to the edges of the known sphere and back. But the greatest track on
this album, arguably the greatest in the Doors repertoire is “The End.” Easily
one of the most unsettling songs to ever be promenaded before an audience this song
travels from this world to the unconsciousness and back. In between the sounds of the
sitar and the crashing drums, one can hear the punk revolution ignite as Morrison screams
and whispers his way to the pantheon of heroes. Often analyzed, everyone has their own
theories regarding this song, but that is what makes it great, so I will not waste your
time explaining my own humble opinion. I could continue on and on about this album, but
what would it accomplish? This is an album that is an experience, there is no substitute.
In short, go out, buy it, and allow yourself to wonder what would have happened if rock
and roll had continued down this path, instead of a one of corporate triteness.
To listen to some soundclips from The Doors or to
purchase it, click on: The Doors [Bonus Tracks - CC Music] or
Doors
(Extra Tracks) Buy.com
MORRISON
HOTEL
By
Alex Short
January 15, 2001
Rating: 9.0
This album, released in 1970 was like a breath of fresh air for all Doors fans
everywhere. After two average albums, the worst of the two being The Soft Parade
released in 1969. With its tinny sound and over production, it was far from a classic. The
band somewhat reformed themselves for this effort. The album gets off to a bluesy feel
with "Road House Blues", bringing back memories of "Back Door Man" of
their debut album. Though this is better. There is certainly some fine efforts on this
album. The best been "Ship Of Fools" and "Queen Of The Highway".
"Maggie Mgill" isn't too bad either. Another truly fine standout, and my
personal favorite is "Peace Frog" It has truly funky guitar, and Morrisons
vocals are at his best. There is a few other average songs such as "You Make Me
Real". Morrisons vocals doing the damage there. You see that's just it. More then
often, he had the most perfect voice, but then he would put on this kind of rough wisky
voice. Sometimes it works. "Back Door Man" for instance". But on "You
Make Me Real" it doesn't. Saying that though. This is the Doors second best effort.
All I can say is, go and buy it.
To listen to some soundclips from MORRISON HOTELor to
purchase it, click on: Morrison Hotel [Bonus Tracks]
STRANGE DAYS
To listen to some soundclips from STRANGE DAYS
or to purchase it click on: Strange
Days (Bonus Songs - Buy.com)
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