screamin' sounds: THE DOORS

Sunday, February 19, 2012

THE DOORS

(originally written by Billy Altman for the Rolling Stone Record Guide, 1979. Replaced in the 2nd edition with a hatchet job by Dave Marsh. Reprinted without permission)

Of all the groups to emerge from the West Coast in the late Sixties, only The Doors succeeded in consistently getting their often disturbing messages across to the core of America through both hit albums and singles. And the fact that they were able to do so without compromising their stance or their art only makes their accomplishments that much more incredible.

Various themes and images ran through all of the Doors albums - deserted houses, strangers, endless highways, unsolvable mysteries, accents on sensuality and sexuality - and the group's intent was there even on the very first track of The Doors, their initial LP; "Break On Through (To The Other Side)." With Jim Morrison's vision leading the way, a vision that encompassed notions of both good and evil as viable alternatives in terms of human action and that was continually obsessed with exploration and search, The Doors played unique music: Ray Manzarek's keyboards, Robbie Krieger's guitar amd John Densmore's drums weaving around in support of the specific needs of each song. Investigations were never really completed in The Doors music - the probe was the thing - and though many of The Doors lengthy works ("The End," "When the Music's Over," "The Soft Parade") weren't wholly successful, they were admirable and fascinating, exemplary of the group's desire to further its horizons.

After The Doors and Strange Days, The Doors went into a moderately subdued period with Waiting for the Sun and The Soft Parade ... Morrison Hotel, steeped in blues, saw a resurgence of the band's power. L.A. Woman, was the final record with Morrison. Arguably the group's finest album ... it forms a rather detailed composite sketch of everything that helped make The Doors such an intriguing band: blues and rock forged together, poetry mingled with standard rock lyrics, and a solid dose of inquiries into the unexplainable puzzles of life.

Essential Listening