OTHER VOICES

No, Jim Morrison is not here. ...But did he actually play an instrument? No, I don't think so. Here the vocal duties are taken care of by Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger (I'm guessing the album title is a reference to this). And they pull it off real well. On this non- Morrison album we see the band going into a more blues-oriented direction, somewhat moving away from the general psychedelia. It's still the Doors, people.

Other Voices has a dominant 'country western' atmosphere. The album starts off with one of it's strongest cuts, the bluesy "In The Eye Of The Sun". After the short rock'n'roll ditty "Variety Is The Spice Of Life" we are offered another one of the album's top songs, "Ships With Sails". Beautiful, melodic, moody.. 7+ minutes. Quite trippy with great lyrics. "Tightrope Ride" is another happy rock'n'roll song, quite harmless and fun. "Down On The Farm" starts off slow and trippy but then turns into an almost country blues tune. "I'm Horny, I'm Stoned" and "Wandering Musician" continue along the same lines but in a different environment (from the farm to the bar) with the first being a good rock tune while the latter is slower and moodier. The album ender "Hang On To Your Life" has a jazz feel to it with great percussion. Good vocal performance here. Some parts are just hypnotic and trippy. The song picks up speed towards the end.

On the other hand, this is not an essential Doors release but it definitely wouldn't hurt anyone to check it out. Although the high points of the album can't match the heights of the Morrison-era, the material here is constantly good. The band could have easily continued making music but I guess the pressure was high, not to mention people's expectations.

It would be criminal not to acknowledge this release and it's follow-up, Full Circle. Nowadays you can conveniently get them both on one disc, thus not having to give too much room in your record collection to these 'inferior Doors releases'.