L.A. WOMAN

The last Jim album and very bluesy. I've always seen their debut as their best and several others (including this one) as joint second. Oddly, I never warmed to Strange Days as an album though "When the Music's Over" is my fave Doors song.

This one starts with "The Changeling", a decent opener and moves on to "Love Her Madly" a natural single if ever they made one. The most buoyant song on this collection.

The next 2 songs are maybe the bluesiest on the album and are not outstanding before side 1 ends with the eipc "LA Woman", an enjoyable closer.

Side 2 opens with "L'America", one of the band's oddest efforts (along with "My Wild Love" from their 3rd album?). It grows on you.

Now comes my second favourite track. "Hyacinth House" features a deep vocal by the great Jim and superb organ by Manzarek. A gem.

"Crawling King Snake" and "The Wasp" lead us to the brilliant "Riders on the Storm" to finish off the album in style. My only comment on this song is Morrison's odd imagery like "Squirming Like a Toad". Do toads squirm Jim? The lyrics otherwise flow nicely.

A pretty good album - most tracks are worthwhile though only 2-3 stand out to my ears. Nevertheless, a good sign-off for the finest male singer in rock and a deserved 4 stars.