L.A. WOMAN

This review is the first one of the new year! Holy smokes, what a time to be alive! The last two years have been exceptional for music, and it certainly will continue that streak this year as there seem to be some really stellar records on the horizon. This acquisition of the future does certainly give me some nostalgia, specifically that of the past, looking back on some old records that I have possibly never heard before. This has its ups and downs, you may find some really great ups like 1984 by Anthony Philips, or some really dim-dumb downs like You Know FaUSt by Faust. Sometimes you may even find something in the middle, like L.A. Woman by The Doors.

The Doors need no introduction, as they are still possibly the most popular American psych rock band to ever come out of the mid-60s trippy?hippie renaissance. Their songs are instantly recognizable and classic, with even every song off their debut record having some cultural significance to the day to day lives of anyone. They, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and The Mothers of Invention set a course to the trajectory of psych rock for years to come, even to just rock in general. However, personally, I am not quite a Doors fanatic, and certainly not one now as I write this. I have certainly liked a good bit of their songs, and their first two albums as a matter of fact, but after those two I never quite bothered to check more what they had to offer. I would be lying, though, if I said I wasn't quite interested in this record as I got it during an album swap.

This is certainly quite an intriguing album to be sure. Not fully away from their more savant psychedelia acts, but certainly enough that it's quite noticeable. It has quite a lot of strengths that make it still very enjoyable, with some very great keyboard works that give me some vibes of Deep Purple's own Jon Lord, or even Keith Emerson, which I think gives them quite an edge in the recordings. The production is very excellent too, quite atmospheric in certain places, which in a psych rock album I think gives it some benefits. Tracks like L'America and the highly popular Riders Of The Storm are excellent in that regards, with both containing some very great production cycles that feel very echoey and smooth.

However, all that praise is merely only for the second half, as I found the first half to be quite lackluster in these regards. The first half is a lot more bluesy, which I probably wouldn't mind as much if the blues they perform here didn't feel like they were just trying to copy groups like The Rolling Stones and just slap some keys on their music. In fact the more I listen to the first half of the record, the more I think of this as less Doors music, and more Doors parodying off of some tropes in popular rock music of the time. Tracks like The Changeling, Love Her Madly, and L.A. Woman are not so bad, they aren't the best, but they get the job done. Been Down So Long and Cars Hiss By My Window on the other hand just feel like spoofs on Muddy Waters and B.B. King numbers to me. Hell, you can even hear Jim Morrison forcing out a bluesy singing voice, and I can tell it's forced because after the first side he'll be singing without the whole blues affliction. This record is by definition bottom heavy, to the point where calling it a pear would be quite fitting.

On that note, the second half is actually super fantastic. The more weird, savant energy The Doors bring is where they shine I think. I mean, my favorite song of theirs is The End after all, and we all know that song is brilliant. Each track is different from the last, some going for a more American country type feel with Hyacinth House and Riders On The Storm, or more triply psychedelia with L'America and The WASP. This side also contains a blues number that is actually good and not some weird parody of what the blues is with The Crawling King Snake. Really, I don't know if it's due to some bad record deals or band dramas, but it's so strange how good the second side is with all these very fun songs that play into the band's strengths, with a first side that is arguably poor man versions of Muddy Waters singles. Either way, though, the album is certainly worth it for the second half alone.

This record certainly got me interested in what more this group may have to offer, but I would be remiss to say that the interest merely stems from the material on the second side. I want more trippy Doors songs that are different from each other, not bluesy songs that don't excite me, much less wow me. Give me more stormy riders, less women from Los Angeles.

Best tracks: L'America, Crawling King Snake, Riders On The Storm

Weak tracks: Been Down So Long, Cars Hiss By My Window