THE DOORS

I bought this album last Saturday and thought, 'hmmmmm.... this will probably rate about 4 stars on PA' but after listening to it many, many times I changed my mind and decided this one's a definite five stars. Jim Morrison's voice is superb from the start to finish. The melodies and lyrics are integrated in such a way there is not a single boring moment. The keyboards are also brilliant.

Firstly we have 'Break on Through (to the Other Side)' bursting forth rom the speakers at a very fast pace, with so much energy and sincerity in Jim's voice. 'Soul Kitchen' takes a much more relaxed stance but is still very good. 'Crystal Ship' is unusual without a conventional chorus and is another strong track. 'Twentieth Century Fox' brings back the energy of the first track, and with its suggestive lyrics and catchy chorus is the fourth brilliant track in a row. Things aren't going to change much with the first cover, 'Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)' a tune which I first heard as David Bowie's version. This is a very old song dating from the 1920s. The Doors perform it excellently with a smootness not present on Bowie's version (which was more manic and disjointed). 'Light My Fire' is the centrepiece of this album and has some of the best keyboard playing ever. The lyrics are some of the best on the album also. 'Back Door Man' is the other cover on the album, an old blues song by Willie Dixon. This one is performed very well, with possibly the most sincerity and energy in Jim's voice so far. 'I Looked at You' is one of the more mainstream sounding songs. Very good though. 'End of the Night' is brilliantly haunting in its atmosphere and is one of the best of a great bunch of songs. Next up is 'Take it as it Comes' with more intelligent catchy pop aestheitics played in a 100% rocking way. And now for the musical and lyrical materpiece of the album 'The End'. This 11 minute magnum opus starts with a slow moving psychedelic section with Jim singing in a truly epic way:

'This is the end, beautiful friend, This is the end , my only friend, The end of all our elaborate schemes The end...'

as Jim reminisces on this 'End' the pace and energy pick up for an even more psychedelic acid rock section about riding a snake and a blue bus. Then we get the most haunting part of the song as we are told about a killer walking through a house. The tension builds before he talks to his mother and father about what he wants to do to them. The there's a loud chorus of 'Come on baby take a chance with us' and a na instrumental section, as Jim's voice chanting 'fuck, fuck, fuck' fades in, before this chant turns to 'kill, kill, kill....'. The after this explosive climax things calm down to a section like the first: 'This is the end...'. And so this epic masterpiece.

On the remastered CD that I own there are three bonus tracks including two versions of 'Moonlight Drive' and a song called 'Indian Summer'. Although these are good sings they sound a bit reduntant after 'The End'

There is now no doubt in my mind that this a mastepiece of an album. It might not be 'Prog' but it's certainly progressive. 5 Stars.