THE DOORS

The Doors debut album was the first to appear on that glorious year for Rock & Roll, the year of 1967. The American Hippie Dream was still on the air, it was time for change and revolution; not with guns and blood, but with mind and soul. Jim Morrison was the best cover for that change, he provided attitude, he provided the sound, and the most important of all; he provided the lyrics for one of the most important bands of the Californian Psychedelic Scene, and probably one of the most important bands in the History Of Rock Music.

Although, there were some landmark albums that embraced the psychedelic sound like "The Psychedelic Sounds Of the 13th Floor Elevators" in 1966; it was this release captured the essence of this style in the most perfect way. Besides of that, this record was also one of the highest points that Mr. Mojo Risin and company would reach on their short but intense career. We can find some of their most emblematic songs in here, like "Break on Through", "The Crystal Ship", "Light My Fire" and "The End"; songs that eventually would turn into All-Time Classics.

But the question in fact is: What turned "The Doors" (the album) into a basic cut for the youth of the last 4 decades? And there are a lot of answers for that.

First of all, The Doors were a band different from the rest. They had no bass player; instead they had one of the most underrated talents of Rock & Roll, Ray Manzarek. 'Cause we have to admit that with out him, it was almost impossible for them to achieve that kind of impact. He filled a really huge hole and covered in fact the place of a real bass player by creating great keyboard grooves and walking bass lines, spiced with spacy atmospheres, essential for Psychedelic Music. He was one of the most active creative forces on the band, and his collaborations are The Doors' biggest contributions to Progressive Rock.

Morrison still generates bunches and bunches of lousy copycats in both aspects of his personality: his rockstar pose and his warm surrounding voice. He was one of the most explosive frontmen ever, the controversy walked with him until his mysterious death a cold night in Paris. But those were aspects out of King Lizard's musical side. As I previously told, Jim Morrison's approach to music was a little more artistic than any other. He tried to explode music possibilities to reach a bigger audience for his so-called poetical work; in fact another progressive aspect of the band.

We can't skip Robby Krieger's riffs, grooves and solos; which weren't virtuosic at all, but were highly elaborated, with well-structured melodies and powerful advances with a little bit of distortion, adding himself to that magical blend; sometimes leaving the spotlights thirst and letting the whole band shine.

These are the main elements that made of The Doors and their debut album one of the most important Rock acts ever.

My rating: 5 Stars.

The reason of my rating: Early Rock bands are sometimes underrated in our times. Of course, they're probably not as impressive as Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Dream Theater, instrumentally speaking. They were more focused on creating an interesting musical fusion than in playing notes at speed of light. In spite of that, a tree needs good roots to grow high and healthy; The Doors made that possible, their influence is so important, that it's really hard to calculate.