THE DOORS

Best Song ? It's all good, baby, but maybe Break On Through, or End of the Night

Overall Score: Maybe a high 12

Yeah, this is one of the most popular and supposedly groundbreaking albums to ever come out in the past half century. Regardless of all the hype, backlash, or indifference...fuck the indifference! Regardless, you have to hear the thing. It's a classic, whether you love it or hate it, and my view isn't likely to change, any time, soon. But, what about the actual content?

Well, it's a mixed bag of high quality organ rockers, led on my the tight organ/guitar interplay, and as always, Jim's fantastic vocal delivery. Yep, Jim's not pulling out any stops, right from the veritable get-go. He's loud, melodic, energetic, and itnriguing, and his singing adds oceans of personality to the whole show. And, it IS a show. Not that the tracks are fake or shallow, many are quite breathtaking, especially the onslaught of the album opener Break On Through, or the soft and beautiful Crystal Ships. As a show, a brilliant one, there would normally lack a lot of subtlety, but here, it comes and goes, fluidly. There is very little pretentiousness, even if some of the songs border on prog rock proportions. But, even I'll admit that the End goes on for a bit too long, and is definitely not the apex of 'heartfelt' and 'sincere' musack.

But, that's splitting hairs. These songs is immaculately crafted, original theatre rockers with plenty of straight forward blueswailing (Alabama song, Back Door Man), rocking jams (Light My Fire, Break On through), and even the lovely aforementioned Crystal Ships. It's a diverse album, and I can't find any weak spots on here. If anything, I think the second side sags a bit in the 'awe-inspiring' apartment, with the less than engaging, but thoroughly energetic I Looked At You.

The big hit here was Light My Fire, which was basically these boys' excuse to make a rip-roaring jam, that just so happened to be damn well catchy, to boot. I'm not saying it's an album favorite of mine, that honor probably goes to the short, shocking Break On Through, or the darkly tripped out End of the night, but it's an organ/guitar battle I can really sink myself into from time to time.

Speaking of which, I always loved the drearily trippy twang to End of the Night, and it's probably my favorite song from the entire second side. Yeah, rave all you want about The End. It's too damn long! It just goes on and on and on, and while I don't mind a serious extended epic, these fellows aren't exactly King Crimson. I think that if they'd cut down The End, taken out (or at least spruced up) I Looked At You, and added more...well... oomph to the second side, this could have been a timeless masterpiece for the ages. Instead, it's just a near masterpiece of essential order. Still, it's a dark, brooding, passionate, and seminal album, and one of the Door's finest moments, if not their most overtly stunning. Get it, today.

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