THE SOFT PARADE

Generally considered as the weakest studio album by THE DOORS, "The Soft Parade" is really unessential. Major change in production style and introduction of orchestral and brass arrangements did not help the album's success. Although it did contain two mega hits, "Touch Me" and "Wild Child", this album is largely dismissed even by die-hard Doors fans. However, there are two highlights: Morrison's lyrical obsession with shamanism paired with wonderful Krieger's slide guitar licks in "Shaman's Blues"; and prog-oriented lengthy multi-part jam "The Soft Parade" which is a must listen for prog fans. Those familiar with an obsure German-based American hippie band SWEET SMOKE (present on PA :-) will notice that a part of this title track was sampled on the first album "Just a Poke" of these India-inspired psychedelic jazz rockers. Now, from the Doors collector's point of view I would give this album only 2 stars, but since it contains a strong "proto-prog" reference, add another half and round it to ***.

The worst album of Jim and company. Half of the album are normal song with nothing special in it. Shaman's Blues, Wild Child, Runnin' Blue and The Soft Parade are the only strong tracks here. But the title track is only in half good. It starts with a very beautiful melody, then it becomes more funky, and overall sounds like it was made up from pieces. Shaman's Blues is a fine..blues:) It would not be so special on first three records. Wild Child - the strongest song here. Great, simple guitar riff and very good lyrics. Runnin' Blue is not a great song but it gets funny when Robby starts to sing:) Other songs are boring, light, with no mystics, no psychedelia. Oh, and the orchestra did not do too well on this lp. For all, this album is only 2 stars worth.

I don`t know who had the idea to include brass and orchestral arrangements in this album. Like YES`"Time and a Word" album, these arrangements tended to dominate the bands` sound. If these arrangements were mixed lower both albums should have been better.

This album has been criticized a lot since it was released. Considered by many as a "sell- out" commercial album, it still has good quality, it still has some good songs.

"Tell All the People" is a ballad full of brass arrangements which sounds very mellow and commercial, but still it`s good.

"Touch Me" is a very good ballad, sung very well by Morrison, with very good keyboards and drums. In the case of this song the orchestral arrangements and the sax solo worked very well. This is one of my favourite songs from this band. The band appeared on TV to "play" this song. Only Morrison`s vocals were actually sung live.

"Shaman`s Blues" is a good song . It has good riffs and good vocals by Morrison.

"Do It" doesn`t have extra musicians and it also sounds good, but is not one of their best songs.

"Easy Ride" is a Pop song without extra musicians, too. Not one of my favourites.

"Wild Child" is maybe the best song in this album, one of my favourites, also without extra musicians, with very good arrangements, particularly in the guitars.

"Runnin`Blue" is a country style song, with violin, plus some vocals by Krieger. It is maybe the worst song in this album.

"Wishful Sinful": a song without keyboards (!). It is a very good ballad, one of the best from this album. The orchestral arrangements in this song are very good.

"The Soft Parade": it has very good arrangements at the start of the song. Later, it has some Latin music influences.

In conclusion, as a whole the album is not as good as their 3 first albums. Some of the songs are not very good in comparison to their other albums.

This album is good, not bad at all!

I began with that phrase, because i´ve notice is several sites and with people, that for them this album is the worst and weakest in their discography (Jim era), surely it is not their best, not even in their Top 3, but i personally think that this is not the worst, and even the worst is not such a bad album as people point out.

It is notable the change in the sound and even the produccion, but it doesn´t make it a bad record,for the first time we can found an orchestral sound. It is so difficult for a band, to continue with the succes of their best albums, there´s always a high point when they can stay a year maybe a couple, but there are always highs and lows, despite, i repeat, this is not a badalbum at all, thisprobably marked a fall of the band, obviously this hadn´t the success as the previous releases, in fact there are no hits on here, besides "Touch me" which is a nice song, but not so memorable as other ones.

This time they put 9 songs in the album, being the album with less songs so far, but the time lenght is the averages. "The Soft Parade" released in 1969 (the same year as the first Crimson masterpiece was). It starts with "Tell all the People", since this song we can notice a remeakable change in their music, this is so soft and a bit poppier, the road of the album will be alike than this song, "Touch Me" was the main single of this album, it didn´t become a true hit in the charts, though it was recognized in several TV and Radio programs, a good song, again with a pop sound, but with the always good keys of Manzarek. Next to it, is probably the straight part of the album, the part that may people say that is bad and weak, "Shaman´s Blues", "Do It" and "Easy Ride" are 3 songs which dont offer anything new to the Doors´listener, the song or me aren´t bad, but the magical sound of the band is lost in this bunch. "Wild Child" is a short but encouraged song, probably besides Touch Me the better known of this album, nice Dooresque tunes. "Running Blue" returns again to the weak moments, this time you can hear a violin sound, but it doesn´t make it better. "Wishful Sinful" is another poppish song, a soft and calm passage, but probably one of the best songs here. The album closes with the title track, "The Soft Parade" which is for sure the best song here by far, the again decided to end an album with an epic, a long song, this time it offers us 9 minutes of great music, great arrangements, weird lyrics and an excellent performance of Jim, this song is very progressive, so any of you could enjoy it, it also contains their clasic psychedelic style.

Being this their 4th album, it was also their 4th best album, but sadly (a personal opinio) they made a worse one, my final grade for this, is 3 stars, because it is good, but non essential!

Generally seen as their weakest album, TSP is effectively not their best, but I find no worse than the preceding WFTS and the following Morrison's Hotel. The one thing that is widely reproached to TSP is that it is loaded in strings and brass arrangements, but funnily enough the same critics was never heard for their cross-town rivals love and personally I find that on such a "masterpiece" as Forever Change, those very same arrangements are simply drowning out the music. Back to TSP though, which is graced by a superb inner fold that offsets a rather bland outer gatefold, this album is again very popish and if it was not for the closing title track, would sink below the waterline.

Of course you will find the usual commercial track (Touch me The few tracks that hold a bit of interest are the ones that are not overloaded with those string and brass arrangements such as the great (but a bit tame) Shaman's Blues, the much wilder Wild Child (the group unleashes its angers on this one) and the gut-wrenching The Soft Parade, where Morrison unleashes onto the establishment while the rest of the group is wailing away (after a very prog entrance) gliding, sliding on Jim's protesting lyrics: listen to Densmore's demented drumming, Manzarek's many KB works while Krieger's ever discreet guitar shines. One of the best and proggiest Doors track.

Certainly not essential, this album is best heard in a compilation with the album surrounding it as it is about the same strength as those two. But obviously after the deceiving WFTS (and its missed attempt at more challenging music being denied), The Doors were now obviously a bit lost and even drowned themselves in over-production. Only a few brilliant spots in a rather grey sky, but shinning like stars.

The Doors performed on PBS in 1969 and played a great version of the then unreleased "Soft Parade" that made me anxiously await their new album. I was hoping for an improvement over the disappointing "Waiting for the Sun" but, after getting it home and on the turntable, I soon realized that something was definitely going sour in Doorsland. Starting with the forgettable "Tell All the People" in which Jim asks us to blindly "follow him down" it was apparent that his once-intriguing and thought-provoking lyrical prowess was being reduced to inane rhymes that meant nothing and silly song-ending statements like "Stronger than dirt" and "Do you remember when we were in Africa?" Being weird for weird's sake is not art. "Touch Me," however, did show the rest of the band was willing to take some chances and explore other musical ideas with horns and orchestration and the song works well on many levels. Jim's voice is confident and relaxed throughout the tune. But then we are subjected to a series of songs that are flat and uninspired to say the least. It isn't until "Wild Child" that we are treated to the kind of boldness the band excelled at. Morrison's voice is wonderfully sarcastic and snarling (at least until the unforgivable ending). "Wishful Sinful" is another interesting track that gave fans hope that they might yet pull out of their mediocre slump and start giving us new and innovative tunes again. But maybe they had already moved too far away from their roots by then and spending too much time dealing with their fame. In this song Jim sings "I know where I would like to be, right back where I came" and we can hear sincere longing in his voice. Unfortunately, the title track doesn't deliver in the same striking way that their aforementioned TV performance did for me. Yet it is still better than the majority of the rest of the album and may be one of their most progressive compositions ever (It keeps this album from falling to 2 stars). But by now it was becoming apparent to us "Doornuts" that the once-cocky and charismatic leader of the band was starting to succumb to his many demons when he asks "Can you find me soft asylum? I can't make it anymore." We were starting to believe him.

"When I was back there in the seminary school ..."

This evening, after so long time, I've taken my The Soft Parade cd from the shelf and I started to listen.

Little by little memory came to comfort me. This is when Jim's voice comes deeper and warm. This is where The Doors start the second half of their career. All in all I always looked at it as the most "eclectic" of their records, the unconventional one. It shows a more popish tendency. Ok, but it also demonstrates the band's big effort to get over the ususal psychedelic formula that appeared a little bit weak in Waiting for the Sun despite still some excellent tunes as Spanish Caravan, Not to Touch the Earth and The Unknown Soldier.

On the other side The Soft Parade is more pompous and sweet, less acid and self- referential. It also offers some of the most adventurous tracks as "The Soft Parade" itself and "The Shaman's Blues". The first one in particular is a true gem starting with recitative and spoken poem, then glides into a quasi-baroque interlude with hapsichord sound and then, unespectedly, into a quasi-jazzy central theme that, again, changes to become a strong bluesy atmosphere where Jim Morrison can really say "everything must be this way..."! Their most eclectic tune for sure!

It's not possible to forget tribal and strong "Wild Child" along with the fantastic country- sounding "Running Blue" and it's memorable..."poor Otis (Redding of course) dead and gone left me here to sing his song...". What a pleasure of song! Brass section is so elegant and I prefer this one rather than the first two big-sellers "Tell All the People" and "Touch Me".

The "symphonic" "Wishful Sinful" closes the parade here. What a longing and catching song! The deep vocals of Jim are the icing on the cake!

Yes, their most eclectic album. Did they really petition the Lord with prayer?

3.5 stars

I must confess I bought this album years ago purely because of the song "Touch Me" a song that pushes all the right buttons for me. Released in 1969 this was a record where THE DOORS decided to change things up a bit adding brass and string arrangments to their sound.

Things get started with "Tell All The People" and talk about brass galore, as in too much brass. The piano, vocals and drums are good though. "Touch Me" is a song that has an amazing contrast between the uptempo beat of the verses and the smooth and creamy chorus. Great song ! "Shaman's Blues" features some reserved organ and guitar play that I really like. The song ends with some good sax.

"Do It" and "Easy Ride" are mediocre songs at best. "Wild Child" opens with guitar and is really a bluesy sounding tune with some good guitar and drums. "Runnin' Blue" has a country sounding chorus with Robbie Krieger singing. There is some brass and the organ and sax are good. "Wishful Sinful" is a good song with strings and brass. "The Soft Parade" has a brutal intro but the percussion is great in this the longest song on the record.

I can only recommend this to die hard fans of THE DOORS as there just isn't enough here for prog fans to enjoy.

Unfortunately, this album doesn't really have any substance. Where other bands can turn bare music into something transcending and beautiful, the Doors simply play notes and there is nothing extraordinary about it. This is really a dry, boring album, with very little originality. The special thing about this album is the addition of brass on many tracks, but not only does this brass destroy the Door's signature sound, it also clashes with the Doors' signature sound. It's like wearing an ugly sweater on top of a good shirt, and their colours don't even match. And neither jumper nor shirt have a colour I like.

The album cover kind of got me excited for something dark and sinister, but instead there are upbeat dance (not modern techno dance, but swinging dance) songs. That was also a disappointment. Another minor disappointment would be how the keyboards are less prominent here than on other Doors albums (though, that is quite debatable). Morrison's lyrics are simply retarded. Honestly - sometimes they're interesting, but here, they're simply stupid and contain no thought provoking essence or imagery or anything! It's sad to think that around the same time that the Doors were making this simple trash, King Crimson were busy inventing a genre. Better luck next time, guys.

The Doors has released a strong third album. Not as psychedelic as their fist ones but with lots of greats songs. The "soft Parade" will be rather different "thanks" to the addition of lots of guest musicians (trombone, sax and horn).

I do not know who decided to place "Tell All the People" as the opening track. It must be a joke ! I have a developped sense of humour, but frankly this song is really miserable.

One of the very few great song is obviously "Touch Me". Even it is not too invading during the first part, I wonder why such background orchestration was needed. The four of them would have been more than enough to preform this brilliant song. These arrangements are really useless and almost ruin this very good melody. The "finale" especially is rather wasted. What a pity !

"Shaman's Blues" is more a classic Doors song. Hypnotic rhythm and nice background guitar work from Krieger. A definite blues number, but one of the best song from this album (there won't be a lot, unfortunately). "Do It" is another one : a good rock number. Not a classic, but in this ocean of weak songs, it almost stands out as a great track.

"Easy Ride", although not flooded with the awful "orchestration" is rather weak. A country and western song. This is not at all my preferred music genre. Whether The Doors play it or not : it doesn't matter. Absolutely useless.

My fave so far is inevitably "Wild Child". Why inevitably ? It sounds more as a classic Doors song. Good slide guitar work, hypnotic keyboard riff, solid drumming and a great Morrison (not too tortured). Unfortunately, it is too short. This isolated good moment is followed by the crappiest song you can imagine : "Runnin' Blue". Absolutely awful. Country at times, jazzy for most of it, it really stinks. At this point of time, I wonder if this album was not a complete joke.

The "joke" goes on with "Wishful Sinful". Violin and horn are dominating. It is really hard to believe that the same band produced tracks like "The End", "Break on Through" or "Light My Fire" only two years before. Disgusting.

The intro of "The Soft Parade" will be a part of their live apperances ("You Cannot Petition The Lord With Prayer"). The whole song as such being almost forgotten from their concerts (although I do have one unofficial version it on an album called "Essential Rarities" which sounds a lot better). The part which Jim introduces as "this is the best part of the trip. I really like it" is effectively the best part of this track. This song is really a weird and complex one. "One Night In Paris" (10 CC) is maybe a good comparison for its grotesque side.

Like many Doors fan, I really do not like this album. They must have been either completely out of inspiration, fully loaded, or in a damned hurry to fulfil their contractual obligations to produce such a poor album. Probably all of this together. This album is a complete mess. Do not buy it. Never listen to it. Those are my best advices. Two stars for the four good tracks I have mentioned.

Time has come to review The Doors' fourth album, and, just like with the first two, I will do it based on the 2007 remastered version published by Rhino Records. (I couldn't do the same with WAITING FOR THE SUN as I had already written a review for it months ago, before getting the new editions.)

As with every band that has walked this earth, The Doors were capable of both delivering outstanding, amazing music but also of recording uninspired, weak, BAD songs. After a fantastic debut, an outstanding masterpiece of a second album, and a very good third one, maybe it was too much to ask from such a problematic band to give us another record of the same quality. We have to keep in mind that, at this point in the band's career, the actual recording process was already quite an ordeal to live through, with Morrison always in need of multiple takes and, worst of all, multiple days due to his stormy lifestyle. Not only that but the group as a whole had lost the inspiration and the innate will to create songs that helped them come with such great tunes as those found in the first albums. Whereas in THE DOORS or STRANGE DAYS Morrison, Krieger and Manzarek already had a lot of melodies (even whole songs) in their heads to work with, in THE SOFT PARADE, with tours (the disastrous Miami tour one of them), photo-sessions and publicity obligations, the time to write new material had been reduced to almost zero, the band being forced to do what many other bands do regularly: compose the tracks in the studio. While this may be normal for others, for The Doors, and specially for Morrison, was not what music was meant up to be, and thus the commitment for making as good an album as possible was nowhere to be found. And it shows, as, for the first and only time, we have individual credits for the songs, with Morrison and Krieger sharing about half of the tracks each.

The music is, overall, awful. The psychedelia, the acid-suggestions, the dark, colorful passages of earlier albums was left aside in favor of cheesy strings and brass. I don't dislike the use of such instruments per se, but it depends on how effective the results are, and in this case the results are, well, quite poor. Even Morrison seems to have lost any desire to write good (or, better said, interesting, as one never knows if his lyrics are really good or really bad) lyrics. And we have a couple of tracks that border on the atrocious, something unthinkable of in the first albums.

The 2007 remixes are, as always, fantastic in the sharpness of the sound. Never before has Morrison sounded so in-your-ear, you can practically hear his breathing, smell his alcohol-poisoned breath. There are a lot of passages where I discovered new guitar chords or keyboard figures that I had never heard before. The re-mix is a success, and I may say that, up to this point (I've still have to listen to MORRISON HOTEL and LA WOMAN), this is the best of the new editions in terms of clarity. The extra tracks are "Who Scared You" (an incredibly boring bluesy song), 2 versions of "Whiskey, Mystics and Wine" (more of a curiosity than good songs) , the previously unreleased "Push Push" (which should've remained unreleased, as it's utterly ridiculous and out of touch even with THIS album, the main music sounds like a version of "Guantanamera" mixed with Mexican-like screams a la Ranchera and nothing else, this is too bad, even for THIS album. I'm ready to give this the award for worst bonus-track ever, and that's saying something. ), and Take 3 of "Touch Me".

Tell all the People (3/10) And so the journey begins, with brass instruments and Morrison and Co. sounding almost like The Carpenters, but without the cuteness and the melody. This is not even a sell-out, as I don't know what commercial super-success could they achieve with such a catastrophic song, and usually, when bands sell-out, at least they manage to ACTUALLY SELL. Awful.

Touch Me (7.5/10) Again, brasses and strings, but at least this song has energy, is catchy, is somewhat interesting. It may be that any song sounds like Genesis' "Firth of Fifth" after hearing "tell all the People", but, honestly, this is enjoyable. Nothing really fantastic but at least enjoyable. Near the end the continuous crescendo actually manages to make this a good song.

Shaman's Blues (6.5/10) A jazzy 6/8 rhythm announces good music at last. It starts well enough, but then it loses interest, Morrison really sounds like he didn't have any pleasure while recording it. What sounded like a good song waiting to happen gets lost in poor singing and repetitive music. It's TOO long (even for The Doors' standards) Not awful, but not really good. Just a hair above average.

Do It (0/10) Finally, The Doors have managed to outdo themselves with probably the worst song they ever recorded (at least in albums, as we don't know what creatures may be lurking in the un-released caverns). This pales even in comparison with "Tell all the People". One of the worst songs I've ever heard, it hurts me when I think is by the same band that gave me "Strange Days" or "When The Music's over". I don't know but this track is made even worse by Morrison's awful repetitive meaningless lyrics. Atrocious.

Easy Ride (2/10) The last song was so bad that everything sounds well in comparison. But this track is so weak that it barely does that. The rhythm is so ridiculous, I don't know what did they pretend with this. Krieger ultimately ruins this beyond belief with his cheesy high, country-bluegrass-whatever-like notes here and there. Morrison's wrong here: hearing this album is NOT an Easy ride.

Wild Child (6/10) At least the weird march-like rhythm sounds more like The Doors, as does the guitar riff, which reeks of alcohol and cigarette-smell in a dirty bar. The song is too long for its own sake (and it only lasts 2:38!), but, incredibly enough, comes as a relief after the two preceding tracks. Is mediocre, but mediocre in THE SOFT PARADE is really a compliment. Near the end it sounds like a poor-man's version of "Five To One".

Runnin' Blue (4/10) Krieger is at it again, which means we're back in the land of brass and cheese. The main verse is not so bad but then we have a section of someone (I don't know if it's Morrison, I think it's actually Krieger) singing in joking, deep-country style (with violins and everything). That manages to make the song an awful experience.

Wishful Sinful (5/10) Krieger shouldn't be left alone ever again. At least this one is not so bad, but it's another "soft-rock" number of those which we never knew The Doors were capable of. And after hearing this album, we know they WEREN'T, as none of this songs managed to be hits. If you want to record cheesy, mellow tracks, leave it to those that know how to do it.

The Soft Parade (8/10) In this re-mix, we have a couple more lines of Morrison's reciting something even before the "When I was back there in seminary school" line. We had to wait for the last track in the album to get something resembling a good song. Actually, analyzed as a rock song, is not that good, as is more of a pastiche of un-related parts than a smoothly-going song. But Morrison sounds like he CARES, and the music itself is decent, and at times even good. After the first acoustic section (with good melody) we have a psychedelic, almost disco-like section followed by a more peaceful, flowery, cute-and-happy part which finally gives way to the final section, the longest, most rhythmically-interesting and more Doors-like of the lot. It overstays it's welcome by a minute or more, but it accomplishes the impossible: it makes you end your THE SOFT PARADE experience with something else than a headache.

My final words: an awful album, not even good. It barely skips the 1-star rating because of two things: one, the last track; two, the fact that collectors and fans should have this disaster in their The Doors' collection, if only to be able to prove that they are actually true fans (not that that matters musically, of course. The album is still a debacle).

Recommended for: The rating says it all: "Collectors, fans only" .

Not recommended for: Whoever doesn't fit in the recommendation above.

.unless you are doing a research about the effects of lack of inspiration and motivation in music. Then, it doesn't get much better than this.

This album is in my opinion a terrible letdown after the three masterpieces by the band! I can't blame the orchestrations, as I like some well orchestrated stuff, but simply the power and emotions which are present in the early albums of this band have died out here. Though the band had used elements of different popular music style and created innovative tunes with that method, the starter hit songs like "Touch Me" and "Tell All The People" sound weak and directed to elderly couples sitting in the champagne café. Also the other tracks like "Wild Child" and "Shaman Blues" lack something, which would had made this album a pleasant listeining experience to me. The albums done after this are little better, but not near the first three studio gems of this band. I'll stick to them, and leave the rest for other to enjoy!

The soft option

By the time of their fourth album, released in 1969, Jim Morrison's erratic behaviour was beginning to seriously affect his role in the band. This is reflected not only in his limited song-writing contribution, but in the overall quality of the product.

The brass and orchestral arrangements which appear throughout "The soft parade" could, if one was being cynical, be there to disguise the shortcomings of the material. It is not that this is a bad album though. The opening Robbie Kreiger songs "Tell all the people" and "Touch me" have strong melodies and decent performances. They are however much more in the mould of Blood Sweat and Tears than the Doors previous albums, with a strong pop/jazz rock feel.

There are a couple of reasons why this album is relevant to the proto-prog connotation the band have acquired here. "Shaman's blues" is more typical of the band's previous albums, with some fine guitar backing a more characteristic vocal performance by Morrison. The closing 8+ minute title track may not have the appeal of "When the music's over" or "The end", but it is nevertheless the feature track. Morrison's opening spoken declaration sounds like Meat Loaf has taken a step back in time, the mock anger inadvertently raising a smirk. The track then works is way through a succession of themes, a bit like Buffalo Springfield's "Broken arrow", Morrison unusually multi-tracking his vocals. There's a generally loose feel to the song, which to be honest sounds like it is long only for the sake of being long.

Elsewhere, we have orthodox pop based songs with West Coast lyrics and atmospheres, things reaching a low point on "Easy Ride" with its jaunty, country pie feel. The bluesy "Wild child", a sort of roughed up and dirty "Riders on the storm", laid the foundations for any number of similar songs which followed. On "Runnin' blue", we find a rare vocal by Krieger, but since this coincides with a return to the unfortunate country sounds, the less said the better.

It is easy to be hard on "The soft parade"; when it is assessed in the context of The Doors early albums, it struggles to stand alongside them. We must remember though that The Doors were a unique and remarkable band. Taken is isolation, this is a decent if unremarkable album, which had it been the first release by a new band in 1969, would now be recognised as something of a lost gem.

This is almost a masterpiece - almost, because of one track (Easy Ride), which is totally bad. But the remainder, and especially Tell All The People, Wishful Sinful and The Soft Parade, is magnificent, though totally different from what The Doors previously released. The inclusion of horns is probably a strange idea, but a good one, I think. This is the most underrated Doors album (I speak only for the Jim Morrison era), and with no doubt I say this is one of their best works. My favorite from this band.

Just 4 stars because of Easy Ride.

Here is an album by Jim Morrison and The Doors that really seems to divide the fans - the inclusion of Brass arrangements is a one-off with the band and perhaps a failed experiment in many's eyes. Some of the song-writing isn't the highest of quality, but there's surely some essential pieces on this, thankfully short-ish offering. Again, it's Manzarek's keyboards that (almost) never fails to impress me - 'Shaman's Blues' is a song I've enjoyed from the first time I heard it in 1987, the melody and the organ playing. 'Wild Child' is a brief bit of biting acid-rock, and a kick-butt track at that, Krieger's guitaring is really in-your-face and the organ sound is 'big'. Jim sings really passionately on this one. Finally, the title composition 'The Soft Parade' (8.40) is more like a medley of ideas locking together to form quite the 'epic' - some of the parts themselves are innovative and fresh sounding ; we have poetry, some beautiful Harpsichord, a way-ahead-of-schedule disco sounding section which actually is quite amazing (given that it was 1969), a bouncy, twee section with some light melodies and inspired poetry, and the heavy end section with occasional twists. The award for most annoying tune goes for 'Do It', and I don't really go for country music - 'Easy Ride' and 'Runnin Blue'. The remaining 3 songs fall in the middle - neat little songs with catchy hooks and a commercial flavour, with their 'feet' placed firmly in the realms of 'Pop', top song here being the hit 'Touch Me'. 3 stars.

Here is a quick timeline of the Doors according to me. The first album is out on the edge and simply amazing. The second album is still excellent but not quite as edgy. The third album is still excellent but mellow and relatively simple. Then we come to this album (The Soft Parade) and The Doors almost deserve a new name. How about 'The Elevator Doors'. A daring fusion of good ole Doors music and elevator music. Somebody decided the Doors needed some added horns and orchestration. Now don't get me wrong horns and orchestration can sometimes be great, but not mixed with Doors music. Thanks anyways. The big hit song (Touch Me) sounds to me like the Doors got together with the Carpenters. Sure it's catchy, but ultimately pretty bad. The only track here with any edge at all is 'The Soft Parade' but it's still not very good in my estimation.

(Can you find me 3.5?)

So Jimbo woke up out of his drug induced stupor one fine day (perhaps, perhaps not), and said to himself, "Wait a second man, the Doors aren't some sissy pop band! We're, uh..."

And then Robbie Krieger whispered, "A symphonic pop band!"

And Jim said, "A symphonic rock band!"

"Close enough." True story.

Well, history books aside, this is perhaps the most hated product of the Doors' fine catalogue. And that's just not right. There's plenty of stuff to laud about this record. Of course, like any underrated product, there's also a reason to loath. It is not, however, that there are horns and such; a lot of people defend The Doors while hatin' the Strange Days because "the sound is fuller" on the debut. Well, the sound's full here too! No, the problem lies with material. See, for every dark classic that Jim wrote, Robbie wrote two "nu-Doors pop" songs. Let's tread the results.

"Tell All the People" is probably the worst Doors opener ever. The melody isn't offensive, but it is stupid, and far too simple for Jim (although he does give it his best go vocally). Not to mention happy. Yuck! The hit "Touch Me" IS somewhat better though. The tune is more interesting, and the orchestra actually tries to contribute to the dark menace in the coda. Just ignore the goofy sax solo and focus on the build.

"Shaman Blues" ushers in Jim's numbers (devoid of orchestration, no less). Anyway, it's not really blues, sorry. It's a waltz of all things. It's solid lyrically, the drumming is interesting, the keyboards are interesting, and the guitar is practically gorgeous. No complaints.

Well, the last two numbers seem like we're on an upswing, but don't worry. "Do It" is certainly the worst thing here. The melody is beyond stupid, and the lyrics are mindless. Jim is practically singing them for laughs; bet he knew how dumb they were. "Easy Ride" is not much better; I can't remember a thing about it, other than it sounds largely like the stupid pop songs off the debut (hey, lovers of the debut, again this is YOUR album!).

"Wild Child," Jim's second effort, I'm just a bit iffy about it. It's catchy, the jungle boogie riff is cool, and I dig the martial drumming, so why am I complaining? Dunno. Don't skip it though, and stick around for the ending too. Great stuff.

Now, I realize that every other intelligent reviewer HATES "Runnin' Blue," but I kinda like it. I mean, it's not a classic or anything, but at least Robbie is trying to achieve an air of menace, and he almost pulls it off. The dark, heavier Jim sung parts (nicely augmented by orchestra) are contrasted by the goofy bluegrass Robbie sung parts. It is kinda annoying, but it's also kinda catchy. Finally from Robbie, the ballad "Wishful Sinning" is pleasant, pretty even...but something about it rubs me wrong, and it ends up passing me by most of the time. Maybe the orchestration? The lyrics? Who can say.

Ah, but then Jimbo strikes one final time, and gods, it's good. I almost feel like giving the album a solid four just for this number. It's probably the band's most artistically mature epic ever. We open with "Petition the Lord With Prayer," some poetry shouted by Jim (catches me off guard every time), and then we cut to the ballad-ish "Can You Give Me Sanctuary," which actually is one of the prettiest things the band ever recorded, and there's something really resonant about Jim pleading "Can you find me soft asylum? I can't make it anymore."

This bleeds into the brilliant bouncy-then-dainty hippie send up "Peppermints, Miniskirts," which is so darkly humorous it makes me laugh whenever I hear it ("Carrying babies to the river?" You're sick Jim). But, with a cry of, "This is the best part of the trip," Jimbo takes on his old carnival showman guise again, and the meat of the track starts. This is the grim march, "The Soft Parade" itself. The build is just about flawless (keyboard, guitar, whatever is making that tuba noise...oh, drums. Dig those drums, they're great), and the lyrics match it note for note, until you hear a dozen Jims, each screaming some snatch of lyric, and then it all falls away (with just a spot of horse poetry). Fantastic.

Not only that, but it's a "being a musician sucks" song! And I ADORE it! Do you know how rare that is? It's probably the best of its kind; I love the lyrical imagery (favorite spots include Jim moaning "We need someone or something new, something else to get us through," the cry of the whiney fan; oh, and, Jim shouting ala a producer, "WE'RE DOING GREAT!"). Yeah, the lyrics have meaning. The Doors are always in it for the art.

What disgusts me most is some reviewer I read on this very site who said that the Doors were treading the same ole ground while King Crimson was inventing a new genre; well, first and foremost, of course Inna Court is a stronger album than this. I'm not stupid. But it's not like the Doors stopped experimenting. In fact, if anything, this album shows that they were always ready to continue experimentation; the title track alone is proof of that, and stuff like "Shaman's Blues" paved the way for the wet and swampy, but still dark and mystical, art blues of "Maggie M'Gill."

The darkness is back, you just have to find it. Mostly in Jim's numbers, but Robbie does try from time to time. The orchestration CAN be dorky, but it can also be complimentary (besides, the titular tune is ample proof that the band can sound symphonic WITHOUT the orchestra). "The Soft Parade" though is where the Doors have been hiding since Strange Days, and it's one of my favorite spots in their catalogue (oh, and, the cover is the best they did after Days as well. Creepy man, what are they looking at?). Is the album, overall, not as strong as the earlier stuff? Yes. However, is it bad? No. Not at all. Any Doors fan should own this, and anyone who doesn't believe me...well, screw you. Yeah.

(Huzzah! Good Doors bonuses. Well, first off, the album has been revised expanded within and throughout (love the pretty poetic/mellotronic intro "Soft Parade" gets), but there's good bonus tracks too. How good? Well, even if I didn't quite have the heart to give the album four stars, this guarantees it, AND shows what the album could have been. "Who Scared You" is a nice, dark blues tune built out of a cool riff. And, it shows that the orchestra could work with the band to produce a sufficiently moody song. "Whiskey, Mystics and Men," holy crap, where'd THAT come from? Really cool song, pure American folk, with mandolins and crap, but still mantra and mystical ala Jimbo. Dig the pirate voices in the background. But if the first version isn't good enough for you, the second is the best of the bonuses; the actual band playing the song. A little thinner lyrically, but there's a much appreciated guitar solo, and that pause before the accordion starts up again? Creepy man. The only misstep is "Push It," a fun, but still too lengthy and lethargic, Mexican folk workout. No vocals, by the way. But the final bonus is great, a "Touch Me" outtake. There's still an orchestra, but listen to the coda again. Densmore plays EVERYTHING he can to build tension, even speeding up the tempo. He's awesome. Hell, I don't even mind the "I bumped the snare mike" intro; it's goofy! And it's good. Four stars for the remaster.)

I am aware of being out from the pack, but I think this is one of the best albums of The Doors: surely is the most progressive one. Of course, there's nothing particularly innovative, but many of the songs are really beautiful: above all the wonderful Wishful Sinful, one of the best songs of all time, with a melody and a truly unique arrangement, plus the divine voice of Morrison. Also remarkable are Tell All The People and Touch Me: these two songs are almost symphonic, and quite unusual in the production of The Doors. Really interesting is the mini suite "Soft Parade", while the remaining songs are blues style, as in the tradition of the Doors. With regard to the strings and brass arrangements in this album, which did turn up their noses to many reviewers, I think these are very pleasant and they enrich the sound of the band, making remain in the background the horrible organs Vox Continental and Gibson K101, always played by Manzarek. By the way, another nice note in Soft Parade is the use, for the first time, of Hammond and Leslie!

The Soft Parade is the fourth studio album from American psych rock legends The Doors. The Soft Parade is the most controversial album The Doors ever made while Jim Morrison was alive. Many fans have an aversion against it because of the added brass arrangements on two songs and a string section on another. I represent the other camp who find the album to be highly enjoyable and not at all a let down. In fact I think The Doors really challenged their audience with The Soft Parade which is something bands today could learn from ( if the record companies were able to value artistic ideas and not only focus on making money. It´s of course utopia, but I like the thought anyway).

The general style on The Soft Parade really isn´t much different from The Doors earlier efforts and it´s more in the lighter mood that we find the changes. The criticism that many reviewers have stated about the brass and string sections on the album is a bit exaggerated if you ask me. The album does start with two songs with brass arrangements but that´s it. You won´t find anymore brass on the album after listening to Tell All the People and Touch Me which by the way are both excellent songs IMO. The next four songs Shaman's Blues, Do It, Easy Ride and Wild Child are all in the more ordinary Doors tradition with strong blues rock influences as well as the omnipresent carnival organ lines from Ray Manzarek. Runnin´ Blue is a bit different as it incorporates some country like violin from Jim Buchanan into the Doors sound. A great humourous song. Wishful Sinful is soaked in strings and while some might find it way too cheesy I really enjoy this song and find it beautiful. The real gem here is the title track which closes the album. The first baroque like hapsichord part with the sombre vocals from Jim Morrison is one of the finest moments in The Doors career. It moves me. Then into a great funky section, a short happy section and then the ending jam with those great rythms. I love this great progressive song.

The musicianship is excellent. I´ve always found great inspiration in Robby Krieger´s guitar playing which is very different from conventional guitar playing most of the time. The lighter mood is something that could have felt wrong for Jim Morrison but it seems that he´s enjoying himself here. The jazzy drumming from John Densmore is as intriguing as ever while Ray Manzarek is not as much in the forefront as usual. His organ playing is of course of high class as usual though.

The production is pretty different from any other release from the band as it´s by far the most polished sound they ever had. I´m not sure this sound would fit songs from any other Doors album but it fits the songs on The Soft Parade just fine.

The Soft Parade is not my favorite Doors album, but that doesn´t mean that it´s not excellent in it´s own respect. I really think it´s a great album and a chance to hear something different from the band. It fully deserves 4 stars IMO.

After the disappointing Waiting For The Sun, The Doors tried to find new sources of inspiration. The result just makes me scratch my head, where was there mind? I appreciate the intention to breach expectations but the weak song material and the choice 50's pop evergreen stylings makes this easily into the weakest Doors album.

Right from the start, the irritating brass arrangements of Tell All The People exceeds the worst expectations I had about this album. Even a good song like Touch Me is damaged by the same dated orchestration. Shaman's Blues and Wild Child are adequate blues tunes and the only songs that rise above averge. The tracks in between, Do It and Easy Ride are faceless pop tunes. Runnin' Blue is filler and Wishful Sinful is a decent tune that is brought down again by the kitschy string section. The title track has a some decent moments but lacks coherence and truly convincing melodies.

Generally this album misses the power, emotion and inspiration of the best Doors albums. Luckily the band realized this as well and would continue their career with 2 raw and powerful albums that didn't need any of the frills and flourishes that were added here to cover up the weakness of the song material. 1.5 stars.

"Touch Me" was getting a lot of airplay at the time and it was catchy. It was also the first time the Doors used horns on any song. I didn't really care about that aspect too much, as long as the songs sounded appealing. When I started playing the "Soft Parade" album, I was dejected. "Tell all the People" sounded quite the crappy tune. I don't know what they were trying to do, but it just didn't work. Arguably one of the "worst of the Doors." I also don't like the subject matter. It shows Morrison at his most twisted. "Touch Me" helped ease the dread I felt. A good blend of horns and band feeding off each other. Well done, but not as good as some of their earlier stuff. "Shaman's Blues" is actually very good for a simple blues tune. It also didn't have any horns in it. I think there was one time when the boys added that fourth chord to make it begin to approach a prog-like feel. "Do it" is also a song without an orchestra. Not much there lyrically. It's not up to the Doors real potential, but it does sound pretty good as far as the catchy element goes. I only say this as a concession, because like I said earlier, the music just isn't much of a standout like their previous efforts. "Easy Ride" answers that all consuming question about what type of song the Doors would have written if they were around during the roaring twenties. It might be well played, but it's still contemptable and stodgy. On the other hand, "Wild Child" is where the Doors should have been heading all along. It is heavy, hard, and in your face. It's almost, if not, heavy metal. This song is akin to the stinker, "Tell all the People," but the music is what I know the Doors were capable of. The lyrics are very disturbing. "Runnin' Blue" combines jazz, rock, and blue grass, of all things, to great effect. Although villanized by critics of that era, it is a good prog oriented offering. It was very well done. "Wishful Sinful" was the third top forty song from the album. It was pretty good, but not a real standout. It was also more orchestrated than some of their other songs on the release. It wasn't very memorable and it is not played much, if at all, on any of the oldies stations. "The Soft Parade" starts out very strong. Morrison plays the preacher and is highly effective. Thus begins the deeply proggresive part of the eight plus minute "epic." Next, a baroque style guitar accompanies Jim's plea for asylum. Manzarek adds very good harpsichord playing to expand the theme and emphasize the singer's plight. Next we are treated to lush, jazzy band fare, and a change in tempo, direction, and theme, while connecting what went before. Kreiger does a lively and fresh sounding guitar solo. The next change just sounded to cheezy for me, even though they change tempo, etc. After this section the song again changes to a rockier sound without being very heavy at all. Judging from Morrison's comment during this transition, he only liked the last long part of the song. He wasn't getting into the proggy parts at all. He always enjoyed songs that droned along. After about a minute and a half, the song was beginning to peter out for me and became a boring example of a tiresome musical concept. I thought it was a real shame to waste five or more minutes on musical repetition to no purpose, other than to recapture past glory. For the most part, "Soft Parade" stinks! If one can separate the prog part from the crappy part, you would have something worth holding on to. As it is, forget it. The song is just too bland! If you are able to purchase "Touch Me," "Wild Child," and "Runnin' Blue," you will have the best of the album. Don't pay good money for this one. I give it one and three quarter stars, which means it really gets two stars on Progarchives.

An album split starkly between songs composed by Morrison and those by Krieger - reflecting internal tensions within the band - The Soft Parade's sound is horribly compromised by the inclusion of horn and string sections. Whilst that might have been a good opportunity to broaden and diversify and experiment with the band's sound, the chance is wasted; instead, the horns and strings are utilised a cheesy, derivative manner which seems calculated to make the Doors less threatening and give them more commercial appeal. This is a poor decision, given that it's precisely the threatening, brooding tone of the band which is central to their sound!

That said, the songwriting on offer doesn't help either; the band are going through the motions by this point and the album offers little that was not delivered to a far higher standard on their first three albums. A serious disappointment all round.

Orchestra anyone??

What the heck happened to The Doors on this album? Whose idea was it to include orchestrated music, and where was the dark rebellious edge that made them so endearing? Well to be fair it was really housed in one song from this album that is a treasure. Of course I am talking about 'Shaman's Blues'. You perhaps have never even heard of it but this is an amazing track, with a cool blues groove that sounds relevant and hypnotic.

Most of the other songs here are soft rock and none really stand out. I must admit I am a fan of 'Touch Me' that I think grew on me over time after seeing the movie "The Doors". Morrison does sound rather peaceful here but I missed his anger and anti-authoritarian attitude that was heard on the debut and "Strange Days".

Jim Morrison was experiencing extreme depression and alcoholism, but he was intrigued more with poetry than music so Robby Krieger has a major influence on the album. Half of the compositions are attributed to him and he even shares vocals on 'Runnin' Blue'. To be honest it is a hodge podge album with very little to offer.

....When It's A Jar of Whiskey

Perhaps the most bipolar of all the Doors albums, given that Krieger's decent but undistinguished songs shuffle nervously beneath a dark awning cast by Morrison's iconic but now bloated silhouette. As to what competing influences brought about this discernible tension between the band and their anxious employers Elektra is of course the source of endless debate and lucrative careers for those cat flap pussies a.k.a. Exit Doors scholars. I've always suspected that Jimbo had become such a basket case hereabouts that his colleagues had to fashion material by themselves from scratch and coax their sodden meal ticket into actually singing for (their) supper. Robbie's tunes are buried beneath a thick layer of cloying horns and strings that conspire to smother the life out of what dying embers were left from a burnt out stump of an association. We can't blame a thwarted poet for lyrics he had no hand in shaping:

I'm gonna love you, till the heavens stop the rain I'm gonna love you, till the stars fall from the sky for you and I

The foregoing would be trite, hackneyed drivel even from the Osmonds so why couldn't the Lizard King have banished same to exile with one swish of his celebrated mighty tail? The inference should be transparent: maybe by this stage he really couldn't give a whistling squidgy one. I'm sure that with just a modicum of self respect, Jim Morrison would have consigned some of the chaff that sullies both the Soft Parade and Waiting for the Sun to where it belongs i.e. on a ruinously expensive out-takes compilation that only the aforementioned 'cat flap pussies' are gauche enough to buy. On the other hand, anecdotal accounts would support the view that Morrison abhorred the direction taken by the Doors on Soft Parade to the extent that individual writing credits were considered expedient if only to distance himself from culpability for the likes of this from Krieger's Tell All the People:

Come out and take me by my hand, gonna bury all our troubles in the sand, oh yeah Can't you see me growing, get your guns, the time has come, to follow me down

The call to arms re 'get your guns' seems particularly crass but perhaps the author had 'Annie' in mind. You are also advised that the harmonic progression used for this number would be exploited to brilliant and memorable effect on All Around the World by Oasis some 30 years later. John Updike was right: we contain chords others must strike (but don't expect any royalties)

It's also disappointing to report that the strongest musical ideas throughout this record are mostly sacrificed to those tracks where an arranger with delusions of becoming Acid Rock's Jimmy Webb wasn't punched into paralysis beforehand. However, amidst the twitching pile of lurid roadkill there survives some moments of genuine class and distinction. Curtis Amy's sax solo towards the end of the otherwise toe curlingly awful Touch Me is quite brilliant (why is it that some of the most sane, intelligent and perceptive people I know cite this song as their favorite Doors tune?) Would someone like those Scandinavian teenybop cuties 'Aha' attract the sort of scrutiny and lavishly illustrated box sets afforded to this MOR flotsam? Ray's keyboards even plagiarize the Four Seasons C'mon Maryann for pity's sake. (I'm at a loss) Morrison is reputed to have altered the original lyric from C'mon hit me babe, I am not afraid to C'mon touch me babe on the pretext that the former would make him vulnerable to physical assault at live shows. What's rather ironic is that he was so anesthetized from booze at this point, it's unlikely he would have felt a thing.

Wishful Sinful is simply beautiful from start to finish despite a rather ragged (read sh*t-faced) vocal from Jim that still cannot impinge on either the sumptuously haunting arrangement (for once) or the resilient elegance of the melody. Wild Child has a bit of welcome grunt about it but on closer inspection just comes across as either a really bad Kinks song or a proto metal dirge where the melody has no career aspirations above replicating the riff verbatim. Similarly, the energy and raw primacy of Shamen's Blues threatens to deliver a cathartic bounty but is never gonna survive this impenetrable candy coating:

You'll be dead and in hell, Before I'm born Sure thing, Brides maid, The only solution, Isn't it amazing?

(Nah)

I know I've used this before but 'pastiche' remains forever an anagram of it's cheap and there is no armistice for the likes of Runnin' Blue or Easy Ride. Prosecution rests. Take them down. Don't Do It Jim please, (Miami would have thanked you for keeping yer pants on)

The title track is often trumpeted as a portal for the sorts of expanded consciousness and kaleidoscopic imagery we are asked to believe practically defines the hallucinogenic imprint of the 60's on popular culture. Bollocks. By way of mitigation, it does start brilliantly with Mr Mojo Risin's uncanny appropriation of a southern preacher with the incriminating whiskey breath of fiery sedition in his belly:

When I was back there in seminary school, There was a person there who put forth the proposition, that you can petition the Lord with prayer, petition the Lord with prayer....You cannot petition the lord with prayer! (in short, no-one here gets out alive)

This is followed by a disarmingly angular and claustrophobic melody underpinned by Manzarak's penitent harpsichord that should have presaged a creation the Doors are celebrated for but seldom delivered: credible progressive intent albeit unwitting proto. Instead we often have to settle for undernourished experimental rock debris or the product of a broken Psyche forever stymied by a cold, distant and bullying authoritarian father?.

Can you give me sanctuary? I must find a place to hide A place for me to hide Can you find me soft asylum? I can't make it anymore The Man is at the door

There is more substance and rigour in these candid lines than the swathes of esoteric blather Morrison habitually used to plaster over the cracks in his own crumbling facade. During a headfirst dive towards a prematurely shallow end, we are witness to a bloodied and bruised muse that abandoned her host long before any coroner's report annulled the relationship. The autobiographical and historical elements combine here in a passage that intimates the singer's own private despair and references the final madness and hospitalization of his hero Nietzsche. I think the final lines re the horses eye's may also have been inspired by an incident in a Turin street that precipitated the philosopher's collapse.

The title track promises much but ultimately fails to save the day, despite some arresting changes of mood, texture and tempo during its ambitious eight and half minute duration. There is however, one truly spell binding moment remaining within re the refrain:

The Soft Parade has now begun, listen to the engines hum People out to have some fun, a cobra on my left, leopard on my right, yeah

Unfortunately what fun ensues rests upon a lumpen and lazy bass pivot over which Morrison very quickly runs out of ideas and resorts to regurgitating badly digested philosophical soundbites with volume in direct inverse relationship to coherence. There are other instances in the Door's output where he falls into this same trap e.g. Moonlight Drive, Five to One, My Wild Love, My Eyes Have Seen You

There is of course a danger that we end up appraising the Doors using criteria that is only applicable to the legion of artists that followed in their hugely influential wake. For all their prescience and innovation, the Doors were NEVER a Progressive Rock band and although Krieger, Densmore and Manzarak subsequently returned a timid nod in Prog's direction, Morrison would have been horrified at the idea and I'm now convinced he (covertly) despised the entire counter-culture as embodying Nietzsche's nemesis: the ressentiment of slave morality.

From the sublime to the ridiculous: Much of this deeply flawed document flirts with a knowing self parody of psychedelic conceits, a disposable zeitgeist that artists of this calibre should not have wasted an ounce of creativity disseminating. The greatest art is timeless, the Soft Parade is what happens when you allow antique collectors to become speech writers for iconoclasts.

The Soft Parade is by far the least liked of the Morrison-era albums. It's because they took on a more blatantly commercial pop-oriented direction, and a grander production by including horns and strings. Is the album really that bad? This time around the album does state who actually wrote each song, where on previous albums it stated it was written and arranged by all four members, unless the song was a cover (like "Back Door Man"). Let's look at the opening cut, "Tell All the People". My jaw was in total disbelief on the song and the nature of it. What is this? Vegas lounge pop music? Were The Doors trying to be in the same league with Frank Sinatra? Jim Morrison croons this song like a Vegas singer, complete with cheesy horns straight out of Vegas. Looking at the songwriting credits, you notice it was Robbie Krieger. You know Jim Morrison would never write lyrics that seem straight out of Vegas. Next song, "Touch Me" was already released as a single at the end of 1968, and easily the most recognized song on the album. Again a bit on the Vegas side, but I'm used to this song having heard it on the radio plenty of times throughout my lifetime. Horns, strings, cheesy sax solo, at least Ray Manzerek gives his trademark organ playing to let everyone know this is the Doors. I bet you at the end of 1968 many Doors fans must have been horrified hearing "Touch Me", wondering if their next album will be like that. Once again Krieger was responsible for this. Luckily, for the rest of the album the rest of the songs Krieger are credited to aren't as so lounge-y, and the Morrison penned ones are more close to traditional Doors songs. Things really improve greatly with "Shaman's Blues", a great song with some nice harpsichord playing, more in tune with the older Doors sound, and it's a Morrison penned song. "Do It" is credited to both Morrison and Krieger, not nearly as good, due to the embarrassing lyrics, but not bad. "Easy Ride" and "Wild Child" are bit more bluesy, while "Wishful Sinful" has a bit of that lounge again, but not full-on "Tell All the People" territory. The title track is without a doubt the album's highlight. If there's a reason for the Doors being included here, this is the reason. It's more like a multimovement suite than a standard song, as it goes through several changes. Note how a bunch of Jewish guys from Brooklyn naming themselves Sweet Smoke and relocating to Germany had did a partial cover of this song off their 1970 debut album Just a Poke. This song is still not full-on prog, but proto-prog it is. Well, I have to say, this album isn't as bad as its frequently made out to be, to me "Tell All the People" is easily the worst thing on the album (my jaw dropped in that similar fashion I did seeing obviously rubber frog costumes seeing the 1987 movie Hell Comes to Frogtown starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, if MST3K could spoof music, "Tell All the People" would be a great one to spoof, if that was possible). The album does have its flaws, but still has enough worthy material to make it worthwhile, if you get beyond "Tell All the People" and perhaps "Touch Me".

Throughout the history of rock and pop music more often than not any given band that made it to the big time ends up becoming defined by a certain sound which in the process becomes very difficult to break free of but every once in a while a band tries something new which causes a true schism in the fanbase. In the case of the psychedelic 60s, THE DOORS decided to enter a new chapter with the band's fourth album THE SOFT PARADE which came out in 1969. While British bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks were finding great success in breaking out of their established musical paradigms, the US scene was not quite so open minded quite yet to the possibilities and THE DOORS' unthinkable use of symphonic orchestration that included brass and string arrangements was about as shocking to the unsuspecting fans as was the day when Bob Dylan decided to go electric.

THE DOORS had sailed through the years 1967 and 1968 as one of the top selling bands in the entire USA with strong followings internationally as well but much of the band's sound had been characterized by the early poetic contributions of Jim Morrison which he developed before joining the band and from the earliest studio sessions that ended up creating the first two albums. With "Waiting For The Sun," the band was forced to conjure up new material but pretty much stuck to the status quo in trying to emulate its predecessors. With international stardom and exhaustive touring schedules, the band was struggling to keep up with the demand of Elektra for new album releases. Jim Morrison was infamous as becoming ever more out of control with drunken episodes resulting in THE DOORS being banned from entire cities (the famous Miami incident from 1969 would haunt them for the rest of their days) and the creative process had all but dried up.

For THE SOFT PARADE the four members Jim Morrison , Ray Manzerek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore turned to producer Paul Rothschild for some help in crafting the band's fourth album. With Morrison's diminishing returns as he became more and more under the spell of the evil drink, guitarist Robby Krieger picked up the slack in the songwriting department but it was Rothchild who steered the band into experimenting with the fuller sounds delivered by brass and string arrangements which would become more of a sound signature trait of bands like Chicago in the 70s. While the band's sound was still centered in the same psychedelic pop rock that the previous albums had been, these extra touches rubbed many the wrong way and the album was panned by both critics and fans alike however the album still sold well as it catapulted into the top 10 album charts and produced the #3 hit "Touch Me."

While the brass and string arrangements were uncharacteristic of THE DOORS, the tracks on THE SOFT PARADE were clearly of the same ilk as what became before. In fact "Touch Me" is one of the best songs THE DOORS ever did. It contained the expected catchy hooks, Morrison led bravado, keyboard psychedelia and touch of cosmic wonder that THE DOORS exuded so cleverly. While the strings, brass and orchestral elements are clearly a major part of the tapestry of sound, they are integrated so well that it sounds like the logical next move for THE DOORS in many respects. Other tracks like "Shaman's Blues," "Do It" and "Wild Child" eschew the brass and strings altogether and sound like classic DOORS so there was clearly an effort made so that these new layers of sophistication didn't usurp the sounds that made THE DOORS a household name. The bluesy based rock dominance is retained throughout the album's run.

On top of the arrangements added, THE DOORS experimented in adopting some of The Beatles' tricks and trinkets into their own world. "Easy Ride" is a clear attempt to create a rather Ringo Starr led Beatles sound. "Runnin' Blue" follows the "Touch Me" model and uses the brass to create a call and response effect with the bluesy rock. "Wishful Sinful" simply adds a more symphonic touch to the classic DOORS sound. One of the best tracks on THE SOFT PARADE comes from the closing title track which at a nearly 9 minute run sort of fulfills the goal of placing a long psychedelic meandering consciousness sort of track that was supposed to happen with the inclusion of "Celebration Of The Lizard" on "Waiting For The Sun" which never happened. This track goes through several styles including the poetic prose at the beginning and then morphing into what sounds like proto-disco funk of the 70s and continues into psychedelic pop, wild blues rock and a bass line that sounds like it could've inspired Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." It ends with a catchy melody which leaves the most incredible feeling of satisfaction.

I'm sorry. I just don't understand why THE SOFT PARADE is so panned. Yeah, i do understand that in the 60s when this was released that there was a clear separation of genre styles that has dissolved in the 50 years after the album's release but judging this from 21st century standards especially on a remastered version of the album, i am quite impressed with the ingenuity of this album. The tracks exude all the juicy DOORS yumminess which made them psychedelic pop band numero uno but adds some interesting counterpoints to the established stylistic approaches. I actually love this album a lot and although no DOORS album would ever rise above the sheer perfection of the first two, this one is by no means inferior to the remaining Morrison era albums. I'm hardly alone in these critique. Many newer rock critics have reassessed THE SOFT PARADE and come to the same conclusions. Experienced with a more open mind than those who panned it in 1969 will reveal an excellent album chock full of surprises. It is most likely that Rothchild saved this album from totally sucking. THE DOORS, as a band, were in such disarray at this time that le ft to their own devices probably would've sabotaged their career. Perhaps not the best DOORS album but a damned good one nonetheless and the end of the line for these experimental touches.

The Doors 4th album "The Soft Parade" came after an extensive tour, and with pressure from the record company to produce another album left the band members little time to compose new music. Their producer, in the meantime, wanted the band to try out a new sound, while pushing into a popular sound and style. Thus, The Soft Parade was born out of this. However, I don't believe it was a big failure, even though the albums longevity in sales wasn't quite as long as previous albums.

The "new sound" of The Doors would end up incorporating tracks with a lot of orchestral backing. It might have been a bit shocking at first to the masses of The Doors fans, but listening to it all of these years later, it doesn't seem as shocking as it did then. It almost seems like a natural progression. And, for being pressured into creating new songs, they ended up sounding pretty decent anyway.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore had already discussed bringing in some horns and strings, and the idea to do something different only allowed them to try it out. Besides, Densmore and Manzarek both had jazz backgrounds and welcomed the idea. Morrison, in the meantime, wasn't necessarily opposed to the idea, but his own songs didn't go in that direction, which ended up giving the album more of a variety.

"Tell All the People" and hit "Touch Me" were both written by Robby Krieger, and they start off the album with that upbeat and pop jazz sound, and it starts things off the right way. The next 4 tracks were penned by Morrison, and these see little or no orchestra or horns, but rely more on the rock, blues and psychedelic styles that Morrison felt were his stronger suit. On previous albums, the entire band had been credited for each song, but Morrison decided that he didn't want to be associated as having writing credits for "Tell All the People" because of the lyrics telling people to "get your guns", so mainly for this reason, it was decided to list the specific writing credits to the appropriate band member. As the album continues, "Runnin' Blue" and "Wishful Sinful" are both penned by Krieger, and the "new sound" is apparent again, however, with the former track, there is a bluegrass style chorus to it, which was definitely a surprise for fans especially with it also being the first time Krieger would sing on a Doors album, and the latter track has the string drenched arrangements that turn the song into a track that could have been written by Neil Diamond, and is probably my least favorite on the album.

The thing that does weaken the songs a bit on this album is not so much the inclusion of heavily orchestrated tracks, but because of so many shorter and lesser developed tracks. The spirit is there, for sure, but most of them are over before they have a chance to get into the listeners head. That is the case with all of them except for the title track, which is the one that originally finished this quick album off. It is another Morrison penned track. It is also the most progressive song on the album with several different meter and style changes throughout its 8 minute run time. It also ends up, along with "Touch Me", as being the most memorable things about the album, and the song that would keep the fans happy with the feeling that this new direction would probably not be permanent.

The 40th Anniversary Edition of the album continues on with 6 extra tracks. "Who Scared You" was written by Krieger, and was a non-album b-side for "Wishful Sinful". It is also another track utilizing the orchestra and horns, though it does have more of a blues inflection than the other Krieger tunes on this album. This is followed by two different versions of "Whiskey, Mystics and Men", a non-album track recorded in 1970 (Version 1) and overdubbed by the surviving members of the band in a different key (Version 2). The song is definitely a classic-sounding Morrison track, with a barroom feel and an accordion providing most of the instrumental backup. "Push Push" is a rare Doors jam that follows a Latin style drum beat with Manzarek doing most of the work on piano and the band singing "Push Push Push" in the background. The track is a bit too long without much of a change for over 6 minutes. Next is "Touch Me (Dialogue)" with is a short track and just has some banter by the band as they prepare to record a take of the named song, and then this is followed by "Touch Me (Take 3)", which is a nice alternative take on the popular song that still retains the horns but accents the harpsichord and strings more.

The 50th Anniversary Edition has 16 additional tracks, but only repeats "Who Scared You" from the 40th Anniversary Edition, plus it has all of the orchestral tracks in versions that are performed only by The Doors, some alternative versions of other songs, like "Roadhouse Blues" and "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further", both sung by Manzarek, a short track called "I Am Troubled", a different version of Morrison's preacher vocal from The Soft Parade track called "Seminary School", the full 60+ minute version of "Rock is Dead" and a track called "Chaos". This edition is probably more interesting to die-hard fans than anyone else. I find the 40th Anniversary Edition to be the better one as it adds to the album without adding badly done demos that weren't meant to be released.

So, overall, the album isn't as bad as some might make it out to be, but for an album by The Doors, most of the songs lack development, and that is the biggest drawback, and that is a pretty big one. The addition of orchestra and horns actually works well for the most part, and the title track is probably worth purchasing the entire album for. But there are better Doors albums, so it's one that you might want to check out after you have already made yourself familiar with some of their better albums. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Review Nº 421

"The Soft Parade" is the fourth studio album of The Doors and was released in 1969. It met some controversy among fans and critics due to the inclusion on this album of brass and string instrumental arrangements, as opposed to the more traditional sound of their earlier three previous studio albums. They also complained that it followed the same lyrical formula of their previous albums, and thus wasn't very innovative, and musically it had a sound too to much soft.

Another interesting and curious thing about "The Soft Parade", is that for the first time, all songs were credited to the individual members of the band. However, only Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger are credited on the album's sleeve.

"The Soft Parade" has nine tracks. The first track "Tell All The People" written by Robby Krieger was the third single taken from the album. It was released as an A side with "Easy Ride" as its B side. It's a soft ballad that sounds very mellow with full of brass arrangements. This is a good and pleasant song to hear. With this song we can clearly see that a change occurred on their style of music. It became more soft and pop. The second track "Touch Me" written by Robby Krieger was also released as a single. It's another notable song for the extensive use of brass and string instruments and also because the use of a saxophone solo by Curtis Amy. The orchestral arrangements work perfectly well and, in my humble opinion, they accent Jim Morrison's vocals. The third track "Shaman's Blues" written by Jim Morrison is also a good song, with good riffs and good vocals of Jim Morrison. It's a song clearly influenced by the blues but, unfortunately, it doesn't bring anything new. Definitely, it represents one of the Achilles' heels on the album. The fourth track "Do It" written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger was the only song written together. It was released as the B side of their single "Runnin' Blue" and it was also the last of the four singles released from this album. It's a good rock number that sounds nice and pleasant to hear, but like "Shaman's Blues" represents also one of the weakest musical moments on the album. The fifth track "Easy Ride" written by Jim Morrison was also one of the songs chosen to be released as a single. This time it was chosen to be the B side of their single "Tell All The People". It's a country and western song full of orchestration. Sincerely, this isn't one of my favourite music genres. This is, in my humble opinion, a very weak track, the weakest track on the all album. The sixth track "Wild Child" written by Jim Morrison was released as the B side of their single "Touch Me", preceding the release of the album in several months. This is a typical and classic The Doors' songs, a harder guitar driven song that sounds similar to many other great songs of them. It's a song with excellent musical arrangements, particularly on the guitars. This is one of my favourite songs on the album. The seventh track "Runnin' Blue" written by Robby Krieger was also a song chosen to be released as a single. Curiously, on this song Robby Krieger shares the vocal duties with Jim Morrison for the chorus, and this was one of the few songs where that happened, in their entire career. This is another country style song, with violin and the use of brass and string instruments. However and in my humble opinion, "Runnin' Blue" is fortunately a much better song than "Easy Ride" is. The eighth track "Wishful Sinful" written by Robby Krieger was another song taken from this album to be released as a single. The B side of the single, "Who Scared You?", is one of the few B side songs that never were released on any studio album of them. It's a very good and beautiful ballad, one of the best created by them, with fantastic orchestral arrangements. This song represents, without any doubt, one the highlights on the album. The ninth track is the title track "The Soft Parade". It was written by Jim Morrison. This is, without any doubt, the best and the only true progressive musical moment on the album. This song followed the good old tradition of the band, to close their albums with great epics, as had happened with "The End" on "The Doors" and "When The Music's Over" on "Strange Days". This song represents what they knew to make better. It's a great progressive music with great musical arrangements and strange lyrics and it has also an excellent and unforgettable vocal performance by Jim Morrison.

Conclusion: As I said before, "The Soft Parade" is in general considered as the weakest of all studio albums of The Doors. The great change in the production style didn't help the album's success, especially the addition of the brass and the string instrumental arrangements. So, "The Soft Parade" has been very criticized since it was released and it has even been considered as a sell out commercial album. Sincerely, I really don't think so. I really can't agree with most of the critics about this album. Personally, I can't see any kind of problem with the use of the brass and the string instruments and arrangements on the album. However, I completely agree with those who say that it's less good than their previous studio albums, especially their first two albums. Nevertheless, for me, it has a handful of good songs and quality enough to be considered still a good album. And I'm not pretty sure that "The Soft Parade" is the weakest album of The Doors. Sincerely, I'm not really very convinced that "The Soft Parade" is a weaker album than "Morrison Hotel".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

This is definitely the least revered Morrison-era Doors album. I would say I could see the reason for that, but I don't, so I don't see the reason for that. Throughout the entire thing, they're trying a generally more poppy sound. It's the first Doors album to have bass on all tracks, there's a lot of horns and such, and... well, the thing of it is, it that, uhh... there's the lemon stuff. And then you got Mac who's a rat, and Dee's body brace, and uh... and that's the thing of it, and... it's good.

Tell All The People triumphantly starts off the album with a tune not unlike what closed their previous album, Five To One. This one is again, a rallying cry. What separates this one from Five To One though is that it's directed at everyone for a better future, "You tell them they don't have to run, we're gonna pick up everyone." Five To One was directed at the youth for taking back the world the past generation destroyed "The old get old and the young get stronger. May take a week and it may take longer. They got the guns but we got the numbers. Gonna win, yeah we're takin' over." The distinction between these two songs that gives Tell All The People its power and triumphantly is the horns featured here. It sounds like they're introducing the (lizard) king, someone we can trust to put everything in its place, someone who can bury all our troubles in the sand, someone who can lead us "across the sea where milky babies seem to be." This song highlights the idea of who Jim Morrison was, someone who will expose and break the bonds of society. That might be stretching it, but you get my point, this song shows a perfect example of who he represented.

Touch Me uses the freer and poppier atmosphere of the album to zoom in and exaggerate the romantic aspect of the lyrics. The strings also do an amazing job of adding to the overall mood here. I wouldn't call it their best love song, I feel like the lyrics aren't as tight as Hello, I Love You or Wintertime Love, but it's an incredible song with all the other parts working amazingly together. And to be fair I like cute silly love songs more than this classic idea of romanticism. But that's just me, if I were the other way around this would probably be up there for one of my favorite love songs.

Shaman's Blues is a mellow, sort of damp tune. I think is about a dude down on his luck, sorta insane, man talking to someone who's either rich or in a high place politically. He's telling them that they could be doing a lot more about helping people like him. Lines like "There will never be another one who can do the things you do" tell us he's pressuring them to get something done. A lot of lines like "Did you stop it to consider how it will feel? Cold, grinding grizzly bear jaws hot on your heels." tell us either he's telling them that they haven't thought about what it's like actually living in these conditions, or that they should think about what hell is like before they go there for not helping more. There are a whole bunch more lines I could quote and how they relate to what I think the song is about, but I ain't an expert in poetry, so it's kind of redundant. Tell me if you think it's something else, I would want to hear other interpretations of the song, 'cause it's a very interesting piece. Or maybe you just want to tell me what a [%*!#]ing idiot you think I am for interpreting it this way, that's valid as well.

Do It marks where the album goes into the more poppy regions. It's another piece about the generation divide, telling older people to listen to younger people "the child" 'cause it's their world your rising them in. It's a bop, not too complicated, at least I think not. Maybe it's another case of me being a bumbling idiot, tell me about it.

Easy Ride is another one I don't get, it's very comforting, I like the sound of it a lot. The lyrics go over my head. Maybe Jim's just a confident driver and wants to tell us about it, which is cool I guess, good on him, being a good driver is a good skill to have.

Wild Child is (I think) a song about Jim's ideal vision for the future. That everybody is as upfront and forward-looking as this wild child. One thing that gets me about this one is that I DON'T remember when we were in Africa, and that's sorta taking me out of this. He doesn't at least talk about what the trip was like to jog my memory, kinda inconsiderate, but he's also like sorta dead, so there's no point in complaining now.

Runnin' Blue is an extremely fun song. Robby's Dylan impression is awesome, and it's super refreshing hearing him sing. This whole song is hard on the fun pop sound and it turns out great. The fiddle at the end is also pretty cool 'cause it (in one way or another) gets you in the mood for the next track, which has this sort of deeper sound the fiddle portrays. I wish they explored this whole sound more, as good as this song is I feel as if there's a lot of untapped potentials here.

Wishful Sinful is a perfect midway in-between the poppy sound of the last couple of tracks with the rougher and psychedelic sound of the title track. It follows in the lyrical footstep of Touch Me, with these loving, sexual lyrics. This again isn't my thing, but the strings and overall musicianship of the track make it a nice experience regardless. What it does best of all is buffer the first three-quarters of the album with the final track, "The Soft Parade", which is another one of The Doors' long closing tracks, and it very much needed a buffer considering the sound of this album.

The Soft Parade is the closing track and center of the album, it's what a lot of people listen to this album for. And for good reason, it's great. Following suit with their other epics the lyrics are really difficult at first. But if you try hard and never give up you'll get there, I believe in you champ. I think the track is about all of what you do to distance yourself from death. Doesn't matter if you do it via religion, candy, or being nice to your neighbor(?). This is helped by the sonic back-and-forth that this track does. The beginning is the most honest, calling out any bull[&*!#] that tries to convince you there's warmth in life separate from the cold and harshness of death. It's saying that you can't make whatever higher power there is to give you enteral life or a sufficient afterlife. The Next part has a bit of a less honest sound, but is still very honest in content, asking for warmth to hide from the ever marching presents of death. The next part is that warmth, candy, being nice to your neighbor, community, and such. The next part is joining the "Soft Parade". I think being part of the Soft Parade represents a manic acceptance of death, you're expecting it and waiting, but you have to force yourself to think that it's going to be okay. The sound of this section is not very honest at all, it's lying to yourself but the very essence of what life is, and the sound captures that perfectly. As for the horse and the whipping of its eyes, I couldn't tell you. The dude who annotated this line on Genius recommends a book to fully help understand this line. But I can only (for the most part) understand poetry when it's sung to me, I can't imagine reading an entire book of it. I bet the line is important, if someone wants to tell me their thoughts on it please do. Or if you want to call me an idiot for not understanding it you can do that too, I'll take all sorts of criticism.

Great album. I wish this one wasn't as poorly received as it was, because they sorta gave up on the pop and orchestral sound after this. It would've been super cool to see a version of Morrison Hotel with horns and strings. And why was Who Scared You not on this record? That's an incredible song. But I guess it is what it is. And again, if you want to call me a [&*!#]bag for not interpreting a song the way you would've wanted me to, you know where to get in contact with me, at [email protected]