WAITING FOR THE SUN

I've never understood why "Hello I Love You" is disliked by a fair number of fans of the Doors. Although I've always enjoyed "Touch Me" from the band's 1969 album The Soft Parade, I can see how its contemporary pop sound could have turned off longtime fans. But "Hello I Love You"? I suppose it has a pop form, but so did at least a handful of prior Doors songs - - "People Are Strange" comes to mind.

Anyway, I picked up a copy of Waiting for the Sun a few years ago. It was a brand new, remastered CD for $4.99 or so. I played it once and decided it was OK but nothing special. For some reason I gave it a spin recently and upon further reconsideration, I was surprised at how good it was.

Although the Doors' debut album is often considered their best, Waiting for the Sun is just as good, and is an improvement over Strange Days, their sophomore effort. There's no "Break on Through" or "Light My Fire" here, but "Hello, I Love You," "The Unknown Soldier," and "Five to One" rank among next echelon of the Doors' best songs, and they're nicely interleaved with some solid cuts like "Spanish Caravan," "Love Street" and "Not to Touch the Earth." Three stars.