WAITING FOR THE SUN

"Waiting For The Sun" is the third studio album of The Doors and was released in 1968. This is an album with strong lyrics but that often has been criticized for have a softer sound. Much of the material on the album had been written around and before the formation of the group, most notably "Not To Touch The Earth", which was taken from the poem of Jim Morrison, "Celebration Of The Lizard". It was intended that the poem was written for this album and take up an entire album side, but in the end, the band only released it on their debut live album "Absolutely Live", in 1970.

"Waiting For The Sun" has eleven tracks. All songs were written by Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore. The first track "Hello I Love You" was a song chosen by the band to be released as a single and was a big commercial success. Despite be considered one of the most pop songs by The Doors and be frequently criticized, this is, in my humble opinion, a great song, very catchy, and that opens brilliantly this album. The second track "Love Street" was originally a poem written by Jim Morrison about Rothdell Trail, a street in Laurel Canyon, California, where he lived with his girlfriend Pamela Courson and where they would sit on the balcony and watch the people walking. This is a very nice soft ballad with great piano and guitar arrangements and with a beautiful voice by Jim Morrison. The third track "Not To Touch The Earth" is a fragment taken from Jim Morrison's poem, "Celebration Of The Lizard", that although a recording of the complete poem was attempted at the sessions for the album, only this brief musical passage was deemed fit for this release. It returns to their classic psychedelic sound and represents one of the heaviest moments on the album. The fourth track "Summer's Almost Gone" is another good, quiet and soft ballad and represents one of the earliest songs composed by them. It's a very mellow, sensitive and sad song with the psychedelic sound so typical on the band in their earlier musical days. The fifth track "Wintertime Love" is a very unusual song for them. It's a waltz performed in a soft style. This is a very small song that despite represents one of the weakest songs on the album, I really think this is a good song and represents a beautiful musical moment too. This song reminds me The Stranglers. But it isn't surprising for me, because I always found many similarities between the keyboard style of Ray Manzarek and Dave Greenfield. The sixth track "The Unknown Soldier" was the first single taken from this album by The Doors. The song represents Jim Morrison's reaction to the Vietnam War and the way the conflict was depicted in the American's media at that time. It's a classic protest song against the war and where the band shows perfectly their personal feelings about it. The seventh track "Spanish Caravan" is, basically, a flamenco song with the beginning riffs taken from "Asturias (Leyenda)", a classical piece of music by the Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz. This always was one of my favourite songs of The Doors. The texture of the composition and arrangements are absolutely original and astonishing, and, in my humble opinion, we are in presence of a masterpiece. As I'm Portuguese, I must say this is the only song by The Doors with a reference to Portugal. The eighth track "My Wild Love" is the only song played on the album in a Cappella style. Jim Morrison's vocals are backed up by the band's members vocals, performing different sorts of sounds, with their mouths and clapping hands. It's, in reality, a very weird song, and it isn't, definitely, one of the highlights on the album. The ninth track "We Could Be So Good Together" was initially released as the B side of the single "The Unknown Soldier". The song was recorded during the recording sessions for "Strange Days", but only appeared on this album. This is another pop rock song, but this time we aren't in presence of a great song. The tenth track "Yes, The River Knows" is a soft acoustic ballad with nice piano and drum arrangements. However, in my opinion, it lacks to it some flame of creativity and, unfortunately, it represents, without any doubt, one of the weakest moments on the album. The eleventh track "Five To One" is the heaviest song on the album with Jim Morrison's vocals very energetic and with the distorted guitar sound by Robby Krieger. It's also a memorable song because of the lyrics. This is a good way to close the album, with one of the most powerful and heaviest songs that The Doors have ever made.

Conclusion: After the first two previous strong and intense psychedelic albums, the third studio album of The Doors, appeared softer and full of ballads, and as I wrote before, it has been criticized by many fans and critics due to its softer sound. However and despite not be as good as "The Doors" and "Strange Days" are, it still remains a great album, very well balanced and that maintain, in a certain way, the same musical formula of the two previous studio albums. Concluding, "Waiting For The Sun" is, in my humble opinion, one the best musical studio works from the band, and it remains as one of my favourite studio albums from them, after "The Doors", "Strange Days" and "L.A.Woman". It's a perfect partner to join with the two first albums of them. It's especially indicated for people who love their earlier works.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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