THE DOORS

Rough, bluesy, sexy, masculine, wilful, testosterone-charged,... Just a few words that immediately come to mind when hearing the band name The Doors. Prog Rock ain't one of them really. In fact, their music-for-the-underbelly targets decisively other areas of the human body then the mind area where prog usually heads for.

But bad boy Jim got himself surrounded by a gang of highly competent musicians that gave his heartfelt blues the musical backbone and that little extra of sophistication that made the Doors into the super group that they have become. And rightfully so. Especially Ray Manzarek's organ adds a playful and psychedelic angle that makes the music stand our above their contemporaries, also Robby Krieger's subtle guitar play and John Densmore solid drumming are a treat. Jim's voice and diction are simply beyond comparison, but his poetry doesn't come without critics and the band's song writing is still a bit shaky at times.

Since this is one of the few reviews that goes under 4 stars I'll concentrate on the tracks that bring it down for me. 20th Century Fox is the first, nothing bad but plain 3 star material. Light My Fire is overplayed and basically never appealed much to me except for its stretched out jam in the middle, a typical means to extend the rock format around that time. Back Door Man is a basic blues stomp that pales in comparison to much of the superior songs around it. They would do this kind of straightforward blues much better on later albums. Also I Looked At You is nothing more then a competent pop song. The biggest letdown is The End, it's overstated and overrated, and a failed attempt to compose an extended intellectual art-rock piece. It is a tedious listen with an ill-prepared climax, not a Stairway to Heaven this one. Of course, it's something of a cult-song and I might be the only person in the world who thinks it is not much more then average. Well no, not true actually. My Doors-crazed misses just confirms she thinks the same, adding that the lyrics are really dreadful. Ain't she the best :)

The Doors is a ground-breaking effort from a unique and powerful band and it feels awkward to grant it just 3 stars, but the song-writing isn't really consistent enough. 3.5 stars.