The Doors:
Jim Morrison: Vocals
Ray Manzarek: Keyboards (Bass on most tracks)
John Densmore: Drums
Robby Krieger: Guitar
Also, there was probably a bunch of additional musicians on here.
The Doors had a lot to offer. They had very good lyrics, great guitar riffs, very bouncy and sometimes mysterious keyboard lines, and some excellent drumming. They used elements of psychedelia, classic rock, and a little bit of a blues influence to create some extremely influential and classic songs.
Now on to the review. The vocals of Mr. Mojo Risin’ (Jim Morrison) are very good. They aren’t anything amazing but they get the job done. Also a lot of times he just talks or screams. The End is a good example. The most well known Doors song (as far as I know) is basically poetry being read with interesting instrumentation underneath it. The song starts out with a very mysterious hazy feel. The guitar playing a nice finger picked riff that just adds to the mysteriousness. The consistent hit of a tambourine is very nice and adds to the atmosphere. The vocals are somewhat sung, they’re basically talk singing, if that makes sense. The keyboard during the first part of the song isn’t very good. It’s tone and feeling are too different from what the guitar is doing. The drums are very fitting however and are very jazzy. The lyrics are very excellently written. My favorite part would have to be: “The killer awoke before dawn, He took a face from the ancient Gallery and he walked on down the hall.” I have no clue why I like that so much but I just do. The lyrics at one point become stupid in my opinion though. When he sings: “The west is the best.” I just find it stupid and repetitive. Overall though this is one of the best songs on here. The vocals don’t change much through the cd. Jim doesn’t really change it up anywhere, but he doesn’t have to, his voice works well with every song.
A great thing about this cd is the balance between soft and gentle songs like Wintertime Love, the rough and loud songs like Back Door Man, and the in betweens like: Light My Fire. My favorite soft song would definitely be Love Street. This song is so enchanting. I do believe it’s about Jim’s old girlfriend Pam. It’s quite captivating and beautifully put together. The piano/keyboard has a very nice solo that is a perfect match for the song. The lyrics are very wonderfully written rhyming at the perfect points, and also the delivery is excellent. Jim sings the words at great times. The guitar is very nice and intricately picked notes that are accented just enough to be heard, but that really gives the song more backbone. John does a nice simple jazz beat with some excellent snare fills that add to the beauty. This is yet another classic from The Doors. Another great soft song would be Wintertime Love. The only problem I have with this song is its length. It’s way too short. To me it seems like this amazing song was either finished early out laziness or it was just filler. I doubt it was filler because it’s so beautifully written, the keyboards very energetic and bouncy, the guitar is kind of hard to hear and takes a back seat to the keyboard. The drums have a simple beat with the occasional snare roll that gives it a nice bit of energy.
A nice loud song is Five to One. Starts with the continual snare hit then everything else enters repeating the same thing for a while and then the guitar has a very nice and simple riff. Then it goes into a very rockin’ solo. It’s definitely one of Robbie’s great moments. Jim’s voice is nothing different but sometimes they sound a bit sarcastic and goofy. A nice fast hard rockin’ song is L.A. Woman. A nice guitar and steady bass line comes in. Then the keyboards enter and the guitar does some great fills. The vocals are lower than on most tracks which adds a bit more of a harder feel to the song. This song sounds like it’s very sex driven.
A great song in between song is When the Music’s Over. It, like The End, is pretty long, but it’s much more fun and less serious than The End. It’s got a nice psychedelic feel to it because of the keyboard lines mostly. The guitar has some great fills sometimes mimicking the keyboard. The vocals are very nicely done and blend with the instrumentation very nicely. I also enjoy the lyrics to this song. Like many of The Doors’ songs they don’t make sense to me, so that gives me an opportunity to try and determine what they mean. Jim’s and Robbie’s lyrics painted a really nice picture. You know what I mean? There’s also a nice instrumentation breakdown of completely random notes being played and some consistent drumming with excellent fills.
You know what’s one of the best things on here, the things that give the songs a lot of their character. The bass lines. Either masterfully crafted by Ray or done by some studio bassists, they are all excellent and consistent. A personal favorite of mine is the intro to You’re Lost Little Girl. I find to have an air of mystery and it’s very catchy and gets stuck in your head. The mysteriousness is heightened also when the guitar comes in with it’s amazing riff. This is yet another excellent Doors song.
Basically this is a near classic and is a great compilation and very well balanced. The instrumentation is excellent, the song structure is near perfect (sometimes repetitive), the lyrics are very spacey and make you think, and the vocals are just plain great. If you want to get into The Doors you probably shouldn’t get this (it’s a lot to handle as a first), but never the less it’s an excellent cd and really helped me get into this band, although the fact that’s it a double album did kind of over load me with the amount of songs
