The Doors:
Jim Morrison: Vocals
Ray Manzarek: Keyboards
John Densmore: Drums
Robby Krieger: Guitar
This cd was somewhat a disappointment for me. Not because it’s bad, it’s actually quite good, but because I was expecting and wanted to hear more mysteriousness and no trumpets. Don’t get me wrong the trumpets are very well done I just don’t like the trumpets. I don’t find they fit what The Doors were. But aside from that this album is great.
The first track Tell All the People starts out with a Heroesque trumpet line that is very cheesy and then goes straight to a softer verse. Then the sax comes in adding a nice feel to the champion like song. The trumpets truly ruin this wonderful song though, as they do with every song they are on this cd. John does a nice simple beat with some great fills throughout it, but he’s done better. Jim’s voice is pretty low and it goes good with the song. This can get old fast.
The next track,
Touch Me, is nothing to different from the first track. It has those terrible trumpets which add an unbearably cheesy sound to this song. But there is a nice use of string instruments during the chorus. I have never liked this song very much. Jim’s vocals are basically like they are in the first track. This is easily overlooked and only remembered because of how cheesy it is. I really wish the guitar and keyboards were heard more, they kind of take a backseat to all the other instruments.
Now, the first good song on the cd.
Shaman’s Blues. This song is pure gold. Jim’s vocals are a little more strained than the previous two songs. No trumpets are included here which is my favorite part of this song. The guitar is very well crafted and is mixes with the other instruments very nicely. The drums are pretty simple but suiting. Although John could have done better he does some nice fills on here.
Another pleasing song is
Do It. It starts out with a great guitar and bass intro with Jim singing Please Me. Then it goes faster and more energetic as Jim repeats the same line over and over again. The drums are great on here with some excellent snare and tom fills. The keyboards are typical Ray and do their job very nicely.
The next track;
Easy Ride, sounds very amusing with it’s fast psychedelic riffs. The guitar solo is very nice but a little short and too quickly cut off. The keyboard is very jumpy and nicely fits with the song. Jim delivers the vocals nicely and has a great tone, as usual. The bass is quite odd in this song. I don’t even know how to describe, but I have a hard time believing that Ray plays it because of the way it slides.
Wild Child opens with a classic Robby riff. Very simple but man is it awesome. The instruments are extremely solid. Then it goes and changes to a less rock feeling for a few seconds to a more psychedelic keyboard led bridge thing. The real bridge is very nice with the drums pounding and the guitar soloing and the keyboard providing a nice back beat. Jim ends this very nicely with the words: Do you remember when we were in Africa?
This is yet another track that could be amazing but is ruined by the trumpets.
Runnin’ Blue starts out very promisingly with just Jim singing some great lyrics then the guitar enters keeping up your hopes of a none trumpet song but you hopes are shattered when you hear them just after the rest of the instruments. Although they do have a very nice solo in this song. It’s very jazzy and mixed with the excellent saxophone. It’s an excellent jazzy break from the cheesiness of the main part of the song. Then there’s a very humorous bridge with a comical mandolin and violin with Jim singing in a hilarious voice, it really does save the song.
Wishful Sinful is truly the most beautiful song on here. Jim sings in a wonderful tone. The strung instruments add more beauty to this amazing song. The drums are extremely fitting and provide the perfect beat for this song. The guitar is also a great fitting backbone of this song. Very beautiful individually picked notes that are carefully done. The keyboards are seldom heard and take a backseat to the other instruments, but that’s not a problem on here. The violins and other string instruments really help make this song the beautiful work of art it is.
Jim has some great lyrics on here. My favorite has to be
Soft Parade. This song truly delivers and it is also the one song that really gave me what I wanted on hear. The intro is somewhat intense with Jim talking in an echoey voice. He sounds very mad. And at the end of his rant about petitioning the lord with prayer the beautiful guitar comes in and Jim sings in a very befitting soft voice. Then it springs into action with a very fast psychedelic guitar and keyboard leading the way. Jim’s voice sounds very odd over the instruments; it’s a good odd though. This is really a typical Doors song. It goes from loud, to soft, to fast and energetic, to slow and melodious, then energetic again. The transformations are made very well and the absence of the trumpets and other instruments really made me happy. The keyboards are definitely Ray’s best on this cd; very bouncy and energetic.
Overall this cd can be very cheesy and if it were not for songs like Soft Parade and Wishful Sinful this would be much lower rated. Those two and Shaman’s Blues basically save this whole cd. The trumpets are mostly cheesy except on Runnin’ Blue during the solo. Jim and Robby wrote some great lyrics on here. I highly advise not getting this if it’s your first cd. I luckily got the best of before this.
