Strange Days
Waiting For the Sun
1967
With this release, Jim Morrison and company, ahem, broke on through to the other side. I love being original! The Doors just barely missed being released in 1966 by a month, but it bridges the gap between seminal ‘66 releases like pet Sounds and Summer-of-Love ‘67 albums like Surrealistic Pillow. The darkness is already there, but some elements of Everyband ‘60s rock remain, but I’ll get to that later.
With the opener “Break on Through,” you could not ask for a better introduction to the Doors. You get a simple guitar riff, Morrison’s frantic delivery, and Manazrek’s unique organ finagling. It wasn’t the big hit, that honor went to “Light My Fire.” This simple pop song is turned on its head with a minor-key melody and Morrison’s lustful vocals. Hearing the 3-minute AM radio edit for years, I have only begun to appreciate the lengthy organ/guitar trade-off in the bridge. Kinda sloppy, but I like!
The two covers are also really cool. “Alabama Song” is kind of a silly little stomper, but the piano plunking at ‘oh don’t ask why’ are worth the admission. The old blues cover “Back Door Man” is transformed into merely a blues song into a fiery Morrison showcase. His rasps are just something else. But they could also be soft, as evidenced on the dark and chilling tracks “Crystal Ship” and “End of the Night.”
On the pop side, “Soul Kitchen” has a swingin’ organ groove and is great. But “Twentieth Century Fox” sounds too similar and the lyrics sound a bit dated, so it strikes out here. And the most reviled tracks “I Looked At You” and “Take It As it Comes” are even poppier. I’m probably the only web reviewer who’s OK with the former, as it has a subtle menace behind the simple lyrics. Sounds somewhat similar to Cream’s “N.S.U.”, that came out only a month before The Doors. But I won’t defend “Take It”; any song that opens with lyrics stolen from “Turn! Turn! Turn!” isn’t great.
That leaves the infamous 11-minute monster “The End.” I actually don’t get too bored with the monotony of the piece, it’s hypnotic. And Morrison’s ramblings are fine, this from a guy who is no fan of Morrison’s poetry. Too bad I can’t do the ‘Father I want to kill you’ line without sounding like Dr. Phil. Anyway, good song, and a good, varied debut for the Doors. Only soured by the likes of”Take It” and “Fox.”
1967
Later on in ‘67, the Doors came out with an album far removed from the hippie-utopiac thematics of ‘67 Summer-of-Love albums. Well, not that The Doors was all that happy, either. But Strange Days is different. The whole album takes on a darkly catchy, carnivalesque feel. It’s not as varied as The Doors, and lacks the “Light My Fire” all-time classic. Yet at the same time there are no clunkers, every song is good, and the atmosphere is pretty compelling.
The proceedings are kicked off by the awesome organ-drenched title track, that serves the same purpose as “Break On Through,” but may be even cooler! Morrison’s voice is all tremeloed, and the jarring rhythm change after each verse is amazing. “You’re Lost Little Girl” is more mellow and guitar-based, and Morrison vocals give me chills. “Love Me Two Times” has a bluesy swagger that differs from the rest of the album. I always liked hearing it on the radio, but for some reason, I’m not as gung-ho on it as I used to be. Did I get sick of it?? *scratches head*
Continuing, “Unhappy Girl” is darkly psychedelic, all those backwards tapes and that noodly little organ. Forget that dumb poetry bit “Horse Latitudes,” a song that is not. No, how about “Moonlight Drive”, another simple-but-scary tune that sounds like it could have been on the debut. Love those guitar parts. “People Are Strange” may be the catchiest Doors song yet, and was a sizable hit. You WILL be humming the chorus for days on end after hearing this. You say you won’t, but you will. I really like the driving “My Eyes Have Seen You,” a better reworking of their poppy material of the debut. Listen to that guitar part in the instrumental. Reminds me of CCR! Wow, Robbie Krieger and John Fogerty. What a thought. “I Can’t See Your Face in Your Mind” is another chilling ballad a la “You’re Lost Little Girl.”
Now, the jury’s out on the 11-minute dynamo “When the Music’s Over.” Many like it better than “The End,” and indeed it’s much more of a song than “End.” Yet I’m still biased towards “The End,” having known it longer. Don’t get me wrong, “Music’s Over” has great sections, but I need to warm up to it more. So, in the end, I rate Strange Days an 8, no better and no worse than the debut. Maybe if it was more diverse, and if over half the songs weren’t in the same E minor scale, I’d hand out a 9 like many other web reviewers before me. And if there weren’t no “Horse Latitudes.” But as it is, an 8.
1968
Aww man!!! Of all the directions the Doors could have taken from their first two awesome albums, they took the “I Looked At You” pop route here. Actually, I didn’t mind “I Looked At You” off their debut, it was “Take it as it Comes” I didn’t like, But most everyone dislikes “Looked” more, so I used that for comparison. Anyway, I’m not sure what the context was, the band wasn’t in confusion as in Soft Parade, and I don’t know if most of the poppy tunes are all Krieger. Either way, the pop sits weird with more normal Doors stuff.
OK, the first two are popfests are allright. “Hello I Love You” was one of their earliest songs, and although I certainly don’t think it deserved a 2-week run at #1 as it did, I’m all right with it. It’s catchy and it turns really lustful at the end. The following “Love Street” has a nice melody and really cool piano parts. I actually prefer this to “Hello.” But the other tunes on that spectrum aren’t so lucky. “Yes the River Knows” and “Summers Almost Gone” are dull ballads, “Wintertime Love” piles on the organy cheese, and “We Could Be So Good Together” is the worst; it follows the repetitive model of “I Looked At You” and would have easily been the weakest track on the debut. And Strange Days, for that matter.
They fare better on Waiting with more standard Doors material. Well, I never liked “The Unknown Soldier,” it doesn’t really stand out for me, apart from the firing squad section in the middle. I’m a little more partial to the Spanish-style ballad “Spanish Caravan,” complete with authentic Spanish-guitaresque picking. The eerie “Not To Touch the Earth” definitely works, as we finally get to see the real Jim Morrison. And yes, that is the famous ‘lizard king’ quote you hear at the end, the selection is from his “Celebration of the Lizard” suite that never made it onto official Doors releases. Even better is the thumping, intense “Five to One.” Wow. What a closer.
I’ll leave you with a surprise: I dig the chant “My Wild Love.” A lot. I’m the only web reviewer out there to say so, since everyone else treats this like dog doo. Come on! I mean, wouldn’t you rather listen to this then, say, “We Could Be So Good Together”? I think “My Wild Love” sounds cool. I also liked the Stones’ “Just Wanna See His Face.” Shut up. As for Waiting, the un-Doors pop sound and some dull tracks elsewhere mean a drop-off from the debut and Strange Days. I almost gave this a 7 like everyone else, but they like “Unknown” and “Spanish” more than I do. So it got lowered a bit. But that “My Wild Love”? I still love it. Sue me.