1. Changelingthe

2. Love Her Madly

3. Been Down So Long

4. Cars Hiss By My Window

5. L.A. Woman

6. L' America

7. Hyacinth House

8. Crawling King Snake

9. Wasp (The Texas Radio & The Bi

10. Riders On The Storm

Rolling Stone

Besides being heavy in their early days the Doors were funny too. Funnier than a fish. Who can ever forget those great Morrison ad libs like the one he once did during a lull in "Gloria" ("Little girl how old are you. little girl what school do you go to, little girl suck my cock")? He was an earnest drinker, which of course helped. Now he's drinking more than ever, hence there's some material basis for all the laughs. And since heaviness has been kicked in the ass of late all the kickers owe it to themselves to sit down with this one. There isn't one serious cut on the entire album.

Just consider the extent to which Jimbo's snake and lizard obsessions contributed to the wanton slaughter of zillions of members of the earth's reptile population for the sake of boots and belts. His influence on that and other fashion trends has to be considerable, an absurd fact considering how the man himself has been literally abandoned by the hippos of rock fandom during his darkest hours. Well now he's taking no chances about being taken seriously or with universal import. In fact he's not even writing his own snake lyrics anymore. Instead there's John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake." a whopper of a readymade and proof positive that he and his boy, are still listening to the roots, even after the death of Al Wilson (don't forget that Canned Heat was once L.A.'s number one comedy band. On it Morrison demonstrates his final grasp of all the vocal chicanery only hinted at in flashes on " Love Street ." Which means he's finally found complete security in caution-to-the-winds Hollywood lemonade singing, the mid-point between bubble gum and a good chance at being invited to sing an Oscar nomination at the 1972 Academy Awards.

And he's even a fair-to-middlin' blues gomper because for the first time he honestly doesn't give a donut about how authentic or any of that the whole thing sounds. He was never actually Fric Burdon but his trans-racial bravado at least hinted at some intent in that direction. Now all the cards are on the table. Just check out "Cars Hiss by My Window" and compare it to the halfassed blues attempts of fellow Southern Californian Captain Beefheart and see who's got the greater vestige of potentially galling pretentiously indulgent self-esteem. (If you don't admit it's the noble Captain then you can't have much of a sense of either humor or fair play.)

And what's more Jim's backup band has finally reduced its approach to one of ping-ponging the essential free-as-air spirit the man's been toying with ever since be abandoned Howlin' Wolf for Mel Torme. In other words the Doors have never been more together, more like the Beach Boys, more like Love (the band they originally played second fiddle to at the Whiskey or the troubadour or wherever it was). So when it's Morrison setting the tone with lines like "Why did you throw the jack of hearts away?" on "Hyacinth House," it's Manzarck, Robbie and Densmore keeping the second-to-second ridiculousness going on and on with merrygoround tirades of utter mere pleasantness straight out of Derek and the Dominoes with even some Kokomo-classical fancy stepping thrown in for good measure. In terms of what they're after here the Doors as a band never falter and there isn't one bummer cut on the entire album obviously a first for them.

It's also the first time since "The End" and "When the Music's Over" that they've been able to pull off anything interesting in the way of long cuts. And there are two of them here, "L.A. Woman" (with maybe the best Chuck Berry riffs since the Stones and a hell of a lot more Sixties Seventies American flavor) and "Riders on the Storm" (signaling the return to Del Shannon from whence the Doors' mysterioso-hood was largely derived to begin with), both of them minor monsters. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if "The WASP (Texas Radio & The Big Beat)" doesn't showcase Morrison's finest command of spoken jive to date, far superior to "Horse Latitudes" and a demonstration of lyric-supporting timing at least the equal of George Burns in his prime.

You can kick me in the ass for saying this (I don't mind): this is the Doors' greatest album and (including their first) the best album so far this year. A landmark worthy of dancing in the streets.

All Music

The final album with Morrison in the lineup is by far their most blues-oriented, and the singer's poetic ardor is undiminished, though his voice sounds increasingly worn and craggy on some numbers. Actually, some of the straight blues items sound kind of turgid, but that's more than made up for by several cuts that rate among their finest and most disturbing work. The seven-minute title track was a car-cruising classic that celebrated both the glamour and seediness of Los Angeles; the other long cut, the brooding, jazzy "Riders on the Storm," was the group at their most melodic and ominous. It and the far bouncier "Love Her Madly" were hit singles, and "The Changeling" and "L'America" count as some of their better little-heeded album tracks. An uneven but worthy finale from the original quartet.

Adrian’s Album Reviews

Following 'an incident' where it was alledged Jim indecently exposed himself on stage, The Doors found themselves banned from almost every major concert venue in the states. The result of this was actually they had a lot more time to focus on the recording of a new album. Its a record that continues from 'Morrison Hotel' in the sense of The Doors being aware of the blues. They had help on bass guitar from Jerry Scheff. He did such a fine job, they wanted him to go out on tour with them to promote 'L.A. Woman'. Around the same time, Jim announced he was leaving, and he didn't know when he was coming back. At the same time 'L.A.Woman' was being released to critical acclaim Jim was in Paris trying to rediscover himself. He would never return. All this is by the by when it comes to actually listening to the record! Does it matter? Not really - here is the album. Do you like it? Well, it is relevant, the time they had to prepare new songs, the great bass player. Jims voice may well have been the worse for wear but he certainly gave it a go. His new gruffer voice suited the material, actually.

The way this record begins.....THE WAY THIS RECORD BEGINS!!!!!!! Well, we have 'The Changeling' and 'Love Her Madly'. 'The Changeling' is prime Doors, no question. The guitar, the great keyboards all over the place. Great bass and vocals. What can you say, its groovy! Its rocking! It makes you want to scream with joy. Well. You know, it's pretty good. 'Love Her Madly' is a great Doors pop song. Perfectly done, great little break in the middle. You can really hear Jerry Scheff here especially - he did a fantastic job and fitted into The Doors perfectly from a musical point of view. Both these opening songs are classics. 'Been Down So Long' isn't a classic, just a blues number. Its well done though, and here Jims voice especially suits the material. Its a voice thats lived, shall we say :) 'Cars Hiss By My Window' is pure blues which benefits from wonderful guitar work from Robbie.

The title song, placed in the middle of the album, is almost an album by itself. Almost eight minutes long, never dull or repetitive or boring for a single second. It cooks! I don't drive, don't like cars - but this song is a great driving song! That's the image it presents in the mind of a guy like me almost opposed to cars! Almost. That's how good it is! 'City of night, whoa!'. Fantastic stuff. Wonderful playing from everyone, again. Musically The Doors were probably at the top of their game at this stage. 'L'America' is slightly quirky in its melodies but does open atmospherically with strange sounding guitar. It sounds pretty intense, builds up as it goes along - ray does a great job on keyboards. 'Hyacinth House' is simple and fun, 'Crawling King Snake' a classic blues tune converted to The Doors style. Done very well, actually. We are nearly at the end. 'The Wasp' is the only thing here which probably should have been thought about a bit more. Its one of the more silly things i've heard in my entire life. Why is it so much fun? The melodies are simple, quirky. Jims poetry borders on the ridiculous. The whole thing is done with such concentration.....that its funny! The guitar solo that appears in the middle is great though.

We have 'Riders On The Storm' to end. Like 'LA Woman' - this is almost an album in itself. Jim sounds in fine voice, the music is stupendous, everything came together. All Doors together. It matches anything they ever did. Anything. We have an utterly hypnotic keyboard solo - its just beautiful. We have doses of brilliant guitar work. The keyboards continue, the bass continues. Jim soars above it all, in the clouds, in the heavens. 'Riders On The Storm'. I dreamt the melody. It appeared to me in my sleep. I probably shouldn't be saying that should I? I dream of music. This 'Riders On The Storm' though is one of the most dreamlike pieces ever created. Its a sheer work of genuis. I can't help myself, I can't explain. The Doors reborn. This was called their 'comeback' album by some. I can understand why. Although the high points of the record do overshadow the rest, it works as a whole nonetheless. Jim would never return. This is some way for the original Doors to go out. Going out on a high. 'Riders On The Storm'.