Okay...so it's a Doors album. The Doors! What's not to like about the Doors? The Doors are cool! And this album is memorable to me because this was the last one I bought before swearing off my album habit! Yeah, I had an album habit...I had to get one a week at least. It was like an addiction (but not that bad an addiction, mind you)...I got an album I think a full week after this. Yes, I stink at making resolutions.
Anyway - I was kinda disappointed when I got this album. I had gotten Morrison Hotel a while before this one, and I wasn't totally sure what to think of this. I mean, it was great and all...but it was still rather weird in places (you can't deny that). And it seemed to pale in comparison, somewhat, in light of Morrison Hotel. But then I gave it a while to grow on me. And I began to like it. And now I'm beginning to wonder if it's even better than that album.
Hello, I Love You: I'm convinced I've heard this song somewhere before. And that's rare, when I get an album and there's a song on it where I think I've heard it before and I don't know where. Because I remember everything. But no matter! The song is pretty cool, and we see the Doors doing what they do best musically! (Other than weird things like, oh, Not to Touch the Earth or Something). And what pray tell might that be? Why, cool pieces like this!
Love Street: Okay, this is another cool song, and it shows the Doors doing this sort of song well too. Actually, I think that the Doors, despite having sorts of things they could do especially well, could pretty much do anything they liked, musically-speaking. It has some nifty lines. I especially like the way Jim Morrison says, "I wonder what they do in there..." It seems to give it just the feeling of an "implication" that he was probably aiming for.
Not To Touch the Earth: It would seem I fell in love with this song when I first heard it. And I don't think that's a thing you're going to hear from most people. Most people would say it's a weird bit of, well, nonsense. It kind of is. Perhaps it would be worth saying that it was a smaller piece of a longer song (17 minutes long!) that they recorded, and this was really the only part of the song that was worth inclusion. Yeah! I also like the little organ thing at the end (in as much as anyone likes anything that makes them jump, surprised, whenever they hear it).
Summer's Almost Gone: This is something I know all too well. As a kid who has to go back to school every time summer's almost gone (although it's not so bad for me because I'm Independent Study), I know what it feels like when Summer's Almost Gone. Actually, I'm writing this a few weeks before school begins again for me. Maybe I should stop lamenting on what it feels like. It's a good song anyway.
Wintertime Love: Hey, maybe it's not so bad that Summer's Almost Gone! Because then we get to have winter, where we have Wintertime Love! (Well that's what I'm hoping happens to me this winter...there's a Summer of Love, there ought to be a Winter of Love too...) Well, this song seems sort of Medieval, almost, to me. No, maybe Medieval isn't quite the right word. I think that it's more Shakespearian than anything. Yeah! Shakespeare! It sounds something like an old Christmas carol or something. Largely because it's about Winter. This is the sort of thing that really makes me wish it were winter.
The Unknown Soldier: So I'm fairly certain that this is an anti-war song. About how, if you're the unlucky unknown soldier, it's all over for you. Hey, it could also be an analogy of life. If you're the unknown soldier in life, then it's all over for you, too. I dunno...(thinking about it like that, though, reminds me of Eleanor Rigby for some reason.) The whole part in the middle with the military march is weird. But heck. It's the Doors. Jim Morrison is in this band. That means it's going to be weird.
Spanish Caravan: A suitably Spanish-sounding piece to me. At least, I think so. I don't know what a really Spanish piece would sound like. It sounds really cool when the fast part of the song starts. It just sounds like it might be something to dance to.
My Wild Love: This is hands-down my least favorite song on the record. What is it supposed to be, anyway? I can tolerate the Doors when they're being weird, most of the time. Heck, I even tolerated Celebration of the Lizard! (I'll get to that later.) I generally skip it.
We Could Be So Good Together: Here's what we know and love the Doors for! This is their sort of music? What is that sort, you ask me yet again? Well I don't know for sure! It's just what I know is their sort of music! Yeah...good number, this.
Yes, the River Knows: The album's almost over...that's something of a bad thing. Well, this is possibly the most assured of all the songs on this album. This song knows what it's doing and where it's going, if you know what I mean. It's sort of tragic, in a way, but still it's a good song.
Five to One: I wonder if this was really the best closer for the album. It's, well, sort of in the same vein as My Wild Love, if you know what I mean. Jim seems quite angry on this track. Maybe he is. And that last bit, the incomprehensible nonsense - it sounds rather stoned to me. But hey, it ends well. "And now back to our regular program." Give the Doors an album and they're generally going to make the best of it.
I got the Bonus Tracks version of this album so I'm reviewing those tracks too.
Albinoni's Adagio in G minor: So here we have the Doors doing classical music. That's actually rather cool. No, it's very cool! This is definitely one of the highlights of the album! Who knew that this band could do classical too?
Celebration of the Lizard: I'm sure there's some people out there who don't like this. They don't know what they're talking about. This is awesome. It's a surreal masterpiece, and I can tell that Jim's definitely in his element here! What with all the surreal madness that comes with this sort of thing, this is great. The song about Going Insane makes me feel that way. The freakiest thing about this song, though, is the part at the end, where the Lizard King tells them what they're going to do. And I sat, waiting, thinking, "Yeah? Uh-huh? And then what happens?" only to realize that the song was over. Freaky!
Best tracks: Hello, I Love You, Not to Touch the Earth, Wintertime Love, We Could Be So Good Together, and Yes the River Knows. (Adagio in G Minor and Celebration of the Lizard are also quite good if you have the bonus tracks version.)
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