Strangely superb. (Strange Days: Remastered & Expanded - Doors)

Member Name: Rumblefish

Product:	Strange Days: Remastered & Expanded - Doors
Date:	30/12/00 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great atmosphere, terrific performance

Disadvantages: : None unless compared to first album

Faced with the task of producing the traditionally “difficult” second album to follow up their trailblazing debut, the Doors simply carried on where they had left off, with no real change of tone or theme from their eponymous classic. In fact many of the songs on STRANGE DAYS were older compositions considered for the first release, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this to be a second-rate album.

The album gets off to an explosive start with the title track, on which Ray Manzarek shows how to use keyboards on a rock and roll track and Jim Morrison perfects his trademark howl. ‘You’re Lost Little Girl’ is one of the most haunting tracks the band ever recorded, while ‘Love Me Two Times’ is one of the catchiest, being rooted in ‘50s R&B. The highlights of the middle part of the album include the semi-psychedelic ‘Moonlight Drive’, and one of their most famous compositions (partly due to being covered by Echo & The Bunnymen for the teen vampire flick THE LOST BOYS) ‘People Are Strange’. The latter exemplifies the sense of alienation so often evident in Doors songs (“When you’re strange no one remembers your name…”). After the low-key but enjoyable ‘My Eyes Have Seen You’ and ‘I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind’, the album closes with the eleven-minute epic ‘When The Music’s Over’ – a live favourite that demonstrated the band’s versatility (or possibly self-indulgence if you’re not a fan).

At a time when almost every major band still monotonously appeared on the cover of all their records (The Beatles’ WHITE ALBUM and The Stones’ BEGGARS' BANQUET were not released until the following year), the sleeve of STRANGE DAYS came adorned not with the Doors but with a group of circus and street performers such as a juggler, a midget, and so on. That, and the paranoid, haunt
ed material on the album, confirmed the Doors as outsiders in the world of rock music.

Although probably not as strong as their mesmeric debut (how could it be?), STRANGE DAYS is still an excellent album in its own right. Strangeness couldn’t sound any better.

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