Essential Listening (The Best Of The Doors - The Doors)

Member Name: violentviolet

Product:	The Best Of The Doors - The Doors
Date:	07/09/00 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great tunes - not a duff one in sight

Disadvantages: None

Light My Fire - the track which the Doors names were firmly secured a place in rock n roll history. Sadly though, many forget that the group wrote a whole host of anthemic tracks during their careers: what about classic songs like 'The End', 'Chrystal Ship', 'Love Her Madly', 'Touch Me', etc, etc, etc... Basically, this album doesn't contain a single duff track - without sounding like your parents, how often can you say that about a CD these days?

The Doors were a unique combination of musical talent on the part of Manzerak and the others who actually managed to turn Morrison's incredibly imaginative and powerful lyrics into songs. The guitar parts may be deceptively simple but along with the catchy organ parts they somehow are the perfect accompaniment to Morrison's zany showmanship.

Another great thing about this album is that it illustrates the vast variety of styles the Doors used. 'Spanish Caravan' opens like a piece of Spanish Flamenco; Riders on the Storm is melancholic and introspective in tone; The End feels like the closest anyone ever came to successfully turning a rock song into theatre. The lyrics 'Alabama Song' is borrowed from the 1930's playwright Brecht, showing how varied their influences were.

Anyway, the more I write this the more it begins to sound like some kind of essay on popular culture. I don't want to bore you with that kind of stuff. I want to end with this message - if you believe in rock and roll and no, I'm not talking about the kind of recycled blandness that the likes of Oasis trotted out for the masses, then buy this album. Restore your faith in the power of a couple of young kids, some dreams and a guitar.

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