The Doors
by The Doors

Perhaps the first true ideal of rock music as an art that goes beyond just entertainment. The earliest masterpiece of the '67 musical revolution, The Doors mixed the harmony and earthiness of blues with the freer approach of jazz interplay and fused it with an almost shamanic psychedelic mindset to create a cerebral work of art. Jim Morrison then, the key element, both literally and figuratively pushed this base sound into the realms of poetry, both of the soul and the heart ,with his surreal wordscapes that evoke humor, tragedy, terror and eros all at the same time. A sort of sonic marriage of Apollonian modernity and Dionysian hellenicism.

Just from the first seconds of the iconic opener, with the walking jazzy organ bassline and the delicate drums the atmosphere of a religious ritual is achieved with Jim's lyrics and Manzareks organs simultaneously fighting and complimenting each other to keep you in the sacred circle. Songs like Soul Kitchen, Fox, Alabama Song and Back Door Man make like a beatnik jester, free from the constraints of the world, having almost a child like disconcern for them, and the jumpier music they contain accents this, the virtuoso organ fills and rhythmic blues guitars almost insisting that high art and life are not just seriousness but a chromatic cornucopia of emotions and highs and lows. It almost then becomes apparent why they are contrasted by subtle and poetic mellow attempts of songs like Crystal Ship or End Of The Night, essentially high hymns of erotic love, with the flowery e pianos and organs, and the minor low dynamic basslines connecting the conscious and subconscious aspects of the mind. Indeed, the day destroys the night and the night divides the day and the album lives this mantra 100%.

The two long form side enders, still to this day among the greatest masterpieces of pop and rock music, embody their goals completely and work as mini symphonies of the truths of life. Light My Fire, a psychedelic sonata, opens and closes with one the most powerful hymns for love ever written, and the middle section, a true showing of their instrumental mastery has the band almost trying to outshine each other to the point of transcendence, where the legendary organ solo is followed by the legendary guitar solo, one confirming the other, like a thesis being confirmed two times by two different scholars, creating an orgasmic synthesis of psychedelic music. Many bands have jammed like this, but few with such a vigor for life. The final song, aptly called The End, is a folksy gothic raga containing an imposing story of patricide, a free form exploration of the mind, it embodies the stream of consciousness that Proust perfected, but in a musical context. It is perhaps the most ritual like song and it ends the albums. It starts slow, goes aetherial in the middle, fastens and brings noise, then ends on the same manner it started, mimicking almost a mind gone insane, ready for murder, metaphorically, their destruction of values that preceded them. No wonder then that their main motive is patricide, a Jungian murder of tyranny.

The Doors never reached the quality of this album, though they were close on Strange Days and LA Woman, but never quite as mysterious and mystical as they were here. Zappa and Dylan preceded the individualiy this brought to the world, but never transcendended themselves like this one does. Even today, because of their humble arrangements, lead guitar, drums and organs, nobody quite sounds like The Doors still, even though they have created the blueprints for Prog, Punk and Gothic on this rekkord. Diving into this album as a 16 year old was a revolution for me, and that was some 10 years ago, I can only imagine how bizarrely wonderful this album sounded in 1967.

A massively imaginative and original debut album. A unique style and filled with memorable riffs and three songs that have become classics of the 60s. 9/10! (Edited)

What a smash debut record, arguably the best debut of any band of artist period. At worst, every song is great. Songs like Break on Through, Light My Fire, and The End just makes me wonder just how they were able to make an album like this when they were only starting out. (Edited)

I fell in love with this album since I was a little boy hearing Soul Kitchen during Forrest Gump. A top tier album and quintessential psychedelic rock. No one did it better than the Doors. (Edited)

A unique record that is full of experimentation and interesting instrumentation. This leads to 3 or 4 colossal songs that are amongst some of the best to come out of the 60's. The 3 that always leave a lasting impact on me is The End, Light My Fire and Break On Through (To The Other Side). All 3 are classic Door's songs and they showcase the fantastic vocal of Jim Morrison as well as the special instrumentation from the rest of the group. The key member for me is Ray Manzarek whose piano and organ playing makes this release stand out during a time period where everyone was making music similar to this. His work on Light My Fire is crucial to the success of the song in my opinion with that instrumental middle section being one of my favourite moments on the whole album. Despite this, there is a surprising amount of filler on here. Songs like Twentieth Century Fox and I Looked At You feel so insignificant and could be removed from the release and it would make this a better record. Overall, the outstanding songs on here lift this record up to a very high level but the filler drags it back down a little which results in a solid album.