The Doors - The Doors (1967), 6/10

The impact of The Doors’ debut record is undeniable. Its consistency is highly arguable, however, especially with songs like “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” or “Back Door Man” sounding entirely out of place with varying levels of individual success. The album begins with one of its strongest individual songs in “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” and the first half closes with one of the album’s other strongest singles with “Light My Fire”. Things do gradually get more interesting until the underrated “Take It as It Comes” precedes the epic and lengthy closer aptly titled “The End”. The boundless sexual energy and charisma of the album, particularly in its singles, carry much of the weight but its intermittently generic psych rock slows things down too often. Their follow up album Strange Days has far superior pacing, experiments in studio sound, and songwriting consistency. It is a hit for hardcore psychedelic fans, particularly for indulgent tracks such as “The Crystal Ship” or “End of the Night” but it is not the transcendent experiment in music that it is often touted to be. Even the ambitious closer does not stand up to some of the more interesting songs released during its time. Manzarek’s organ is refreshingly unique in the context of the band’s makeup, but again one can feel a missing piece in almost every song on this record. Morrison’s lyrics are certainly hit or miss depending on personal experience, but they generally lack substance throughout his career. Here they at least work enough to convey an electric musical experience when complemented by Krieger’s writing.