{"id":746,"date":"2014-03-25T16:05:12","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T16:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/?p=746"},"modified":"2014-03-25T16:11:48","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T16:11:48","slug":"rs-409-the-doors-strange-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/?p=746","title":{"rendered":"RS #409: The Doors \u2013 Strange Days"},"content":{"rendered":"
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#409<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

The Doors,\u00a0Strange Days<\/em><\/h3>\n

Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a01967
\nPreviously Owned:\u00a0<\/strong>No
\nFirst Time Listen:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes<\/p>\n

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Man, what a perfect, weird album cover.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Impressions:\u00a0I think The Doors get kind of a bad rap– probably due to a combination of classic rock overexposure, Jim Morrison’s pretentous artiste\/drunk\/shaman clowning and maybe even a little fallout from the overbearing Oliver Stone movie. All of this overshadowed a completely underrated band that played a unique, jazzy, dramatic and, yes sometimes, pretentious style of ’60s blues rock. Time for their second album… Starts off with the ominous sound of Ray Manzarek’s\u00a0organ and John Densmore’s rumbling drums of “Strange Days,” Even from the beginning, they always tended toward the dark side of the psychedelic era with a druggy and epic sense of drama, eshewing any “flower power” hippy shit. “You’re Lost Little Girl” continues the ominous vibe, but is lightened by a really airy little guitar solo from Robbie Krieger and “People Are Strange” is a jaunty, but unsettling piano number. This album has all the problems of classic follow-up: a few\u00a0<\/span>under-baked<\/span>\u00a0songs (the dippy “Unhappy Girl”,) songs that sound like sequels to the debut (the The End-esque “When The Music’s Over”) and a few stabs at a new direction (the swooning, slide guitar “Moonlight Drive.”) \u00a0And there is also, a few eye-rolling appearances from Spoken-Word Poet Morrison like in “Horse Latitudes.” Probably, the best way to enjoy Jim Morrison is to buy into his Lizard-King schtick as a rock and roll con artist, almost like a proto-David Lee Roth, and then just enjoy the ride. Thankfully most of the songs are only 1.30-3:30 minutes long until the massive, overstuffed, doom-and-gloom 11 minute jam “When The Music’s Over,” which is menacing in a way that at the time maybe only the Rolling Stones could touch.<\/span><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Starred Songs:<\/strong>\u00a0“Strange Days,” “People Are Strange,””Love Me Two Times,””When the Music’s Over”
\nSneaky Track:\u00a0<\/strong>“Moonlight Drive”
\nShould this album be on the\u00a0list?<\/strong>\u00a0It’s close, but I’m gonna allow it for now, even though\u00a0I personally enjoy the bluesier “Morrison Hotel” more.
\nWill you listen to this again?<\/strong>\u00a0The hits, of course, will cross my ears in the future, but I could see throwing “Moonlight Drive” into the iTunes mix.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Verdict:<\/strong>\u00a0Uneven 1967 follow-up to their debut still has some really strong tracks and foreshadows the collapse of the psychedelic era.<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u26051\/4<\/p>\n