STRANGE DAYS

After their immensely successful debut album, The Doors managed to confirm with an album that is every bit as superb, but is the only album not sporting a picture of them on the artwork. Legend has it that one of the reasons for this was that Morrison was posing bare-chested and Elektra did not want it. For better (and not for worse), the artwork boasts a series of circus artistes giving it a little conceptual air, but this is not the case.

The usual short hits are again infallible (Love Me Two Times and People Are Strange), and Morrison's lyrics are intriguingly strange (Moonlight Drive and its intro, the spooky Horse Latitude), this album flows incredibly smoothly, but with fewer surprises than its predecessor. Compared to the debut, the album is not as proggy, but definitely more psychedelic. And obviously they tried to repeat their epic ending as they had so brilliantly closed on their debut, but a little sadly, they did not manage it as well. When The Music Is Over lacks the incredible drama of The End, and also its exotic feel, but still remains quite excellent, as it is more powerful.

While not as stupendous as its debut because less prog, this album flows much smoother and on the whole is just as essential as its predecessor. "So when the music is over, turn out the lights. The music is your special friend, dance on fire as it intends, music is your only friend, until the eeeeend!!! "