THE BEST OF THE DOORS

What a nice new year's present from Progarchives to have added The Doors to the list of bands we can review. I've read a lot of comments (some very rude ones) about their inclusion or not, but since they are there, let's review their GREAT work. As I have mentioned in my review of "The Doors" (their first opus), I entered their catalogue quite lately : in 1979 thanks to the Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" movie (as part of the soundtrack, the song "The End" is included).

The first CD I purchased from the Doors was this compilation. It is a WONDERFUL one. None of their hits are forgotten. This is extremely rare in compilations (if you compare with some ELO, Heep, Tull, Camel or Yes ones for instance). If you do not know "The Doors" this is an excellent entry and could (should) lead you to investigate more of their work (like I did). This one turned me into a die-hard fan. I own now their whole offical catalogue and some thirteen bootlegs or so. I am also thrilled to go and see "The Riders Of The Storms" in Antwerp pretty soon (I know this is only half The Doors, but still...). One can always argue of course of the tracklist of a compilation effort. OK, "Soul Kitchen " and "The Soft Parade" are missing (they could have include them since the double CD format would have allowed this with no problem). I also could have happilly lived without "Alabama Song - Wiskey Bar" (a song based on Bertolt Brecht's novel "Baal" which will be released by David Bowie later on as well). What is not there and should be ? Well, frankly "Back Door Man" (even if it is only a cover, it is a great rendition).

The absolute masterpiece of the band is included in its entire 11'44". About the two most contravertial sentences of the song, Jim will say, I quote "about kill the father: means destroying everything hierarchical, controlling and restrictive in one's pysche". I quote again : "about f... the mother" : means embracing everything that is expansive, flowing and alive in the psyche". The lyrics are incredible and very dark / bizarre. They are mostly spoken rather than sung. Maybe premonitory of Jim's death in 1971 ? The last lines of the song are quite explicit, I quote : "It hurts to set you free, But you'll never follow me, The end of laughter and soft lies, The end of nights we tried to die" This is the end". This song is quite hypnotic and is a great digest of their whole psychedelia.

If you are concerned by the money side, I would like to mention that there is a downsided version of this compilation fitting on one CD only (and cheaper). It lacks "When The Music Over" (and another three songs) but includes "Back door Man". So, it's up to you.

I also believe that "The Doors Boxset" (a four CD collection) should be available for review : it is a FABULOUS anthology of live and demo tracks (disc one and three), a selection of the band's favourite (disc four) and a whole CD from their concert at the Madison Square Garden in 1970. Another ESSENTIAL document is their DVD "30 Years Commemorative Edition" which is made of three sections : 1. Their last appearence on a TV show (in 1969 just after the scandal concert during which Jim will be arrested) ! 2. Some rare documents (like the clip for "The Unknown soldier" which will be censored in the US), and the mythical concert from The Hollywood Bowl (in its integrality - according to the liner notes). Hopefully it will be soon possible to review them. Five stars for this fantastic compilation of such an influent band.