STRANGE DAYS

Add me to the list of progsters that believe that STRANGE DAYS is an improvement over the self- titled debut. And it took me quite too long to follow up my first encounter with The Doors; about six and a half years is the gap between me getting the debut and me getting this. STRANGE DAYS made me feel like I had been missing out on something in all of those years.

I would argue that this is a proggier version of the Doors even though psychedelic music is a more proper term for the album. The span of keyboard sounds expands a bit to allow harpsichords in like on ''Moonlight Drive'' (likely influenced by SGT. PEPPER). I also get the feeling that while the tunes are still pop, The Doors stretch their sonic palette out a bit to avoid sounding ''normal''. That is, excluding the good ''Unhappy Girl'', a song that sounds like a debut leftover.

Compared to the more sunshine California happy material on the debut, STRANGE DAYS, for the most part, takes dark, twisted turns that bleed into the music. It's as if ''The End'' had sequel vignettes. The title track, ''You're Lost Little Girl'', ''People Are Strange'' and ''My Eyes Have Seen You'' are quite disturbing and creepy in presence. They all give me that cold chill down my back that you get whenever you see/hear/read something sinister yet you like it at the same time. And yet there's the snappy hit single ''Love Me Two Times'' to bring some balance.

The track that many want to know about here would be ''When the Music's Over''. It's at the end of the album and eleven minutes long, so comparison's to ''The End'' would be inevitable. ''The End'' wins for me because that track was spine-tingling and ground-breaking simultaneously; ''When the Music's Over'' is more or less a swirling jazzy jam that does climax, but not in the way ''The End'' does. A more proper comparison of this album's ender music-wise is Caravan's ''Where But For Caravan Would I?''.

STRANGE DAYS is not without its share of clunker tracks. Thankfully it's brief, but ''Horse Latitudes'' is simply awful. ''I Can't See Your Face in My Mind'' sounds too much like padding.

This album is creepy, but it's the kind of creepy that puts that evil smirk on your face and goosebumps on your arms. If you aren't sure of what I'm talking about, give this album a try and see if you get the same reaction.