Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

MORRISON HOTEL

The Doors

Proto-Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

The Doors Morrison Hotel album cover
3.38 | 388 ratings | 30 reviews | 20% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

Write a review

Buy THE DOORS Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Studio Album, released in 1970

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Roadhouse Blues (4:04)
2. Waiting for the Sun (4:00)
3. You Make Me Real (2:53)
4. Peace Frog (2:50)
5. Blue Sunday (2:12)
6. Ship of Fools (3:08)
7. Land Ho! (4:10)
8. Spy (4:17)
9. Queen of the Highway (2:47)
10. Indian Summer (2:35)
11. Maggie McGill (4:24)

Total Time 37:20

Bonus tracks on 2007 remaster/remix:
12. Talking Blues (0:59)
13. Roadhouse Blues (11/4/69, takes 1-3) (8:47)
14. Roadhouse Blues (11/4/69, take 6) (9:26)
15. Carol (11/4/69) (0:56)
16. Roadhouse Blues (11/5/69, take 1) (4:32)
17. "Money Beats Soul" (11/5/69) (1:04)
18. Roadhouse Blues (11/5/69, takes 13-15) (6:21)
19. Peace Frog (false starts & dialogue) (2:00)
20. The Spy (version 2) (3:48)
21. Queen of the Highway (jazz version) (3:36)

Line-up / Musicians

- Jim Morrison / vocals, maracas, tambourine
- Ray Manzarek / Vox Continental (4,6,7,10), Gibson G-101 organ (2,5), piano (1,8), tack piano (3,8), Hammond C3 (11), RMI Electra-Piano (2), Rock-Si-Chord (2,9), Wurlitzer (9), Fender Rhodes (10), Moog Modular synth (2)
- Robby Krieger / guitars
- John Densmore / drums

With:
- John Sebastian (as "G. Puglese") / harmonica (1)
- Lonnie Mack / bass (1,11)
- Ray Neopolitan / bass (2-10)

Releases information

Artwork: Gary Burden with Henry Diltz (photo)

LP Elektra - EKS-75007 (1970, US)

CD Elektra - EKS 75007-2 (1984, Germany)
CD Elektra - EKS 75007-2 (1988, US) Remastered by Paul A. Rothchild and Bruce Botnick
CD Elektra - 62434-2E (1999, US) Remastered by Bernie Grundman and Bruce Botnick
CD Elektra - R2 101173 (2007, US) Remixed & remastered by Bruce Botnick with 10 bonus tracks

Numerous LP and CD reissues

Thanks to erik neuteboom for the addition
and to NotAProghead for the last updates
Edit this entry

Buy THE DOORS Morrison Hotel Music



THE DOORS Morrison Hotel ratings distribution


3.38
(388 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of rock music(20%)
20%
Excellent addition to any rock music collection(39%)
39%
Good, but non-essential (34%)
34%
Collectors/fans only (6%)
6%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

THE DOORS Morrison Hotel reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by clarke2001
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars From the progressive rock point of view, the only songs worth mentioning are "Waiting For The Sun" and "Blue Sunday". Other notable tracks are "Peace Frog", "Ship Of Fools" and "Indian Summer". The rest of the tracks are just average rock songs, save for the excellent lyrics. "Roadhouse Blues" is overrated, over-played awful tune with mediocre lyrics too. ("You Make Me Real" is at least 100 times more energetic and sincere). If they decided to gave to the "Roadhouse Blues" a role of the album opener, than it's not difficult to conclude that this album is not among the best band's efforts.

However, it's homogeneous, mature and decent enough; actually it's not bad; it's just not following the standard of other Doors' album. There are more than a few good rock grooves scattered all over the record, but that is not enough to shine. Actually, the full name of this record is "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe", where "Morrison Hotel" is representing A-side of the vinyl, but there are no traces of hard rock music on "Hard Rock Cafe" side. The rest of the tracks are not bad, but they sound a little bit derived from band's previously released songs. So, this not bad album, but it's not very demanding neither.

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
2 stars 2.5 stars really!!!

After the largely negative reviews of the previous TSP, the group went back a bit to basics, and this is why many Doors purist think highly of this album. Yes, a return to blues- derived rock, but unfortunately their music became much less challenging as well. Even the artwork becomes uninteresting with sordid pictures and a rather bland inner gatefold, the group is playing much more energetically than in the previous two albums, but this is hardly enough to save it and make it anything more than a good album.

Tracks like Roadhouse Blues (an instant live favourite), Waiting For the Sun (not on its album) Peace Frog and Maggie Mc Gill are the highlights in a rather even album, but those highlights are not really summit in the group's discography. Side those, the rest of the album flows, but glows not. Clearly Morrison was simply losing interest (and he had many legal worries as well as being completely bored out of his mind) and he was dragging the rest of the group with him. Vastly over-rated by Doors purists, this album is probably the least essential to progheads.

Review by Seyo
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Although "Morrison Hotel" is clearly overrated as time passes by, I am personally very attached to it. If my memory serves me well, this was my first LP record that I bought personally, out of my own pocket money, in or around 1980, when I was a high school adolescent. At that time I even did not have a gramophone (turntable) to play it, but I nevertheless wanted to have this record. I was very attracted by the cover photographs of band members and having it in my collection almost guaranteed success in taking a girl on a date while talking about Morrison and THE DOORS. "Roadhouse Blues" was an obligatory repertoire on the local radio stations and discotheques so that the mere fact of owning a copy of this LP meant that you passed the test of loyalty when entering the club of teenage "hipsters".

In retrospect, the album didn't age well and now its flaws are evident. Still, "Waiting For the Sun", "Peace Frog", "Blue Sunday", "The Spy" and "Maggie McGill" are strong compositions in line with some earlier best moments, combining blues-rock foundation with mystical psyche arrangements and lyrics. Overall, the album bears a sort of semi-concept nature of dealing with "on the road" themes, starting with the cover pictures and including narratives of both physical, territorial and inner, spiritual travels. I always felt a connection with American literature and film classics like Kerouac, Shepard, Steinback or "Easy Rider" in depicting the life of the American Southwest, which is of course augmented by Morrison's druggy poems.

"Morrison Hotel" is not an essential album in THE DOORS' discography and even less interesting for the prog rock community. But I would do wrong should I give it anything less than 3 stars.

Review by Guillermo
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars This is a more "American Rock" album than "The Soft Parade", IMO. It is better, the band played better. As a previous reviewer wrote, this album was divided in the Side One with the subtitle "Hard Rock Cafe", and the Side Two with the subtitle "Morrison Hotel".

"Hard Rock Cafe":

"Roadhouse Blues": a good song for starting an album, with lyrics which reflect,IMO, the Rock lifestyle for many musicians: "I woke up this morning and got myself a beer". It seems that it was inspired by Morrison`s lifestyle and by friend Alice Cooper`s lifestyle. The harmonica in this song is played by John B. Sebastian (credited on the back cover as "G. Puglese").

"Waiting for the Sun": I think that this song was first recorded for the album of the same name but not included there for reasons unknown. It is one of the best from this album, IMO.

"You Make Me Real": released as a single, it has a good piano and a good guitar riff.

"Peace Frog" / "Blue Sunday": both songs are linked. "Peace Frog" has very good guitar riffs. "Blue SundaY" is a ballad.

"Ship of Fools": another of my favourite songs from this album.

"Morrison Hotel":

"Land Ho!":Another good song with good guitar parts.

"The Spy": an atmospheric song with good piano parts and sexual lyrics.

"Queen of the Highway": a song inspired by Morrison`s girlfriend. He also shows in this song his love for the young people of his country.

"Indian Summer": my favourite song from this album. Manzarek uses the keyboard bass in this song. This song has good atmospheres, IMO.

"Maggie McGill": one of the best from this album, full of guitars, and few keyboards parts.

IMO, this is the most "American Rock Sound" album from this band. Morrison`s vocals still sound good. The quality of his vocals for the next album was not the same. The arrangements are very good, the same happens with the recording and the mixing. The cover art is also very good and original.

Review by Chicapah
PROG REVIEWER
1 stars Anyone who has ever read any of the various biographies about this band and/or their lead singer knows that by the time the group recorded "Morrison Hotel" the once- charismatic and supremely talented frontman of The Doors was a physical, emotional and mental wreck. It's not a stretch to say that the former sultry, sexy poster boy had been reduced to being the equivalent of a pathetic street rummy lying in the filthy gutter outside the studio. Hard to fathom but, by all credible accounts, it's absolutely true. I do believe the band members were doing their level best to compensate for Jim's unbearable habits but, by all accounts, were now just babysitters for him. Hardly a day passed when Morrison was not drunk or stoned out of his gourd and it shows through on every cut of this recording. "The future's uncertain and the end is always near" he slurs as if to justify his eat, drink and make merry because tomorrow we die attitude. By now his destructive habits had become more important to him than his art and he now and forever stands as a prime example of the stark reality and ultimate tragedy of addiction. The musical performances are decent enough throughout the album but without Jim's arrestingly poetic lyrics and rich baritone the fantastic meld of words and music they had stunned the world with from the beginning this collection of songs is a disaster. There is only one moment when the truth of their dire situation rings out and that's on "Waiting for the Sun" when Morrison tells us that he's waiting for us to come along with him and "waiting for you to tell me what went wrong" (as if he'd even listen to the truth at that point). To me this is the absolute rock bottom for the group and every time I hear "Roadhouse Blues" start up on the oldies station I feel a pang of sadness run through my heart.
Review by memowakeman
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars Yes, their worst...

Well, after having review they previous 4 albums, i have to start saying that for me (personally) this Morrison Hotel was the album when they tried to return to a harder sound remembering all their roots (blues, rock and psych), but for me they failed, luckily they released another wonder after this album, but as my personal point of view, this album was a complete failure in their will to return to the fanīs hearts as they did with their first two albums.

Actually this album has success, due to the first song "Roadhouse Blues" which is a hymn and which every person know or at least have listened, this song is the hit of the album and the one that "saves" it, in the good sense of the word and commercially talking.

So it was 1970 when "Morrison Hotel" was released, after so many weird problems within Kimīs mind and body, and with a degree of insconstancy. As i said above, the opener song here is the powerful bluesy song "Roadhouse Blues" itīs great and everybody loves it, also made to sing i think. "Waiting for the Sun" is another good track that you might like and if you wan a Doors the best of, probably you will find it there, good song excellent guitars and a very melodic voice, strange that they recorded here a song with the same name as a previous album.

"You Make me Real" is a horrible song, Jimīs voice is stronger but it doesnīt sound that good, this song is another kind of blues, but a bad blues. "Peace Frog" is a song that i personally enjoy, it has good rythm, nice guitar solos and an average keyboard playing, good song and good lyrics, probably one of the best songs here. "Blue Sunday" is a short piece, and with a very soft sound, kind of ballad the best thing here is Jimīs voice which sounds delicated, but the song itself is not really good, though is not their worst. "Ship of Fools" is a keyboard driven song, i happen to enjoy this album just because i love The Doors, but i think their worst bunch of songs were placed here, this is another average song but that keyboard sound could give it an extra point. "Land Ho!" sounds as a happy song since the beginning, i imagine a TV show about pirates or something, silly i think. "Spy" is another song, which despite itīs soft sound, it has a bluesy feeling, good piano work, nothing more.

"Queen of the Highway" is a favorite song here, it reminds me of a girl, so here i have personal issues haha, the song is actually not bad, i like the lyrics and the mysterious musical sound. "Indian Summer" is a song very slow and with a nice delicate sound, it reminds me a bit of The End, and i think this song is full of a mind trip. "Maggie McGill" is the last song of this album and thi returns to a harder sound, the song is not that complex and the sound is very catchy.

So, my personal feeling, this album is not that bad, but for me is their worst, or at least the less that i enjoy, musically it doesnīt have the same creative and weird songs which placed their personal touch and own sound of their first albums, so for that reasons, i think anybody could be interested with this just because Roadhouse Blues, but actually you might be dissapointed with the whole album, so for 2 stars, just for fans!

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Not a bad record but certainly not one of their best.

"Roadhouse Blues" is the perfect song to start this record off, opening with piano and harmonica with the guitar helping to keep the rhythm. It's pretty hard not to like this bluesy number.There are some memorable lyrics in this song as well."Waiting For The Sun" is both psychedelic and spacey at times with some tasteful guitar.

"Peace Frog" is an uptempo, catchy tune with a nice guitar solo. "Blue Sunday" slows things down and Jim's vocals are relaxed and the soundscape is dreamy. "Ship Of Fools" is an infectious song with some good guitar. "Land Ho !" is catchy with some good guitar melodies. And I like the instrumental parts in "Queen Of The Highway".

Nothing even remotely complex here but some good melodic tunes for your listening pleasure.

Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars The Doors could only produced a better album after the boring and incomprehensively poor "The Soft Parade". It leans more towards the blues genre which was deeply investagated on stage.

"Roadhouse Blues" is a very good opener. IMO it is precursory of "L.A. Woman" (the track). A brilliant and very strong blues number. One of my preferred song on this album is "Waiting For The Sun". It should have been the title track of their third album but I do not know why it was not featured there. It has some psyche flavour and sounds very nice.

The rock'n'roll "You Make Me Real" sis outdated (but it IS of course an old song). It is an almost revival number : Jerry Lee Lewis is not far away. Still it is not bad a track but nothing essential of course.

"Blue Sunday" is a nice rock ballad. Manzarek displaying a nice keyboard sound and Krieger being outstanding in his guitar work. Jim is very subtle and calm. As if he was completely normal...

Still, the problems with him are really complex to manage for the trio. Extravanganza on stage made them famous of course, but there was always a (huge) risk of deviation with Jim. He was not really nice with the fans. He had maybe forgotten that without them, The Doors would not have reached stardom so fast. A rather weird (but a genious) character to handle.

The next two songs on this album will be good rocking tunes. Nothing outstanding, nothing truely memorable. But after the disastrous "Soft Parade" they almost sound as great numbers to my ears. "Ship Of Fools" and "Land Ho!" are of that vein.

Two bluesy numbers will follow : "The Spy" is not as good ""Roadhouse Blues". Just a filler. "Queen Of The Highway" on the contrary is a good number. From a pure blues song it evolves into a rather catchy tempo during the second half. The next and short "Indian Summer" is another very quiet song. The wild side of the band has gone (at least in the studio).

The closing number "Maggie M'Gill" is another good song. It sounds more like a traditional Doors song. It might well be the best number here (at least it is my fave).

This album does not contain the crappy numbers of its predecessor which is a good news. But you won't get a lot of great Doors songs either. This album is not for newbies of the band. Only for confirmed fans. These ones (like myself) might give it a spin once in a while (but not too often, let's be honest). Too monotonous really. There is of course nothing prog in here. Three stars.

Review by The T
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars The Doors had a lot to do in 1970 in order to recover themselves from the musical disaster that was THE SOFT PARADE. After such a weak album, the band was not allowed to record another like it again lest would they lose all the little credibility they still had. Not only that but they really had to come with a good record, one that proved that the talent that gave birth to THE DOORS or STRANGE DAYS wasn't gone forever. After all, that was the impression that their fourth, atrocious 1969 recording left in most people.

And achieving this goal was not easy task, considering the circumstances. If while recording THE SOFT PARADE the band had little time to write songs out of the studio, they had even less going into their fifth album. So, once again, they would have to create music the way many other groups have always done: in a rush, in the studio, professionally. When I say this what I mean is that the songs had to be written due to their obligation to record an album, not because the songs were composed and there was a need to assemble a vinyl LP with them. They had to write music for commercial, contractual reasons, not just for the love of it. And we all know that Jim Morrison was not the best character to work with, as his behavior was problematic at best and catastrophic at worst. His drinking was already leaving physical and vocal signs on him. Really, to wait for a full "recovery" album was quite naïve, to say the least.

Yet they somehow did it, if partially at least. First of all, the infamous Krieger's strings and horns and brasses are all but gone from MORISSON HOTEL. The band was slowly returning to their roots, to be a rock band, not a weird soft-radio act. Some songs even return to the sound of the first two albums, and even Morrison, as incredible as this may sound, seems like a little bit more focused when singing and writing his lyrics, which once again seem like the work of someone with a poet, not a drunkard, inside.

The album is not a true success, as some tracks are weak and the whole thing feels uneven, but let's go into detail with the songs. Let me say a word about the Rhino Records 2007 re-issue, though: as with the preceding 4 albums, MORRISON HOTEL now sound crystal-clear, many sounds that weren't there now present and in-your-ear. Morrison seems to be singing next to you. The change is not as big as in the first 4 albums, though, and the actual improvement of the re-mix over the older editions is not that high. The extra tracks are forgettable, as they consist of multiple takes (more than 20 minutes of takes!) of "Roadhouse Blues", plus a jazz version of "Queen of the Highway" (which is surprisingly attractive), a more intimate version of "The Spy" (nothing essential), a one-minute take called "Money Beats Soul" (Morrison talking nonsense), another ridiculous "song" called "Carol" (one minute of weak rock'n'roll), and a false-start version of "Peace Frog". All in all, the weakest of the re-mix versions in terms of extras and improvement over the old ones.

Roadhouse Blues (8.5/10) If you're one of the five rock-fans that haven't heard this song, well, probably you actually HAVE, you just didn't know its name or who sung it. I'm not a devoted fan of this song, but we have to give credit to the band for opening the album with a good blues-rock track after the cataclysm that was "Tell all the People". And for a blues-rock track (which is not my favorite kind of songs, hence my problems with it), it's quite a gem.

Waiting for the Sun (10/10) The first notes sound like a miracle: The Doors have come back! A dark, eerie figure followed by a strong statement, and then a chorus with psychedelia and narcotics, a chorus that gets repeated over time until it Morrison, exhausted, finally confesses that "this is the strangest life I've ever known". Couldn't be closer to the truth. After a whole album with no true great songs, they have arisen again. Great. One of my favorites in their whole catalogue.

You make me real (7.5/10) The start of this song sounds like the band was in a saloon with an old piano and a weird pianist entertaining the quite savage crowd. An entertaining song, not fantastic but enjoyable.

Peace Frog (9.5/10) Krieger's ridiculous riff gets the support of Densmore's hi-hat and Manzarek's fingers, while Morrison sings one of the more mix-it-all lyrics ever, speaking about recent events, about Miami, about his childhood experience with the Indian accident in the highway (which marked him for life, as he said and this song proves).The bridge is so great, so rhythmical, as is this whole track, pure rhythm. Fantastic. It blend with no pause with.

Blue Sunday (8/10) In contrast, this song is so quiet, Morrison and keys, very romantic, but in the weird, dark way that Morrison used to describe his abnormal-yet- ultimately-idyllical relation with Pamela Courson. Little pretty song.

Ship of Fools (6.5/10) The jazzy, rhythmically-interesting beginning leads the way to a more normal song, not particularly great nor particularly bad, but mediocre, and the first one that almost reminds us of the nightmares we suffered with THE SOFT PARADE, though only barely so.

Land Ho! (7/10) An absurd song, with a marching, relentless rhythm and some country overtones to it, always bluesy (it's no secret the passion Morrison felt towards the blues genre). Near the end it gets more joyful (yes this IS a joyful song, something rather unusual for The Doors). And the rarest thing: it doesn't feel like deceiving happiness, but true, full-spirited joy.

The Spy (6.5/10) The blues strikes again, now much more subdued, calmed, quiet, personal. I don't like this kind of song that much, but it's not really a bad track, just slightly mundane.

Queen of the Highway (8/10) Rock again, and Morrison's love again, too. He talks about his love and about him, in the usual negative way that he always used when he was talking about himself ("he was a monster, black dressed in leather"). The contrast between the queen and the monster is not musical, as the song is quite straight- forward rock, though with the magic that Manzarek's keyboards were capable of provide. Good song.

Indian Summer (7/10) The guitar line here is almost the same as in some parts of "The End", though the song itself is nothing like it. A very sedated, exhausted finish to a rather uneven journey, one that started well and ended in a neutral way, nothing to get too excited about, nothing to complain too furiously about. The final song will bring the album back to its roots.

Maggie M'Gill (6/10) MORRISON HOTEL started with blues and ended with blues- flavored rock, with the characteristic that this tracks sounds like a poor man's version of "Five to One" from WAITING FOR THE SUN. Not a bad track, but nothing new. The album ends without a bang. After the two superb finishes for the first two albums ("The End" and "When the Music's Over"), the excellent conclusion of the third one ("Five to One"), the awkward but effective finish to the otherwise atrocious fourth album ("The Soft Parade"), The Doors fails to live up to their tradition of closing their albums in style. But they would have chance to do it again in their last album, and in such a way that it would almost surpass their first to outings.

The album started very well, got to brink of brilliancy, but, sadly, halfway down it descended to the threshold of mediocrity. Never falling so down as to reach THE SOFT PARADE's level, it's a good listen and, anyway, a good quasi-resurrection for the band.

Recommended for: Fans of The Doors, fans of good classic rock with strong blues influences.

Not recommended for: People expecting a true return to the form of the first two albums or even of the third one.

.Morrison once sung: "cancel my subscription to the resurrection". It seems that the subscription wasn't cancelled, as their next output would be almost like a second coming for the band. Sadly, the cancellation proceeded immediately afterwards, for the band and us fans' loss.

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars A three star hotel

With The Doors having appeared to be treading water on their previous two albums, the omens were perhaps concerning when the needle hit the vinyl for the first time on "Morrison Hotel". "Road house blues" is an orthodox blues which is very reminiscent of Bob Hite's work with Canned Heat around the same time. It is a fine performance make no mistake, but it has the sound of a band in full regression.

The mood quickly changes though for the west coast psychedelia of "Waiting for the sun" (curiously omitted from the album of that name), with its heavy guitar riffs alternating with the light organ sounds. The repetitive pop chorus is very much of its time. A change of style again for "You make me real", a straight forward rock and roll song, not unlike Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" in fact. The fourth style in four tracks is in the form of the funky "Peace frog", with its rather strange brief poetry section midway. No sooner has that leaped away, but we are into an easy listening ballad, "Blue Sunday". It's only when we get to "Ship of fools" that the diversity of sound is effectively put on hold, as we encounter a pretty standard Doors track, with little to distinguish it.

Things settle down on side two of the album, with more prosaic Doors offerings, such as the soft shuffle of "The spy" ("I'm a spy in the house of love, I know the dreams that you're dreaming of"). "Indian Summer" is a hauntingly delivered sparse number demonstrating, perhaps one last time, Morrison's ability to deliver such a song. The closing "Maggie McGill" has an infectious shuffle beat and some fine guitar and organ interplay.

From a prog perspective, "Morrison Hotel" is perhaps a step backwards for the Doors. It does not for example display their proto- prog credentials or influence to any great extent. Indeed by the time it was released, prog has become a fully formed genre, arguably leaving bands such as the Doors behind. With this in mind, the album can be seen as a pleasant diversion, which offers a fine diversity of sounds, but offers little of genuine relevance.

Review by The Whistler
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Oh boy, what a ham this Jimminy Morrison dude is. I can't believe he opened a hotel with his own name, just for the damn album cover... Oh, wait, that's a real hotel? Holy crap, I want one! A Whistler Hotel, naturally, I already got me a Morrison one.

Naturally, that's in the form of this album. An interesting album this is. It's like, after hearing the previous two albums, suddenly Jim woke up out of his drunken and/or stoned stupor (heh heh, yeah right), and said, "Wait a second! We're the Doors! We're not some sissy symphonic outfit, we're a BLOOZ band brutha! Robbie, bring me my whiskey, I'm havin' a nic fit!"

Okay, that event was fictionalized...probably. But I do like Jim Morrison, and I do like the blues, and I do like this album. And the meshing of Morrison and blues is perhaps no finer than on "Roadhouse Blues," the best track on the album. A real toe tappin', discriminately head bangin' bit o' blooz, with a particularly killer guitar solo (one of, if not his absolute, best) and not bad pianer and harmonica work. They lyrics are (unintentionally, perhaps) amusing, particularly the final verse. Words to live by Jim.

Or maybe I spoke too soon, maybe "Waiting for the Sun" is the best song on the album. The interplay between the stately keyboards and the boozy, bloozy guitar is, in a word, perfect. And the medieval melody is pretty good too, dig that descending bridge.

Unfortunately, nothing past this point ever lives up to either of the first two songs, but it's all still good. "You Make Me Real" is certainly fun, a piece of fast paced piano blues, and some more solid guitar soloing in the center. "Peace Frog" is pretty whacky. The glee with which Jim sings about that blood in the streets? I dunno. Cool wah-wahs though, and catchy and well built regardless.

Unfortunately, it bleeds right into "Blue Sunday," a fairly ineffective ballad of some form. Totally melodyless, skip it. But "Ship of Fools" brings us back on track. Again, like "Peace Frog," some fairly dark lyrics are recanted with carefree joy. Catchy as hell too, I love that little turn partway through the verse.

"Land Ho!" is kinda goofy, but still fun (who can forget the dorky but cool guitar intro?) I love the lyrics as it closes. A little more interesting, and certainly deeper, is "The Spy." The anti-thesis to "You Make Me Real," it's a slow paced, lingering piano blues. Sounds kinda sleazy, don't it? Just wait for that booming, moody part that closes the verse. Sounds kinda spooky, don't it? Cool.

However, "Queen of the Highway" does not impress me one bit. The intro is kind of familiar ("People are Strange?"), the lyrics can be stupid ("He was a monster, black dressed in leather?"), and it doesn't really do too much with its meager existence. Worse still is "Indian Summer," another tuneless ballad. It's prettier than "Blue Sunday" perhaps, but no more memorable.

But luckily for us, the album closer is a far superior product, "Maggie M'Gill." It's only four minutes long, but it feels so...epic. Maybe it's because it starts like a fable ("Maggie M'Gill, she lived on a hill"). Or maybe it's that part in the middle where all the instruments fall away for a second, and then it starts up again, less lush but more focused, gives the song some aesthetic grounding. Or maybe it's those lyrics again; the first part is sung with the usual gusto, but the second half (after the break) is sung in a tired way ("I'm an old blues man, I've been singing the blues since before the world began."). I dunno. Dig it man, it's cool. Progressive blues at its best, right up there with the live version of "Rocks on the Road."

Of course, I can't call the album perfect, or exactly a masterpiece. There's a little bit of flak, mostly on the second side, not to mention those two "ballads." And Sometimes Jim sounds a little TOO wasted for his own good. But still, the Doors were more than Jim, right? Anyone who thinks that they were just good for keyboards oughta listen to this, Robbie Krieger belts out some pretty cool stuff ("Roadhouse Blues," "Peace Frog"). And of course, everyone else is in top form too. Perhaps not always glistening gods, but there's nothing wrong with the subtle approach when it's done right. And here, it's done right ("The Spy").

As I said before, I like the Doors, and I like the blues. Ergo, I like this album. I must, I seem to have analyzed it WAY more than a lot of other albums. Oh well, sue me. Unless, of course, you also happen to like arty blooz, particularly when spilled out of Jim Morrison's mouth. If so, get this album instead. You'll like it too.

(Okay, first things first. This remaster ROCKS, literally. All the album songs have been given major retunings and extensions and the like, which makes me wonder if my review of Strange Days was in all fairness...oh well. In general, it makes the album a little bouncier and more echoey, so you'll have to decide for yourself if it's lighter or darker. But the bonus tracks man, alright alright alright! There are enough versions of "Roadhouse Blues" on this thing that, when added up, false starts and all, equals...lemme see...a crapload of regular versions put together. There are three in all, but even the shortest is still somewhat longer than the first. Different soloing, different keyboards, different Jimbo using different voices (and pitches!). If you (like me) dig blooz jams, then stick around. My personal fave is the second, "Roadhouse Blues Take 6." The keyboard is an organ, and it's the longest of the lot. Which means that "Roadhouse" finally becomes an epic. Not that it's got different sections and the like, but I mean, it just cooks. Speeding up and slowing down? Jim screaming and cooing? A blues epic through and through. Other than that, there's some more screwing about with the blooz ("Talking Blues," "Carol" and "Money Beats Soul") incorporated into the Roadhousery. And tacked onto the end is a chunk of "Peace Frog" that's hilarious (dig the Jim banter); the best non-"Roadhouse" bit is an alternative version of "The Spy," which sort of spoils the mood by being lighter, but the ominous build at the end saves it. Dig the extended riff. Oh, and, a STRANGE version of "Queen of the Highway," a lounge jazz take. Never a big fan of the song, so maybe it's better here. Anyway, I feel there's enough material here to raise the rating to a 4.5, even if only for archival purposes.)

Review by friso
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Most listeners of psychedelic rock legends The Doors prefer the first two albums, but I could never have guessed that from my own listening experience. To me 'Morrison Hotel' represents The Doors at a total song-writing winning streak, with only the comedic 'Land Ho!' being a bit of a lesser song. The band rocks out with great melodic blues rock songs and enchants with gothic blues songs like 'Blue Sunday' and 'Indian Summer'. Jim Morrison sings soulful and tasteful throughout and I find it shocking to hear how much his voice deteriorated a year later with 'L.A. Woman'. The song 'Waiting For The Sun' is a psychedelic highlight of the band. The band offers a few up-tempo rock songs like 'You Make me Real', 'Peace Frog' and 'Queen of the Highway', all highly enjoyable songs - though not of great interest to psychedelic fanatics. For me this is simply one of the better albums from the sixties (though released in 1970) and I think a lot of music fans should shake of frequented opinions and re-evaluate this fine record.
Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "Morrisson Hotel" is the 5th full-length studio album by rock act The Doors. After what many fans (not me though) consider to be the weakest Doors album "The Soft Parade (1969)", The Doors returned in 1970 with a more straight forward sounding album without the inclusion of brass and strings. Features that in many peopleīs opinion had scarred "The Soft Parade (1969)".

The music on "Morrisson Hotel" is again in the trademark bluesy psychadelic rock style that The Doors had such great success with on the first three albums but with an emphasis on the blues. Songs like "Roadhouse Blues" (well thatīs kinda self- explanatory right?) and "Spy" are very bluesy in style but there are also plenty of psychadelic influenced pop/ rock tracks on the album. Standout tracks are the above mentioned "Roadhouse Blues" and of course "Waiting For The Sun" but as ususal on all Doors albums even the more average songs are of a high quality.

The production is excellent. Organic and professional. The best sound quality on a Doors album up until then.

"Morrisson Hotel" is the fifth high quality album in a row from The Doors and I canīt give less than a 4 star (80%) rating for this excellent album.

Review by Bonnek
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars After the decline into the overwrought arrangements and average material of The Soft Parade, someone or something must have kicked this band back into shape. The song writing hasn't much ado anymore with the psychedelic and proto-prog leanings of the previous albums, instead this is a back to basics album. But thankfully, the heap of human misery called Jim Morison put in one chilling delivery after another on this rough and powerful album.

There's two ways to approach this album. The first is to hear nothing but awfully dated straightforward blues rock in a song like Roadhouse Blues. The other is to let yourself get carried away on its dead-catchy guitar riff and take in all the raw emotion and pain that Jim Morison put into his vocals here. You already concluded from my rating which way I turn, though I admit I tended to look the other way when I first heard this album. Waiting for the Sun is the best song they recorded since their album Strange Days 3 years earlier. It combines their big new sound and energy with the earlier psychedelic elements.

You Make Me Real offers the same options as the opener. You will either be appalled by the rockabilly clichés that have replaced their earlier sophistication or you will simply pull your loved one out of the sofa and twist your living room to pieces. Don't forget the bottle of champagne to pour over yourselves. That will be quite the party!

Peace Frog has a similar vibe. Uplifting and energizing music with sexy bluesy vocals. The opening bars are almost Smells Like Teen Spirit. Blue Sunday is the first song that quiets down the pace, it's a delicate and slightly romantic ballad with very rich melodies. Also Ship Of Fools is an inspired song, be it slightly out of date compared to the innovation that raged through the rock scene around that time. Next on is Land Ho!, now can you possibly resist this funny tune? There is no other band that can sound so blissful and sinister at the same time.

On first sight, The Spy is nothing but a loungy blues-jazz tune but again the melodies are strong and gripping. It confirms that The Doors intended to have not one filler track on this album. Queen of the Highway undermines that intension. It's not bad but weaker then the songs around it. Indian Summer sounds like a 2.30 minute remake of The End from the debut but it works a lot better then the overblown pathos of the original. Maggie M'Gill ends the album like it began, with a harsh blues-rock song.

4 Solid Stars, no arguing about it. It easily tops the debut in my book. And did I mention how powerful and intense it is?

Review by Rune2000
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars After two uneven releases towards the end of the '60s the Doors reloaded their inspiration cannon for another round and re-emerged with another good release in the beginning of the '70s.

Although Morrison Hotel might not be the pinnacle of this band's short career it was non-the-less a turn for the better. The band showed definite signs of maturity in their sound where most of their early indulgence in psychedelic music have now been replaced with groovy Blues-Rock material. This transformation is a bit of a hit and miss for me since on one hand I acknowledge and appreciate the band's progression but this material is ultimately not entirely to my liking.

The album features quite a few highlights like the energetic Roadhouse Blues and the satirical Land Ho! but non of them impresses me to the level that the band showed on their two 1967-releases. I like that the band decided to leave all the unnecessary music arrangements behind them for the first stripped down the Doors album that sounds like a four piece band effort from the beginning to the very end. A few instances put much more emphasis on the Blues sound than Rock which makes for some forgettable material but it never goes overboard in the exploration of the Blues sound although Spy does come close.

For all its ups and downs Morrison Hotel manages to remain afloat all the way to the last performance which constitutes in a solid good, but non-essential rating on my part.

**** star songs: Roadhouse Blues (4:07) Waiting For The Sun (4:02) You Make Me Real (2:54) Peace Frog (2:57) Land Ho! (4:14) Queen Of The Highway (2:52) Indian Summer (2:37) Maggie McGill (4:22)

*** star songs: Blue Sunday (2:11) Ship Of Fools (3:17) Spy (4:21)

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars It seems The Doors took the criticism of The Soft Parade to heart and decided to make a "back to basics" album to follow it up with. The result is a shot in the arm for the band; whilst Morrison Hotel is not an essential Doors album, it does include several excellent songs, with just enough of a progressive edge (especially on the foreboding Waiting For The Sun) to show that they hadn't given up entirely on sonic experimentation. Jim Morrison sounds confident and full of vigour in a way he never was on The Soft Parade, and the band's sound is greatly improved by the loss of the string and horn sections from that album. A successful return from the brink.
Review by Prog Sothoth
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars After the apt title The Soft Parade, The Door's flaccid mojo needed some risin', thus the band ditched the horns, strings and epics for a more streamlined rock effort. So the band cranked up the volume a bit and pumped this puppy out in a relatively short time. Armed with a strong opening track, the band got their groove back, if not completely. Jim's ramblings embraced sex, love, drugs, violence and traveling on the road, but the results weren't exactly the film Easy Rider. They were more like Fritz The Cat. In fact, Jim himself came across like Fritz, waxing poetic street philosophy while thriving in debauchery and occasionally losing control of himself and the events around him. Still, there's some seriously good material to enjoy here.

"Roadhouse Blues" alone displayed a renewed vibrancy to the band, more muscle and tighter with a cool Krieger solo to boot. Jim's vocals are alive and animated, being the sort of subject matter he knows about all too well. Nice work by that Lovin' Spoonful guy on harmonica as well. It remains an FM staple for good reason, and its aged better than a lot of their material.

"Waiting For The Sun" is a different animal, but no less excellent. It's a throwback to the album of the same name with its psychedelic flavor and fuzz-toned guitar. This song actually should have been considered for Waiting For The Sun. Bump out the bland "We Should Be So Good Together" and tack this one in and the results would have greatly improved their third album. It balances out the gorgeous mellow verses with acid rock quite well.

The album heads south in quality a bit for "You Make Me Real", which is a decent if average blues number. It does have some energy to it keep this ship afloat.

"Peace Frog" brings back the greatness with its hard funky guitar (love the way the guitar solo begins, sweeeeet) strumming and driving pace. Jim's lyrics are particularly dark here, which continues that funny aspect of The Door's matching depressing lyrics with bouncy happy music ("People Are Strange" being the prime example). The song suddenly segues into "Blue Sunday", which is a pretty enough ballad but in the end hurts the previous track by being literally attached to it.

"Ship Of Fools" and "Land Ho!" are fun songs that again combine the dark with the light, forming two interesting tracks that may not be 'prog' as such, but certainly have creativity and fine musicianship.

"Spy" was a grower. I used to find the song too long and somewhat a bore, but I eventually realized just how creepy this song was, and admired it as a slinky stalking snake of a tune. It's an eerie number with a sense of danger to it.

"Queen Of The Highway" is unfortunately a dud with its corny lyrics and music that screamed 'filler'. Jim sounds a bit tired, battling ennui and generally awkward for this number.

"Indian Summer" is better, an ethereal trippy ballad with a production and Eastern guitar inflections that would have suited their first album quite well. Atmospheric and capped with a top notch vocal delivery, this is one of those little Doors gems I don't hear often but appreciate.

The album ends with "Maggie McGill", another straight up blues rocker with a weathered Jim howling out his "gettin' it on' musings. It's good, but easily the least impressive final cut off any of their albums, which tended to be epic and bombastic.

Morrison Hotel is not their finest moment, but I do consider it one of their better releases, and an important one at that since it gave new life to the band, if for only a short while.

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars "Save Our City!"

"Morrison Hotel" is a rather subdued album from The Doors that has some forgettable material, among two classic songs, and these classics shine strongly and are indispensable treasures of rock. One of these treasures is the wonderful sing-alongaholic 'Roadhouse Blues'. Many versions of this have been recorded since, one of my favourites being blind guitar great Jeff Healey and heard in the movie "Roadhouse". The line "Woke up this morning and I got myself a beer" is one of the more fun lines that crowds love to yell out in concerts I have attended when this song is covered, also the section that says "Save our city!" It is a great song with Morrison at his best ad lobbing and having a ball. After this the album tends to bog down into some rather pedestrian rock unfortunately. A standout though is definitely 'Ship Of Fools' with some fascinating lyrics; "The human race was dying out, No one left to scream and shout, People walking on the moon, Smog will get you pretty soon, Everyone was hanging out."

The other classic is the creepy 'Peace Frog' that features an interlude of Morrison's dark poetry; "Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding, Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind." A lot of commentators believed Jim was possessed by Indian spirits, and Morrison even said in an interview that at a young age he saw a car crash with dead Indians "scattered on dawn's highway" and some of the spirits of these dead Indians, dancing wildly about jumped into his soul, "and they're still in there", said Morrison. This was re-enacted on 'Dawn's Highway/Newborn Awakening' from "American Prayer". Morrison was a poet and liked double meaning in his lyrics, leading to his enigmatic cult following. The fact that he was said to be sub human or possessed by Indian spirits helped his stage persona. This enigma is not very present on this album as many of the songs are rather mediocre. 'Queen Of The Highway' and 'Indian Summer' are interesting, shamanistic Indian rhythms and spirits pervade the music. However apart from these glimmers of genius the rest of the album is only a pale shadow of the debut masterpiece.

Review by Progfan97402
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars To fans and rock critics alike, Morrison Hotel was considered a gigantic relief from The Soft Parade. No more horns, strings, or pop-oriented material on the lines of "Touch Me" and "Tell all the People". They returned to a more-blues based sound, but to be honest, I actually enjoyed Waiting for the Sun more than I did Morrison Hotel. Morrison Hotel is just a plain "overrated but still not bad" album, the kind I level at Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon or the Who's Who's Next. Let's examine some of the songs: "Roadhouse Blues" is by far the most recognized song on this album, it seemed a bit too generic blues for my liking, but it's still a staple of classic FM rock stations. "Waiting for the Sun" is great, it's the Doors sound of old! Love that eerie organ and synth (I'm sure Paul Beaver was responsible for the Moog you hear here). It was mysteriously left off on the album by that same name, which I wished wasn't (if only "Yes, the River Knows" or "Wintertime Love" was replaced by that song, Waiting For the Sun, the album, that is, would be even better, but it's only those two songs I don't care for on that album). "Peach Frog" has a rather nice funky sound, and Ray Manzarek's organ certainly gives this great song character. The song segues into "Blue Sunday", which I felt was a rather sappy ballad. "Indian Summer" was an outtake from their debut and you can easily tell it's definitely an older song. It never made it on their debut, to be honest, I can see why: this song was never exactly a winner for me. It strangely has a similar structure to "The End", but MUCH shorter, and instead a love song instead of something much more disturbing. "Maggie McGill" is a nice bluesy number. So on this album there are only three songs I don't care for, the overrated "Roadhouse Blues", "Blue Sunday", and "Indian Summer", the rest is rather good, but as a "proto-prog" album it falls flat. But the blues-oriented material is something they'd explore even further on their next (and final album with Jim Morrison) L.A. Woman. Still worthy of a four star rating because of the musical quality overall, not how "prog" or "not prog" it is.

By the way, the front cover came from a real hotel in Los Angeles called Morrison Hotel, with absolutely no connections to Jim Morrison, and on the back a Los Angeles bar called The Hard Rock Cafe, which has absolutely nothing to do with the tacky chain we all know and love (or hate). The chain we know came from some Doors fans who gave them permission to use "Hard Rock Cafe" as the name of their joint, probably by that time, the original LA joint with that name was out of business.

Review by siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
4 stars Touted as one of the greatest comebacks in music history, THE DOORS had a triumph return to form after the tumultuous year of 1969 which not only found the band's third album 'The Soft Parade' panned by fans and critics alike for straying too far from the psychedelic rock leanings by adding elaborate brass and string arrangements courtesy of producer Paul Rothchild but also found the band licking its wounds after Jim Morrison's altercations on March 1, 1969 at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove, Florida where Morrison was charged for indecent exposure which ultimately escalated in many gigs on the band's world tour to be cancelled. Despite the series of events that very well could've spelled the end of the band's career, the band's fourth album MORRISON HOTEL miraculously turned everything around and returned the band to the top of the charts. Despite Morrison's self- destructive behavior, the band was still churning out the product despite all the odds.

THE DOORS resorted to a tried and true trick in the music biz. When many a band took a wrong musical career turn that left the fanbase alienated, going back to the basics more often paid off then not and on MORRISON HOTEL, the band eschewed all the bloated budgets and grandiose pomp that resulted in 'The Soft Parade' costing more than all the other DOORS albums combined and instead focused on simple blues based tracks that also added that special 60s psychedelic sauce that made THE DOORS stand out in the first place. While the album was primarily made up of totally new tracks, the band also raided the vaults of unreleased material including 'Indian Summer' form the earliest recording sessions as well as 'Queen Of The Highway,' a leftover from 'The Soft Parade' and de-jazzified for inclusion. Likewise 'Waiting For The Sun,' which flirted with proto-prog tendencies was a reject from the band's third album of the same name but found a new lease on life on MORRISON HOTEL.

The original release was split into two sides, Side A known as 'Hard Rock Caf' which would inspire the future restaurant chain of the same name and the second side that adopted the name of the album, MORRISON HOTEL which was a real establishment in the downtown area of Los Angeles. The band took an impromptu photo of themselves in that very place which is on the album cover. While MORRISON HOTEL failed to yield any significant charting singles, the album shot up to No. 4 on the Billboard charts and performed well overseas as well thus establishing the band as an album band. Despite this many of the tracks have become popular on classic rock radio stations over the decades and while the blacklisting in more conservative areas of the USA continued to haunt the band, the negative publicity actually generated interest for many as well. Once again THE DOORS were back on top of their game.

The album starts off with one of THE DOORS' most distinctly recognizable tracks, the feisty 'Roadhouse Blues' which found Jim Morrison taking the role as a blues vocalist and keyboardist Ray Manzarek delivering one of his most memorable piano performances where he utilized a tack piano as well as a Wurlitzer electric. A different version of the track exists with John Lee Hooker sharing vocals and while the single only hit #50 and the tune has become one of THE DOORS' greatest hits over the years. The track created an instantly addictive bluesy guitar shuffle along with guest musician John Sebastian (from the Lovin' Spoonful) delivering a mean harmonica performance. 'Waiting For The Sun' returns to the zeitgeist of the psychedelic years of the band's early performances with trippy twangy guitar slides and offers the now rare glimpse into Morrison's early poetic contributions that had been all but exhausted at this point. Morrison was also still very much out of control with this alcoholism and the entire album was recorded with him being totally inebriated so it is said.

Much of the remaining tracks follow the bluesy shuffles and piano rolls of 'Roadhouse Blues.' 'You Make Me Real,' 'Land Ho!' and 'Maggie McGill' feature the most bluesy tracks whereas 'Blue Sunday,' 'Ship Of Fools,' 'The Spy' and 'Queen Of The Highway' focus more on the psychedelic rock aspects that made the band so popular in the first place. The track 'Peace Frog' stands out from the pack as it contains a guitar riff sequence that reminds me of what 90s grunge would sound like. The opening guitar heft is very much the stuff that bands like Nirvana was made of but the track also incarnates that California sound of the 60s with the psychedelic pop keyboard style and of course Morrison's charismatic frontman style that managed to shine through despite his persistent substance abuse. Much of Morrison's personal life was reflected in the tracks 'The Spy' and 'Queen Of The Highway' which lamented about his tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend Pamela Courson who must have endured a lot of nonsense!

It's fair to say that THE DOORS never successfully recaptured the sheer psychedelic pop rock perfection of the first two albums but the band was amazingly consistent at cranking out strong melodic tunes that showcased the tight instrumental interplay as well as Morrison's unique and outrageous vocal style. It seems that the world was ready to write THE DOORS off as just another has been 60s band after 'The Soft Parade' so the fact that the band was given a second chance to join the next wave of rock music developments of the early 1970s was nothing short of a miracle especially given Morrison's unpredictable and confrontationally grating personality. MORRISON HOTEL was indeed an excellent return to form although i still can't understand why 'The Soft Parade' received all the hate that it did. The album is chock full of catchy infectious blues oriented rock tracks as well as the expected psychedelic 60s charm. Only tracks like 'Indian Summer' sound like filler and in all honesty should have been left in the vaults for time immemorial. The strength of the majority of the tracks on MORRISON HOTEL make this yet another essential addition for your classic rock collection.

Review by VianaProghead
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Review Nš 454

"Morrison Hotel" is the fifth studio album of The Doors and was released in 1970. It's sometimes known with the name of "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe". It happens because "Hard Rock Cafe" is the title of the first side of the LP and the second side is titled "Morrison Hotel". "Morrison Hotel" was largely seen as a return to the original form for the band.

The cover photo was taken at the actual "Morrison Hotel", in Los Angeles. The band asked the owners if they could photograph the hotel, but as they declined, the band went inside when nobody was looking and took the photo. The rear cover features a photograph of the Hard Rock Café, also in Los Angeles, which no longer is open. Curiously, the founders of the famous Hard Rock Café world chain later used that name because they saw it on The Doors' album.

"Morrison Hotel" has eleven tracks. The first track "Roadhouse Blues" written by Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore is a blues/rock song which appeared on the B side of "You Make Me Real", which was the first single released from this album. This song represents, for me, one of the best musical moments on the album. The second track "Waiting For The Sun" written by Jim Morrison is curiously a song with the same name of their third studio album. Sincerely, I don't know, if by unknown reasons, it should have been included on that album or not. Anyway it only appears on "Morrison Hotel" and I'm very glad with that because this is a great song. It's slightly a psychedelic song that changes from the quiet to more heavy musical passages, with an excellent musical work and a very melodic vocal performance. This song represents the highlight of the album and is one of the few songs with some progressive lines. The third track "You Make Me Real" written by Jim Morrison was, as I said before, the song chosen to be released as the first single of this album. Despite be a song with good piano and guitar works, it doesn't sounds very pleasant to my ears and it also sounds to me a bit outdated, almost a revival musical number. The fourth track "Peace Frog" written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger is a song that blends seamlessly into the next fifth track "Blue Sunday". Because they're two very short songs and, in a certain way, they were joined together, it was very common that some radio stations played both songs together too. "Peace Frog" is a song with good lyrics and good rhythm, nice guitar and good keyboard playing. The fifth track "Blue Sunday" written by Jim Morrison is a nice ballad with a very soft sound and where Jim Morrison's voice sounds delicate, subtle and calm. The sixth track "Ship Of Fools" written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger is a very vulgar song, not particularly good nor particularly bad. I think the main thing that saves the song it's the nice keyboard sound all over the song, which makes of it an enjoyable and nice song to hear. The seventh track "Land Ho!" written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger is another song nice and pleasant to hear with some creativity, fine musicianship and some good guitar parts. However and despite all I said before, we are in presence of another uninspired song with a low creativity level. The eighth track "The Spy" written by Jim Morrison is a song that has a blues feeling. It's a soft, calm, quiet and personal song with a good piano work. Personally, I don't like very much of this kind of songs and I also must confess that I'm not a great fan of the blues. Still, I must say this isn't a bad track and it's even a nice and pleasant song to hear. The ninth track "Queen Of The Highway" written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger is an anthem song of The Doors. That is believed the lyrics are about Jim Morrison's girlfriend Pamela Courson. This is a nice song with good lyrics and where the keyboards are the real king on it, providing a kind of a mysterious sound. The tenth track "Indian Summer" written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger is a very interesting and mysterious song with some strange oriental sound. It's a song with a very slow and nice delicate sound where Jim Morrison's voice sounds delicate, subtle and calm. It reminds me a bit "The End". The eleventh track "Maggie M'Gill" written by Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore is, without any doubt, one of the best songs on the album. It's a song full of great guitar work and with some beautiful keyboard parts. This is a song that returns the album to a harder sound. It isn't a great song but closes the album in a good way.

Conclusion: After their more experimental and less conventional previous work "The Soft Parade", which wasn't very well received by critics and fans, the band went back to their more traditional roots. On this album, there is a slight steer toward the blues, which would be fully explored by the band on their next studio album "L.A.Woman". As I said before, when I reviewed "The Soft Parade", I'm not pretty sure if "The Soft Parade" is weaker than "Morrison Hotel". It's true that "Morrison Hotel" is more uniform and well balanced than "The Soft Parade" is. But it's also true that it hasn't practically any highlight, with the exception of "Waiting For The Sun". By the other hand, "The Soft Parade" has the title track, one of the best and most progressive tracks ever composed by The Doors. Anyway, be one or the other the weakest, "The Soft Parade" and "Morrison Hotel" are the two weakest studio albums of The Doors with Jim Morrison.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Latest members reviews

3 stars "Morrison Hotel" was a return to form by The Doors. It's better than "Soft Parade" and the "Waiting For The Sun" album. It all kicks off with the blues-rock offering "Roadhouse Blues" where you can already hear the depth and soul back in Morrison's voice. The band's classic psychedelic sound i ... (read more)

Report this review (#642913) | Posted by Frankie Flowers | Tuesday, February 28, 2012 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I have two words for this album; "Sonic Relief." Even though the fetid "Soft Parade" was a disaster for the Doors, I remained a loyal fan. I spotted the new album at woolworth's in January of 1970 and I just had to have it. I did manage to get my hands on the vinyl release in less than a week ... (read more)

Report this review (#267217) | Posted by Keetian | Saturday, February 20, 2010 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Apparently this album is being dealt a bit of a disservice. In my (highly personal) opinion the finest album The Doors ever produced, Morrison Hotel is a massive, boiling pot of music that easily transcends the admitted lull the band was experiencing with their previous two albums. Here the band ... (read more)

Report this review (#257768) | Posted by Lozlan | Friday, December 25, 2009 | Review Permanlink

4 stars There's not much effort required in stalking a corpse For those celebrities who die young, is guaranteed an iconic status unhindered by the stillborn decay that would impinge upon their immortal status. Frozen in time, these tragic figures are exploited to mollify our own fears of mortality and ... (read more)

Report this review (#226040) | Posted by ExittheLemming | Sunday, July 12, 2009 | Review Permanlink

3 stars This album is much much better than the previous one (The Soft Parade). The Doors made a conscious effort to get back to their roots. It still isn't as good as the first 3 in my opinion. It is probably the bluesiest or most straight ahead rock Doors album. My favourite track is 'Waiting For th ... (read more)

Report this review (#170279) | Posted by digdug | Thursday, May 8, 2008 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Good songs on side A (all of them are great, especially Waiting For The Sun, Roadhouse Blues and Peace Frog), average songs on side B. An unequal album, very interesting in some points, but sometimes a little boring (The Spy, Queen Of The Highway). I love the cover art, anyway. A good album, n ... (read more)

Report this review (#164685) | Posted by Zardoz | Sunday, March 23, 2008 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Definitely not a prog. album (like all of the Doors albums) Wow, I can't believe how this album has gotten slammed on this site. This could be The Door's BEST ALBUM! Definitely more interesting and varied than most of the albums, with some strong Americana roots (i.e. blues) influence going ... (read more)

Report this review (#107038) | Posted by | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 | Review Permanlink

3 stars A far better album than The Soft Parade. Still, this isn't not too progy. You can listen here to blues, ballads, typical Doors rock and psychedelia. Finally we can listen here to Waiting For The Sun, a great song that should be included on their third album. My favourite track from this album. Al ... (read more)

Report this review (#106391) | Posted by Deepslumber | Sunday, January 7, 2007 | Review Permanlink

1 stars Our boundaries as to what is prog have widened! I've always concidered The Doors a band tied to progressive music in spirit, but not in their music. This album has some solid rock songs with elements of prog, and also some very boring repedative simple songs. But it's a fun, jumpy album regardles ... (read more)

Report this review (#105203) | Posted by Shakespeare | Monday, January 1, 2007 | Review Permanlink

Post a review of THE DOORS "Morrison Hotel"

You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.