L.A. WOMAN

For the last time with Morrison, in this album the "old dark sound" from the band returns (something which they lost a bit since the "Strange Days" album). Free from Producer Paul A. Rothchild`s vision, who didn`t like the new songs and said goodbye to them, the band co-produced it with long time recording engineer Bruce Botnick, recording it in their rehearsals room called "The Doors` Workshop". The quality of the recording, mixing, playing and cover design is very good. Tired of being shown on the album covers as "the star of the band", in this, his last album, Morrison appeared in the cover photo with a "shorter height" in comparison to his mates in the band.

Another thing that is not the same is Morrison`s voice. His voice changed due to the hard lifestyle he lived, but it is still very good. This was the last album in their contract as quartet with Elektra, and the freedom is shown in the sound of this album, in which particularly Morrison wanted a more Blues oriented sound. The album was almost a "live album recorded in the studio", with few overdubs, and with the help of bassist Jerry Scheff and the occasional rthythm guitar played by Marc Benno.

"The Changleing" is a very good song, with good bass guitar and lead guitars by Krieger.

"Love Her Madly" is the obligatory single, which has a very good quality, with very good performances by all members of the band. The guitar riffs and the guitar sounds of Krieger are very good.

"Been Down So Long" is a very good Blues song, with Morrison`s voice sounding a bit tired.

"The Cars Hiss by My Window" is another Blues song, more dark in atmospheres, played without keyboards, and with Morrison singing "a lead guitar part" very well.

"L.A. Woman" is a combination of Rock with some Jazz elements. It has a very good piano solo by Manzarek.

"L`America" is a dark song which was originally recorded for the soundtrack of the "Zabrinskie Point" film but it wasn`t used. This song, recorded in 1969 or in 1970, shows Morrison`s voice in better shape. This is a very good song, heavy in places.

"Hyacinth House" is a very good song, one of the best in this album, with very good keyboards by Manzarek. It is a ballad.

"Crawling King Snake", composed by John Lee Hokker, is a dark slow Blues song.

"The WASP" is another very good song, with good riffs, and with Morrison almost recitating the lyrics. Densmore also plays very good drums.

"Riders on the Storm": the best song from this album, and one of the best from this band, it sounds like Morrison`s Farewell Song. It has very good Jazz-Rock-Blues atmospheres, with Densmore showing his Jazz drummer skills very good, and with Krieger and Manzarek playing very good parts, giving space for Morrison`s dark vocals and lyrics, plus the sound of thunder in the background. Morrison`s vocals particularly in this song are very good, with him almost whispering the words in the final part of the song, which is closed quietly with great piano by Manzarek and guitar by Krieger. What a very good song it is!

In conclusion, this is a very good album, the best from them with the "Strange Days" album, IMO. One of the most Proto-Prog albums from their discography, IMO.

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