The Doors from Greatest Rock Bands of All Time
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. The band got its name, at Morrison's suggestion from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, which itself was a reference to a quote made by William Blake, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."
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After graduating from UCLA in 1964 Jim Morrison met Ray Manzarek, an accomplished classical pianist joined a local band with two of his brothers. Manzarek is impressed by Morrison’s songs and poetry and together they decide to form a band and by 1965 they have recruited Krieger and Densmore and the band is named the Doors. The make-up of the band is interesting in that there is no bass player with Manzarek playing the bass lines on a separate keyboard. The sound of the Doors was always full and rounded with Morrison’s powerful baritone voice supported by Manzareks swirling organ and Krieger’s precise guitar work. As a unit they were not afraid to innovate, shock and take risks with their music. Morrison, wild and attractive, was heavily into experimentation with drugs and alcohol and wished to be taken seriously as a poet, writer and performer. He was the driving force behind a band that would become one of the most influential and controversial figures of the late 1960’s. There was no doubt that he was a troubled soul full of demons and contradictions. Through his lyrics, performances and behaviour Morrison continually and dramatically challenged and confronted ‘Middle America’, and was frequently up against the law. This came to a head when he was charged with indecent exposure in Miami, an event which nearly broke the band. In many ways they challenged the values of conservative America in the same way that the Rolling Stones challenged the ‘establishment’ in the UK. Much to Morrison’s chagrin his good looks and rebellious nature would in fact lead to him becoming famous as a major ‘pop star’ rather than as a serious rock performer, poet and lyricist that he yearned to be. In 1971, having just completed recording an album, Morrison died from a heart attack in Paris and his iconic status was assured. The rest of the band carried on for a short time but soon recognised that Morrison was irreplaceable.
Easily my favorite band from the '60s, even a bit better than the Beatles.
Jim Morrison was pretentious as fuck, a Rimbaud wannabe, a big load of his poetry only made sense on his head, I guess this is what makes The Doors so good to me. The band takes you on a journey of madness, that yeah! It's all about style, but it's also all about musical quality.
Probably my second favourite band ever, after The Kinks. Everything about their music is amazing. I'd more of less what Jason said. However I didn't even know there were people thinking Morrison was not that great as a frontman. Because, like Jason said, he was.
I just realized that I made a big mistake in my comment below when I referred to The Doors (album) as being The Doors (band) second album when it's actually their debut album. Also I would like to change the order of their best albums... The Doors, Strange Days, LA Woman, Morrison Hotel, Waiting for the Sun, and Soft Parade. I don't like any of the albums that came after Morrisons death.
Lately I've found that Jim Morrison gets a lot of shit like, "not really that great of a lyricist or performer or w/e." He was the best. Simple as that. Sure he took too many drugs but he had the right idea as a frontman. And his voice is actually really great despite what a lot of people. The rest of the band also doesn't get enough credit. Robby Krieger actually wrote a lot of their songs and Manzarek's playing is what gives The Doors that special sound.
One of the bands that made playing the organ cool... It's pretty dorky when all your friends are on the guitar, drums or piano, and your stuck with an electric organ. But it sounds cool on the Doors.
The Doors were a solid 60s band, underrated if anything. It seems as though most of their career they were searching for that perfect mix of white boy blues/rock and 60s psychadelic. The closest they ever came to perfecting that sound was in their second album The Doors. The Doors was a classic album where every song is well constructed and delivered. If only all of their albums were as good as this one. After their third album Waiting for the Sun the band tried a more poppy sound with Soft Parade and failed. Its seems like after Soft Parade they didn't really know where to go so they just went back to what they were best at and that is the white boy blues. Morrison Hotel and L.A. Woman are both very bluesy albums and they were good too. Best Doors albums in order; The Doors, L.A. Woman, Morrison Hotel, Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun, and Soft Parade. I would highly recommend any of the first three on that list and Strange Days is pretty good too. Their self titled album was so good and so underrated! I love that album.
I don't feel like this band has much substance, but made great music. I didn't like the rants about anal sex that he would say live. Overall explosive rock n' roll, and the fact they didn't have a bass player, was pretty amazing.
There was a point in time where all I would listen to was The Doors. I know their discography inside and out, and I've got to say they are one of the greatest bands of all time, imo. They don't have one bad song in the whole lot! Even their outtakes, unreleased, and live performances are spectacular! Whether Jim is drunk at mic or on stage, they are always something else.
One of my favorite bands, from the epic "The End" all the way to "Riders On the Storm", these guys have it all; rock, psychedelic, poetry, jazz, blues, folk, and so many more. Such an amazing electric band, the only thing that truly held them back was the erratic and drunkenness of Jim Morrison, if he hadn't of died, they would have possibly have published 3 or more albums, not counting the non-Morrison albums.