Artist: The Doors
Album: Strange Days (1967)
Rating: 17/20
Favourite song: "Love Me Two Times" or "People Are Strange", too close to call
"We want the world and we want it...Now, Now?, Now!"
It took only a few months after their debut for the Doors to release their second album, Strange Days, and it's an interesting album in that most critics regard it as being weaker than the debut, but most members of the web-reviewing community consider it to be a masterpiece. I'll admit, when I finished "reviewing" the debut, I thought to myself that the critics were right about Strange Days, even though I hadn't heard it in while. Indeed, the first time I heard the album was around two years ago, right after L.A. Woman, in a period where I was trying to figure out just what the heck was so great about the group. I was most unimpressed with the album that time, in fact I told myself that the Doors must be overrated or something. But how much a couple of years can change your musical tastes, eh? For now I sit in mute disbelief when the album is playing, thinking "How could I possibly find this boring!?".
Well, I think the WRC were right about this, this is a masterpiece, and may well be better than the debut. (But on reconsideration, I find that I love the debut too, so they both get a 17 from me) There is one small niggling matter though, namely that most of the songs here are pop/rock-songs - pop with the Doors' unique sound, yes, and very endearing pop some of it ("People Are Strange"), but still, there is no material here with the same mood of "Crystal Ship" or "Break On Through". Not to say that it's all happy "Oh, I love you!" songs, far from it. These are the Doors, after all, and it wouldn't be until the next album (Waiting For The Sun) that they made naive pop. No, the songs still have the aura of darkness and gloom, but at the same time, I would disagree with Starostin, who says this is "deep and depressing as hell". Even John McFerrin says this one is more depressing than the first one, and I just don't see it. Dark maybe, for this isn't your average sunny-pop, this is Jim Morrison after all (err, and it isn't 1968, so there is no "Wintertime Love" as yet)! In truth, I think "Break On Through" is easily darker than anything on here, except possibly "When The Music's Over" (in parts). Perhaps it was just the reviewers getting too excited!? Anyhow, the album is still spectacular, and I suppose I've become too elitist to realize that with pop of this calibre and with this atmosphere, you don't need lizards and killers and what have you. So, I'm going to go ahead and give it the highest rating I've dished out so far.
The title track opens the album, and what a sound! The vocals are nicely overdubbed, with the echoes working quite well. It creates a feeling of fear and uncertainty - and truly, in these times, "strange days have found us". Call me crazy, but it also seems as though we're being told a prophecy - due in no small part to the way the overdubbing does its trick. Morrison adds his characteristic screams of "Yeah!" in the song too, and they're as priceless as ever. It is followed by "You're Lost Little Girl", which is another not-so-simple pop song, because as usual there is the atmosphere of uncertainty, and Morrison may well be talking to us; aren't we all lost? Well, that's probably reading too much into the song, but when Jim hits the "Impossible yes, but it's true / Tell me whooo are yooou?" part, ah, it's lovely, and all of this backed again by a wonderful melody and fabulous work on the keyboards.
Ah, "Love Me Two Times" is next, and well, what can I say, you have to hear it to appreciate it. Certainly one of the Doors' more famous songs, likely to turn up on classic rock radio or on greatest hits CDs, and rightfully so (but 'tis only one side of the band!) I've seen someone call it simple rock 'n roll (of a high calibre, yes, but rock 'n roll nonetheless), and that may well be true. But gosh darn it, was rock ever this inspired? (Yes, yes it was) It has several things going for it, starting with the instantly recognizable guitar line, with an unforgettable riff (is it classified as a riff? My music knowledge is truly pathetic). But there's more! Morrison's vocals! Top-notch stuff this one, perfectly suited to his voice. Who would've thought that someone saying "Love me two times / Aaaaim goin' awaaay" would be so catchy? There are no lyrical tricks here, no sir, in that regard it's pure rock, but that doesn't really matter, now does it? I only wish Jim would really scream out the chorus at the end, with some of the gusto he uses elsewhere. But once the riff hits, you forget about silly stuff like this, and it's all grooovy.
It's with a song like "Unhappy Girl" that I think that there is a slight inconsistency with some reviewer's opinions, because while it is another fine song, with another catchy melody, I don't necessarily think it is of a higher standard than some of the songs off the album, like, for instance, "Twentieth Century Fox" or "Take It As It Comes" (I've really dug a hole for myself with that one). This is still an excellent pop-song, but it seems that some people consider the aforementioned songs on the previous album as lightweight. One explanation which I might be willing to accept is that they didn't fit in with the mood of the album; I don't necessarily agree with that, but I suppose it's reasonable. Anyhow, this certainly does fit in with the mood of the album, telling of an unhappy girl (no, really!) "locked in a prison / Of your (her) own devise". Another solid melody in an album with no shortage of them.
The next number is very interesting, and usually cited as the sole reason why this album cannot be placed along, say, Revolver or Highway 61 Revisited. "Horse Latitudes" is basically Jim reciting one of his poems, set against some sound-effects courtesy of his bandmates. The poem was one he wrote in high-school, and I may as well include it here for you to consider:
When the still sea conspires an armor
And her sullen and aborted currents
Breed tiny monsters
True sailing is dead
Awkward instant
And the first animal is jettisoned
Legs furiously pumping
Their stiff green gallop
And heads bob up
Poise
Delicate
Pause
Consent
In mute nostril agony
Carefully refined
And sealed over
Sure as heck better than anything I've ever written, that's for sure (and he was younger than me when he wrote it too!) If you're wondering, it's about how horses were thrown overboard by the conquistadors while sailing, which was tragic really. The problem with this "song" isn't that the poem is total nonsense you have to be on acid to appreciate, I just don't think the way it is delivered was particularly good. For example, Jim gets louder and louder the further he gets into the poem, but I don't think lines like "Poise / Delicate / Pause / Consent" ought to be screamed out, that isn't the way I hear them in my head. A silly criticism probably, because it's probably how Morrison heard it in his head, but anyhow, I feel as though this could've been done better. The sound effects are mostly well done, creating a sense of confusion and maybe at times fear (I don't like the sound of those "tiny monsters" one bit, brrr!).
The simple piano opening to "Moonlight Drive" is guaranteed to stick in your head, but the rest of the song isn't my cup of tea particularly. In fact, shame on me, I went and forgot the melody to it, and so I had to refresh my memory just then. It is memorable, like most of the songs on here, but I guess the album is so chock-full of melodies that my brain can't take it, eh? I don't know what it is, but for some reason this isn't my favourite number by far on this album. Maybe time will change me again!
"People Are Strange" deserves a para of its own, and so it will justly get one. I think calling it the perfect pop-song might be a bit of an overstatement, but only slightly. Everything comes together nicely in this song - the organ and piano lines, the chorus and Morrison's lead vocals, they're all fabulous. The melody may well be the catchiest thing the Doors ever did - all this and the song is just over 2 minutes! That's my only problem with it, that it finishes far too soon! Then again, maybe it would lose its magic if it went on for too long. Anyway, it doesn't matter, it's a fabulous song, and justly another of the Doors most recognizable (and most-covered, so I am told) tunes. I always just have to sing along when they hit the first (which is also the last) chorus. No one remembers your name when you're strange.. I suppose there would be people that call this lightweight, but I think I disagree. Lightweight to me suggests that the song is a trifle, for instance maybe bubble-gum pop, but this is much more than bubble-gum, this is ice-cream pop.
Another song which I was going to specifically reference with regards to the debut vs. this album is the song "My Eyes Have Seen You". Another lovely melody, with passionate vocals and a great guitar backing, but again also the sort of song that is quite similar to some of the numbers of the debut album. The difference is that the riff here is killer, and the atmosphere buildup is amazing as we get to the line about "Television skies" - it paints a very strong mental picture, a hint that this isn't just disposable pop. Robbie Krieger sure had a knack for writing some simple yet very riffs, didn't he? "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind", starts off nice and slow, with a near ethereal-sounding organ, but then constantly switches to a nice chugging, soothing rhythm. The contrasts work quite nicely, with Morrison alternating between sadly asking "Please, don't cry", and surrealy stating "Carnival dogs / Consume the lines". A minor gem, this.
Then, yet again, the Doors decided to end the album with an epic closer, this time the 11 minute "When The Music's Over", a song in a totally different vein to "The End". Most find this more accessible, and it's easy to see why, because there is actual diversity in the instrumentation, whereas it's easy to get sick of the monotony of "The End" musically. This has several identifiable parts, and as such the 11 minutes really don't sink in, it could be three or four as far I'm concerned. But there are two problems with it as far as I can tell, namely that the organ intro is a reworking of "Soul Kitchen" (tsk, tsk!), and that the melody for "When the music's over / Turn out the light" is also a reworking of "End Of The Night" (tsk again!) I'm not sure why the Doors decided to rework their own material of a few months ago, but it sort of detracts from the experience I think. (Actually, I can propose a possible answer to that; some of these tracks were outtakes from the first album, so it's understandable that they share the same structure and in some cases, the melody, because the group must've been trying to fit them in somewhere, and hadn't yet locked them in for a particular song).
The song itself is quite epic in nature, maybe not as shocking as "The End", but it has its moments. More of Jim's poetic ramblings, for starters, as cryptic as ever! But it also features some of the best lines on the whole album (not a surprise, since the rest were darkish pop songs). Morrison proclaims "Before I sink into the big sleep / I want to hear, I want to hear / The scream of the butterfly", and why not? Another famous line is "A feast of friends, "Alive!" she cried", which doesn't really make sense to me, but it's still memorable for some reason. No weird goldmines here, and pretty wordsmithying aside, the song reaches an electric peak as Morrison screams "Persian night, see the light / Jesus! Save us!", another truly unforgettable moment. What strikes me about Morrison the frontman is that what he is saying may make no sense at all, but it is the conviction of the way in which he sings (shouts) the lines that makes all the difference. You get the feeling that he believes all this stuff, and that it is his world - perhaps one that makes no sense, but it's something he really believes in and wants to share with us. Morrison is often criticized these days for his lyrics being shallow and typical brooding nonsense, and maybe the critics are right. It's easy to get tired of his obsession with death and the like, and perhaps in a few years I will be the leader of the crowd that chants that he was a fool who took too many drugs. But I foolishly believe that his delivery will stand the test of time, for one really believes that this was the man's world, these nightmares were what were in his head.
I've drifted a little off topic, but coming back to the song, it easily holds its own against "The End". They're both very different styles of songs, of course, and so comparisons merely on the fact that they are lengthy album-closing epics is a little silly, but musically I think this one has the edge. I may as well mention here that "The Soft Parade" is as good an epic album-closer as both of these, with a climatic ending that perhaps surpasses both of these songs (not as a whole, just in terms of the ending), so I guess you can always rely on the Doors to provide an interesting end to an album.
So, in two years I went from adjudging this overrated nonsense to a positive masterpiece, and I don't know whether I should be amazed or disgusted at my former self. This is really good stuff, and is probably right up your alley if your tastes are anywhere near pop with substance.
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