|
| |
 
The Doors
Strange Days
(Elektra / Rhino)
First Appeared in The Music Box, June 2007, Volume 14, #6
Written by John Metzger
Regardless of whether it was right or wrong to tamper with The Doors’
original recordings while restoring them for the boxed set Perception,
there’s no getting around the fact that the alterations that were made have
forced a complete and total reevaluation of the band’s canon. Some outings, such
as The Doors’ self-titled debut, hold an iconic place in the hearts and minds of
many, but when viewed with fresh ears, they don’t hold up nearly as well as one
might imagine — even if they did serve their purpose quite well. On the other
hand, there are some endeavors that frequently and unnecessarily have been
overlooked and overshadowed. Such is the case with The Doors’ sophomore effort Strange Days. Although it may have lacked a single that was as well-honed as
Light My Fire — or Break on Through (to the Other Side), for that
matter — it was a better album. In fact, it arguably is the finest and most
realized set of material that the ensemble ever concocted.
Strange Days benefits immensely from the revisionist history of its new
presentation, more so than any of The Doors’ other efforts. Unlike the
restoration of the previously censored bits of The Doors’ self-titled debut, the
adjustments that were made to Strange Days actually have improved the
endeavor. Released in late 1967, just nine months after the group launched its
opening salvo, the outing was a bold step forward, one that not only embraced
the psychedelicized sounds of the era but also shoved them down a far darker,
more demented path. In the liner notes to the recent reissue of the affair,
engineer Bruce Botnick outlines how he had scored a pre-release, monaural
acetate of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and he
tells how it had liberated The Doors to experiment in the studio. There always
has been a spooky deliriousness to Strange Days, but the crisp, clarity
of its new mix gives the collection’s contents considerably more room to unfurl
their lysergic tentacles. Most of all, the interplay among The Doors’ members is
highlighted magnificently, and the worlds that are conjured oscillate, at the
flip of a switch, between being strikingly beautiful (You’re Lost Little Girl)
and chillingly horrific (Horse Latitudes).
Better than ever before, Strange Days’ swirling music meshes with
Jim Morrison’s twisted wordplay, and taken in full, it presciently outlines the
demise of the happy-go-lucky hippie culture that was thriving just a few hundred
miles north along the California coastline. "Strange days have found us/Strange
days have tracked us down/They’re goin’ to destroy our casual joys/We shall go
on playing or find a new town," Morrison croons moodily on the
title track, thus setting the stage for the volatile rebellion, the disorienting
atmospheres, and the lost and lonely ruminations that fill the remainder of the
endeavor. There’s a seductive, comforting quality to the manner in which he
sings I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind and Moonlight Drive, but
the fates toward which he is leading are lecherous, foreboding, and sinister. Strange Days concludes in the only fashion that it possibly could — with the
explosive, apocalyptic fervor of When the Music’s Over, a
politically-charged epic that merged Light My Fire with The End
while pushing one generation to confront and challenge another. The bonus tracks
featured on the new rendition of the outing don’t amount to much — a bunch of
pointless studio chatter and false starts that were taken from a session that
produced People Are Strange and a slightly rougher rendition of Love
Me Two Times — but then again, an album like Strange Days doesn’t
need to be bolstered by extras. It is, at once, everything that The Doors wanted
to create but never again were able to achieve. 
Strange Days is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
This album is also included
in the Perception boxed set, which
is available from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
|
