The Doors (Self-Titled) and the 60's Psychedelic Dream Realised

For somebody with a Jim Morrison tattoo it has taken me an awful long time to get round to The Doors. That is not because the tattoo was an impulse decision and The Doors don't mean that much to me - it is more down to the fact that I have not been able to make a decision about what album to choose first. The Doors back catalogue is so strong that I could have written about any of their albums with equal enthusiasm - however, I've finally decided to settle with their debut record, The Doors, released in January 1967. By the time the summer of love arrived, The Doors were riding high and making waves, and with this brilliant debut it is no wonder. It shows a new band with a multitude of revolutionary ideas firing on all cylinders, and spilling their creative energies into a magical common goal. This is one of the great albums of the 1960's, and although it was primarily only a hit in America, it is now a globally recognised classic. Jim Morrison has become a cult legend since his death in Paris in 1971, immortalising the music of The Doors further.

This magical debut record is special for many reasons, none more so than the spiralling epic that is Light My Fire. The extraordinary performance by Ray Manzarek on the Vox organ is the feature of this pioneering Rock classic, which swirls through a vortex of psychedelic sounds for over seven minutes. Other main highlights include the doom-laden The End - complete with Oedipal speaking section from an insane sounding Morrison, and built upon a hypnotic guitar riff, it is both bewitching and disturbing. A self-prophecy from the tragic Jim Morrison in fact. Break On Through (To The Other Side) - the album's thumping opening track - was the first single release by The Doors, and became one of their staple songs. It was controversial because of its drug references ("She gets high!"), but demonstrated Morrison's ability to devise poetic lyrics. After all, Jim Morrison was a poet.

Back Door Man, a stomping cover of Willie Dixon's original, is delivered with all the sexual deviancy and angst that Morrison became famous for. Soul Kitchen - my personal favourite on the album - is a surging, kaleidoscopic anthem that carries the fire from Break On Through. Twentieth Century Fox is a stoner's ode to a gorgeous girl, Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) is the other riveting cover (interestingly enough co-written by Bertold Brecht), which is yet another controversial song, and End Of The Night a dreamy, hazy interlude. The Crystal Ship is a fantastic progressive ballad with great lyrics, I Looked At You a driving boogie, and Take It As It Comes a mysterious but melodious belter. An altogether faultless collection of tunes.

I became so heavily consumed by The Doors in my younger days that I bought all of their albums in short succession, and even made several homage trips to Jim Morrison's grave site in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. Their influence on my life has been phenomenal; Jim Morrison's lyrics and posthumous collections of poetry have been huge inspirations for my own writing, and the amazing music created by Ray Manzarek, Robby Kreiger and John Densmore a definite influence on my own compositions. As for this legendary album, The Doors - I'm certain that it will stand up as a great representative for the psychedelic music revolution in the years to come when all of the original pioneers are long gone. One of Rock music's most important contributions.