The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors Hits

by The Doors

Overview

Although the Doors were really only together for four years, releasing six albums between 1967 and 1971, their impact and legacy is as lasting as any in the history of rock, and no band before or since has really sounded anything like them. Driven by Jim Morrison's frequently bombastic and sophomoric but always utterly fascinating take on the colliding orbits of sex and death, the Doors managed to sound big, dangerous, and edgy while still retaining a commercial viability, placing singles high on the pop charts through every stylistic phase of the group's existence. This concise set hits all the absolute essentials, and each of these 20 tracks is a classic, from the early mission statement "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" to the unambiguous stomp of "L.A. Woman" (for the record, the chant of "Mr. Mojo Risin'" was intended as a deliberate anagram of the name Jim Morrison). What sometimes gets lost in the larger-than-life myth of Morrison was his still refreshing directness with love songs, and "Love Me Two Times," "Hello, I Love You," "Touch Me," and "Don't You Love Her Madly" all retain a surprisingly tender strength and honesty even some 40 years after they were recorded. Then, of course, there's "The End," still one of the most harrowing moments in the history of rock (the mix included here is the edit version from the film Apocalypse Now), and the song that best illustrates Morrison's over-the-top but somehow appropriately balanced sense of how theater, drama, psychology, sex, death, pop poetry, and rock all merge into a single unavoidable spectacle. No band has ever done it better, or had the courage to even try. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	01/29/2008
Label:	Elektra
UPC:	0081227994860
Rank:	9332

Tracks

1. Break on Through (To the Other Side)
2. Light My Fire
3. Love Me Two Times
4. Hello, I Love You
5. People Are Strange
6. Strange Days
7. Riders on the Storm
8. L.A. Woman
9. Touch Me
10. Roadhouse Blues
11. Peace Frog
12. Love Street
13. The Crystal Ship
14. Soul Kitchen
15. Love Her Madly
16. Back Door Man
17. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
18. Moonlight Drive
19. The Unknown Soldier
20. The End

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Doors   Primary Artist
Jim Morrison   Vocals
Ray Neopolitan   Guitar (Bass)
Robby Krieger   Guitar
Ray Manzarek   Organ,Piano,Keyboards
John Densmore   Drums

Technical Credits

Joel Brodsky   Photography
Michael Kushner   Musician
Joshua Petker   Project Assistant
Paul Ferrara   Photography
Dezo Hoffmann   Photography
Peter Halm   Cover Design,Package Design
Dave Dutkowski   Archivist
Thomas Monaster   Photography
Paul Rothchild   Producer
Jim Morrison   Composer,Group Member
Bertolt Brecht   Composer
Chester Burnett   Composer
The Doors   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Robby Krieger   Composer,Group Member
Kenny Nemes   Project Manager
Willie Dixon   Composer
Nigel Williamson   Liner Notes
Neil Ross   Musician
Robin Hurley   Project Assistant
John Densmore   Group Member,Composer
Jac Holzman   Engineer
Jim O'Rourke   Musician
Kurt Weill   Composer
Henry Diltz   Photography
Bruce Botnick   Recording,Producer,Mixing
Ray Manzarek   Composer,Group Member