The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors Hits

Performer: The Doors
Producer: Paul A. Rothchild; Bruce Botnick; The Doors
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: The Doors: Jim Morrison (vocals); Robby Krieger (guitar); Ray Manzarek (piano, organ); John Densmore (drums). The Doors have long been ensconced in the pantheon of rock immortals, and their moody, literate, psychedelic rock still proves an alluring listening experience decades after the band's dissolution. From Ray Manzarek's swirling, carnivalesque keyboards to Robby Krieger's wiry guitar work to Jim Morrison's evocatively poetic lyrics and baritone croon, the Doors have an utterly distinctive sound that recalls the darker side of the 1960s while still sounding fresh today. THE FUTURE STARTS HERE provides a lot of overlap with previously released best-of sets in that it features all the band's essential tracks, including "Light My Fire," "Break On Through," "Riders on the Storm," and "Roadhouse Blues," among others. But at 20 tracks FUTURE can afford to throw in some lesser-known cuts, and with the inclusion of gems such as "Moonlight Drive," "Peace Frog," and "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)," it's here that this compilation earns its stripes. For a set that covers all the necessary bases and then some, this is an ideal choice. 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

Like a trippier, more mystical, West Coast equivalent of the Velvet Underground, the Doors went against the 1960s flower-power grain, taking an uncompromising look at the underbelly of the American psyche. Jim Morrison's dark, surreal poetry gave the band's blues-based rock a cerebral edge, and his wild, shamanistic on-stage presence electrified audiences. From their debut single, "Light My Fire," to their later recordings such as "Riders on the Storm," the Doors remained consistently intriguing even when their songs didn't, a feat largely credited to Morrison and his volatile personality. Eventually, Morrison's hard living caught up to him--he died in Paris at only 27 years of age, leaving behind a legacy that would inspire countless younger musicians.

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