Morrison Hotel [Audio Fidelity]

Performer: The Doors
Artist: John Sebastian
Engineer: Bruce Botnick
Producer: Paul A. Rothchild
Distributor: Select-O-Hits

Notes: Personnel: Jim Morrison (vocals); Robbie Krieger (guitar); G. Puglese (harp); Ray Manzarek (piano, organ). Audio Remixer: Bruce Botnick. Photographer: Henry Diltz. Feted first as underground heroes, then reviled as teeny-bop stars, the Doors threw off such conundrums with this magnificent release. MORRISON HOTEL reaffirmed their blues roots, stripping away some of the psychedelia of their early releases and the orchestral ambitions that weighted albums like THE SOFT PARADE. The opener, the powerful "Roadhouse Blues," is a case in point. Based on a classic blues riff, structure, and theme ("Let it roll, baby, roll/All night long"), the song is elemental and hard driving. The album then unfolds through a succession of songs showcasing all the group members' considerable strengths. Distinctively tight instrumental playing underscores memorable material, while Jim Morrison's authoritative vocals range from the demonstrative ("Maggie McGill") to the evocative and melancholic ("The Spy"). Though the band harks back to their tingling '60s sound on "Waiting for the Sun" and "Queen of the Highway," the album's best moments, like the politically minded boogie "Peace Frog," wed edgy rock to the band's highbrow vision. MORRISON HOTEL returned the band to critical favor, and was, overall, their strongest effort since STRANGE DAYS. The Doors returned to crunching, straightforward hard rock on Morrison Hotel, an album that, despite yielding no major hit singles, returned them to critical favor with hip listeners. An increasingly bluesy flavor began to color the songwriting and arrangements, especially on the party'n'booze anthem "Roadhouse Blues." Airy mysticism was still present on "Waiting for the Sun," "Queen of the Highway," and "Indian Summer"; "Ship of Fools" and "Land Ho!" struck effective balances between the hard rock arrangements and the narrative reach of the lyrics. "Peace Frog" was the most political and controversial track, documenting the domestic unrest of late-'60s America before unexpectedly segueing into the restful ballad "Blue Sunday." "The Spy," by contrast, was a slow blues that pointed to the direction that would fully blossom on L.A. Woman. [This 40th anniversary reissue contains bonus remixes of "Roadhouse Blues" and "Waiting for the Sun."] ~ Richie Unterberger

Down Beat (p.69) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] potent blues-rock...and Morrison's vocals still compellingly and haunting authoritative, the grip is relaxed..."

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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