Poll: The Doors' Greatest Epic

I took almost a 35-years long break from listening to the band before rebuilding my catalog last year. In some ways I appreciate them even more than I did as a teen. They were a multi-faceted group, grinding out pop, psych, garage, blues etc.

But their main calling card might have been the epic songs they recorded... in some ways, they pass a fleeting resemblance to, say, Townshend's mini-opera "A Quick One (While He's Away)" but the Doors epic pieces were unique unto themselves. For one, they harbored a menace that was perculiar solely to the Doors. Yes, the Velvet Underground also dabbled in darkness, but it was more a personal and/or cultural decadence whereas the Doors were more concerned with the metaphysical.

Nobody did - or has done - epics like Morrison & Co. Not that all succeeded. But the best of them still shine a half-century later. So, make a case for their best epic piece.

 

The End. It's as fresh sounding and disturbing now as it was 50 years ago and I was around when it was first released on the Door's debut. To say that The End perfectly fit the times would be an understatement, It's dark tone echoing perfectly with the out of control Vietnam crisis. And it's Freudian references resonated with many students of psych at that time.

The song was never welcomed by the Flower Power people of the Summer of Love because it was too violent and regarded by many as "a bad trip" and "a bummer". However, the End is still a classic epic that can be listened to today while most people cringe at listening to the psychedelia that was released back at the same time.

 

I vote for When the Music's Over. It's well constructed, features dynamics and caesuras, has the "spook" in reams and epitomizes the band for me.

The End of course has the Oedipal section that still startles the eternal teen in us all... but a lot of it meanders and fizzles out."The blue bus" goes nowhere and "the west is best" and "ride the snake"... well, I guess you not only had to be there, but you had to be there high. And I have partaken of Jim's favorite substance circa '66 and I still don't buy that imagery. Tip of the hat to Robbie for his tip of the hat to label mates, the Butterfield Blues Band, though. Bloomfield's modal experiments on East-West were obviously on Robbie's mind when he devised The End's chord progressions etc.

 

Celebration of the Lizard could have been their greatest epic but alas it seems their reach exceeded their grasp. The studio version collapsed under the weight of deadlines missed and indecision on the band's part compounded by a writer/singer unable to handle success. The live version presented on Absolutely Live comes close but it's a tad ramshackle. It's too bad they didn't renter the studio around that time to try and capture it on tape but the moment had seemingly passed. Maybe they were gun shy after their previous attempts had failed.

 

For me When the music's over is the doors epic. I sort of expect the end to win the poll, but for me When the music's over may be the ultimate Doors song. It incorporates just about every aspect of the Doors styling and is quite an astonishing piece of work

 

L.A. Woman. Not really "epic", but it's the song I like best out of the lot.
(The 45 lp is outstanding btw.)

 

The Soft Parade has some interesting moments but overall doesn't gel. For one thing, it's downright jolly in places. And who wants jolly from the Doors?

LA Woman. Now this is more like it. Eerie and nasty in spots, this is where I see them heading in the 70s. Unfortunately, overplayed on classic rock radio to the point where I change the station if it comes on.

Riders on the Storm. Cocktail music... isn't that what Rothchild said when he washed his hands of the band on this album? One can't blame him. Some of Morrison's worst lyrics... doggerel. "Squirming like a toad"? Sheesh. But obviously Rothchild and I were wrong. This song is beloved 50-years on.

 

It's totally epic. Morrison takes you on a journey, the very definition of epic. From the length to the structure to the subject matter.

 

Exactly my thoughts because it never seems as long as it actually is. 7:51? Really? The speeding up and guitar solo at the end if the "Mr Mojo rising" part is one of the top magical moments in recorded history.

 

L.A. Woman, for me.

 

Riders is the one of their songs that really still works for me though I'm not sure I ever would have called it an epic. Thought the LP version of LMF might have made list.

 

i did exactly the same thing with the doors. I loved them bordering on obsession when I was young and then left them alone for a long time. I bought the perception box and enjoy them on a normal kind of level now

 

Of all The Doors songs their most epic has to be Riders On The Storm for me. Haunting, unique and catchy much the same as Jim Morrison the man was.

 

I wouldn’t call the last 2 epics.
Picked When the Music’s Over. Always liked it more than The End, but for different reasons obviously.

 

All mentioned choices are great though I wouldn't call L.A. Woman and especially Riders on the Storm epics.

My choice is The End. First of all, pure transcendence. If you want to call Morrison the shaman - that's where to start. Also, it's their first (at least recorded) epic. I'm not saying that later they tried to copy but success of The End definitely paved a road towards their later epics.

 

The End.

the end.

 

Soft Parade is my favorite Doors song.

 

I chose The End because in my youth it provided soundtrack to our trips. One of the coolest songs ever made. Indian influenced song that slowly builds to a beautiful peak.

 

Didn't include LMF because while it is long its lyrics aren't overtly epic, i.e. they don't denote a journey of some kind or other, which was my basic criteria. And while you can argue that Riders doesn't fit that definition, if you squint hard enough it does (a killer on the road etc.) for the purpose of this poll.

 

Saw a performance of The Doors playing WTMO in black & white on a music station about 15 years ago while channel surfing and I still remember how shocked I was that it was so good. It froze me.

 

Probably the Copenhagen version. It is sublime.

 

I wouldn't call "LA Woman" or "Riders on a Storm" one of the Doors epic or performance songs but I would have included "The Unknown Soldier" and I might have voted for that rather than "When the Music's Over".

I liked the heavily cut version of "The End" from "Feast of Friends" but I guess people would say, probably rightly, that cutting back to the original core song is to miss the point entirely.

 

One of mine too.....I voted it. I love all the different passages it goes through.

Favorite Doors album as well as song.

 

"Riders On The Storm" is still a transcendent experience.

I love "The Celebration Of The Lizard", particularly the one on Absolutely Live, but it's a bit disjointed.

 

I love Riders On The Storm but the lyrics, for the Doors, are pretty lame. Lol!