Strange Days - The Doors 2nd album, 50th anniversary

How the Doors Stumbled Into 'Strange Days' »

...the above article does not mention anything about the 50th anniversary , actually it's a couple years old, it's an article about the doors second album...

....any thoughts about this years 50th anniversary release later this year.....

 

...if I remember correctly, Robbie Krieger wrote "your lost little girl" before joing the doors....

 

...some articles....

The Doors Strange Days: We Want the World... - Best Classic Bands »

The Doors: the story of Strange Days and the madness of Jim Morrison »

Strange Days »

Making of Strange Days: The Recording Sessions »

Inside the Doors' Classic Strange Days Cover »

 

Search engine...good ideas in this thread:

Strange Days by The Doors: What would you like to see on it for the 50th Anniversary Box set? »

 

Life magazine’s critic Albert Goldman was so stunned by what he saw in The Doors that he switched overnight from writing about jazz to covering the emerging rock scene.

Great album, but it obviously has a lot to answer for.

 

Interesting article that details how the album 'died' because the 2 singles released from it weren't big hits.

I'll never forget how disappointed I was in 1967 to hear 'People Are Strange' as the follow-up to 'Light My Fire'. The sonically-thin piano-based recordings of PAS and 'Love Me Two Times', coupled with some weak musical and lyrical hooks, condemned those two singles to failure. They were interesting 'deep' tracks or B-sides, not hit singles, in the same way that 'Crystal Ship' was. After LMF, the failure to capitalize on Ray's signature Vox Continental sound was, IMHO, a major mistake. It could have masked some of the commercial deficiencies in the material itself.

 

The Doors' Robby Krieger Sheds Light — Album by Album — on One of Rock’s Most Mysterious Bands »

...great interview with Robby Krieger. I look forward to reading his book when it's published ...

 

can't wait for the second sampler of the Matrix

 

Don't get your hopes up

 

Literally nothing you say here makes sense to me. PAS & LMTT are not hit singles or catchy?? What universe is this?

 

However, there are some real odd statements throughout. Regarding Jim Morrison: "The music was all he lived for." Seriously? He can't believe that nonsense. Or the statement during the LA Woman portion of the interview asserting the band was a sinking ship and couldn't play anywhere after Miami? They released Morrison Hotel, released a double live album, Elektra negotiated another album (which became LA Woman) and played numerous dates later in 1969 and toured in 1970 in major markets and arenas for the Morrison Hotel album.

 

Their tour schedule post Miami for 1969/1970 show significantly less activity compared to 1967/1968
The Doors Concert Dates & Info 1965-1972 »

 

The story about the "lost" 1st LP version of "Moonlight Drive" is bogus--Bruce Botnick played the multitracks on the Classic Albums documentary of the debut album.

 

Were you there in 1967 when these were released?

The public reaction then was underwhelming.

A follow-up single to monster #1 hit "Light My Fire" that just barely reaches #10, and then a subsequent release that struggles to reach #25...those are not hit singles. They are, as I said, worthy fodder for deep tracks and B-sides. They did not set the world on fire in 1967-1968. OTOH, "Hello, I Love You" was an instant #1 smash hit.

Some things are obvious.

That's the universe I live in.

 

If you want to make a certain point on this forum, you describe a song 'storming into the charts at a whopping #10'.

Whereas if you want to make a different point, the same song 'struggles to barely reach a pathetic #10'.

 

I remember being disappointed with People Are Strange when it came out. However, Light My Fire was a tough act to follow. I did like the Strange Days album very much, though.

 

Ha, that's fair. What I meant to address was that PAS & LMTT were not catchy pop tunes. I wasn't there in 1965 but when I did first hear the Doors 'Love Me Two Times' was so hooky to my ears it was crazy, I literally felt my taste in music change.
I do see that these tunes maybe didn't follow the epic promise that was 'Light My Fire'.
And you're right: they have that sleeper B side sound, the type of tunes I tend to prefer!

 

...to me, this interview came off pretty good. Robby seems to be sharing more of his own memory of his past with The Doors....

 

True, but it isn't as if the band was blacklisted from performing, which makes Krieger's statement completely inaccurate.

 

...I believe, right after the maimi concert their touring schedule came to an almost complete stop. The aquarious shows were covered by Electra....

 

I remember "Morrison Hotel" going to the cutout bins by the end of 1970, "Absolutely Live" didn't do very well, when "LA Woman" was released, it was well-received by FM radio, but AM radio wasn't universally enthusiastic about "Love Her Madly", some stations weren't playing it. "LAW" sales really took off when Jim Morrison died, not all that surprising. Nearly forgotten in this chain of releases was the "best of" (to that point) collection "Thirteen", released just before Christmas 1970.

 

True, there were initial cancellations, but Robby infers that after Miami, they couldn't play anywhere, which is a complete misrepresentation of what occurred, considering they did play additional shows in 1969 and throughout 1970.

 

I saw Absolutely Live in cutout bins before LA Woman came out. Didn't know Love Her Madly wasn't accepted in some areas. It was huge in my area.

 

I was a huge fan of Light My Fire. It pissed me off no end that much of the 1967 Top40 radio play was the edited version. (Fortunately, I was starting to listen to FM radio around this time, so I did get to enjoy the full, legitimate version until I got my own copy of the album.)

Anyway, despite my love of the sound of LMF and the rest of the debut album, I have always enjoyed Strange Days even more (even Horse Latitudes). Today, I feel that the songs are stronger and a more cohesive statement (your statement of weak hooks has me scratching my head). Back then (age 13), I was simply happy to have more of the Doors. There wasn't any disappointment at all. And I can't be sure, but the songs you mentioned probably did better in the local L.A. market than nationally.

 

I was a big fan of Light My Fire. And when I got the LP, I loved Break On Through, 20th Century Fox, Take It As It Comes, and especially The Crystal Ship. (pretty much the whole album, actually). I felt they took a giant leap through the doors they opened and created something extraordinary with Strange Days. I didn't miss Ray's organ tones and found the music overall much deeper, exploring previously uncharted musical territory and lyrically presenting a world of their own, unlike anything anyone else was doing. I felt (and still feel) that this LP stands head and shoulders above the 1st, and it's my favorite Doors album. I didn't feel let down by People Are Strange or Love Me Two Times, and none of my friends did, either.We were all thrilled to go along for the ride.