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For a band that had such a short career The Doors continue
to fascinate the American public. Perhaps it has to do with
Jim Morrison's frequently over blown lyrically obsessions
but it probably has more to do with the insistently catchy
and innovative music that the band created. Part Velvet
Underground and parts Beatles, The Doors only recorded six
studio albums and a live album ("Other Voices" and "Full
Circle" were issued after Morrison's death as was "An American
Prayer". The latter however had Morrison reciting poetry
to new backing provided by the rest of the band) before
the band imploded and Morrison headed to France where he
drank himself to death. This collection takes the band's
back catalog (much as Rhino did the Talking Heads back catalog)
and upgrades the music with both new CD remasters and 5.1
Dolby Audio remasters (luckily on separate discs unlike
the very flawed Dual Disc set for Talking Heads that Rhino
issued and still hasn't corrected their problems with).
The audio side includes the band's original albums supplemented
by outtakes from the same time frame. The DVD includes 5.1
(remixes done by lone time engineer Bruce Botnick (original
producer Paul Rothchild died about five years ago and Botnick
acted as producer on only one Doors album "L.A. Woman" because
Rothchild was disenchanted with the band). Each disc replicates
the original artwork where possible and there are new linear
notes by a number of noted rock critics. ***
Many of the "new" songs here were originally available
on Rhino's "Essential Rarities" release of a couple of years
back. For disclosure purposes I suppose I should report
that I won one of the Jim Morrison Memorial Awards way back
when at UCLA film school. ---
Image & Sound:
First off to the sound portion of this since this is
primarily about the music. The remixes in 5.1 sound fine
I should note, however, that the older the recordings the
less stellar they sometimes sound (and trust me on this
the first two Doors albums are essential with the rest of
their catalog falling into place neatly behind). The biggest
difference for fans is the release of the band's first album
remastered at the proper speed. Since this is arguably the
band's best album that makes this essential for many fans
by itself. The CD audio quality sounds very good here but
they sounded that way on the previously reissued remasters.
***
The video clips are of varying quality due to the source
material (some from very old analog videotape) but all are
welcome additions to any Doors fan's collection. ---
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