I thought they were amazing when I was sixteen and striving for significance. Not so keen these days. It all gets a bit po-faced and the deification of Jim Morrison and his dire poetry is a bit embarrassing. But there are still gems in there, and itâs interesting that the lightweight poppier numbers have held up much more strongly than the weighty epics. Peace Frog, Touch Me, Love Street, and Break On Through are absolute bangers.
Like many, I suspect, they were a defining bands of my late teens when I got sold on their âmysticismâ and listened to them a hell of a lot.
Whilst havenât played any of their albums for a good while, Iâve never actually fallen out of love with them. In fact I was watching that Laurel Canyon documentary the other day and the section on them made me want to dive back in again.
My uncle gave me a copy of LA Woman when I was about 16, because I was digging into lots of 60s and 70s music. All âthisâll change your perception of what music can beâ.
I hated it then, and I hate it now.
The End works well in Apocalypse Now, but thatâs not enough to drag them off a 1/5.
Theyâre great. I love all that 60s nonsense though. Gimme pretension poetry in Morrisonâs incredible voice any day. And musically they have a unique sound, some bangers, some stoner jams, some weird experiments.
One of my parents favourite bands so listened to them a lot growing up. Not a band I listen to much these days, but on the occasions I do Iâm quite surprised by how well it stands up. Mad how much they released given his early death.
I loved The Doors when I was 15. They are the quintessential 15 year old boyâs band. I recognise them as faintly absurd now but the singles are fun and the last two albums (where Morrison partly abandoned his doomed search for poetic profundity) hold up well. LA Woman is musically brilliant. 3.
A 3 I think, maybe a 4. Was really into them when I was about 16/17 but canât remember the last time I purposefully put them on. Some absolutely brilliant singles on that list but was never a huge fan of the more experimental psych stuff. 4 I think, why not.
