The The Doors

CD1: 1-2 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 15th march 1967; 3 CBC TV Studio, Toronto, 14th September 1967; 4-5 CBS TV Studios, LA (Ed Sullivan Show) 17th September 1967; 6-7 CBS TV Studio (Jonathan Winters Show) 27th December 1967; 8-9 Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 4th December 1968; 10-15 Critique TV Show, recorded 28th April 1968; CD2: Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden 20th September 1968; CD3: Cobo Arena, ~Detroit, 8th May 1970, FM Radio Broadcast; CD4: Center Coliseum, Seattle, 5th June 1970, FM Radio Broadcast; CD5: PNE Coliseum Vancouver, 6th June 1970, FM Radio Broadcast 4th July 1992; CD6: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, 21th July 1972, FM Radio Broadcast.

A tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock history, introducing the band's fusion of rock, blues, classical, jazz, and poetry with a knock-out punch. The lean, spidery guitar and organ riffs interweave with a hypnotic menace, providing a seductive backdrop for Jim Morrison's captivating vocals and probing prose…

The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals; with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger. The group never added a bass player, and their sound was dominated by Manzarek's electric organ work and Morrison's deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang and intoned his highly poetic lyrics…

Ideally, one would avoid compilations of the Doors' work, except perhaps for the hit singles and moments when one wanted very light listening. This was a band that took itself very seriously, almost to the point of self-parody at times, and their music ought to be discovered in the setting and context in which it was intended, but assuming that one needs a Doors anthology, this 18-track collection (19 on CD) is the place to start…

Enthusiasts who have fantasized about experiencing the Doors in a loose and unstructured environment get an hour-and-a-half dose of that reality in this two-disc set available through the band's own Bright Midnight Records. Although the music commences in a rather noncommittal fashion, there are a few moments of undiluted inspiration…

The Complete Studio Recordings is a seven compact disc box set by American rock group The Doors, released by Elektra on November 9, 1999. It contains six of the original eight Doors albums, digitally remastered with 24 bit, with the inclusion of stray previously unreleased tracks that had surfaced on the The Doors: Box Set series, on disc seven.