The first thing you hear on the soundtrack CD to the film When You're Strange is the faux-English accent of one Johnny Depp (he reads Jim Morrison's poetry between tracks on the CD). Apparently, Johnny Depp is English now. To be fair, he only lapses into it, but it's hard to pretend it's not there. I guess it makes sense that they chose Depp to narrate the film as he loves The Doors, he too is a superstar and (like the latter day Morrison) he lives in France (which makes the English accent even more mystifying). It's obvious from the passion heard in Depp's voice that he's totally into being involved in this project. And who wouldn't want him involved in their movie?
The CD is the soundtrack to the recent Doors documentary, When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors. The reviews that I've seen for the film have been mixed.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for you), I haven't seen the film for which this soundtrack exists, but I've loved The Doors since Love Her Madly was a hit (the organ reminded of The Theme from The Munsters!). I read the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive immediately when it was published. I remember actually liking Jim Morrison less after reading it (he came off as quite a bit of a jerk to me), but I've since tempered my opinion of him (I'm older and less wise, I guess). Obviously, this paragraph serves to show that I've been a Doors fan for a long time. Oh; I went to see Riders On the Storm last time they hit Cleveland (Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger's touring outfit).
I highly recommend this CD. True, if you're a super-Doors fan, you probably have all this stuff, but if you just love them, you'll dig this one. The soundtrack caters to my personal taste as it contains some live cuts, even including the infamous Sullivan show performance where Jim infuriated the host by using the word 'high' throughout Light My Fire (he had promised otherwise, of course). Also included are performances from the Isle of Wight, New York City (1970) and one from Danish TV. Musically, the CD is evened out by the standard greatest hits you would expect.
Besides the poetry (all by Morrison and read intermittently by Depp and Morrison himself), interview excerpts are present by all four band members. One excerpt by Morrison made me laugh out loud (Track 14. You'll have to hear it.). The interviews that are included display the seriousness with which the band took its music. They understood that many saw them as any pop band, but they themselves were working toward something more than that.
It all congeals into a fun and interesting listen. The music is top-notch of course, and the soundbites add insight into the band. Something new? No, but it's a more interesting listen than just another greatest hits or the poetry-laden An American Prayer.
The CD insert includes notes by various folks, including Mr. Depp. Since he's on there, it's nice to hear what he has to say about the proceedings. The book folds out into a poster for the film, I guess, to remind us that there's a potential movie ticket (or DVD) to purchase. Despite my supposed cynicism, I will be doing just that.
The CD is the soundtrack to the recent Doors documentary, When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors. The reviews that I've seen for the film have been mixed.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for you), I haven't seen the film for which this soundtrack exists, but I've loved The Doors since Love Her Madly was a hit (the organ reminded of The Theme from The Munsters!). I read the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive immediately when it was published. I remember actually liking Jim Morrison less after reading it (he came off as quite a bit of a jerk to me), but I've since tempered my opinion of him (I'm older and less wise, I guess). Obviously, this paragraph serves to show that I've been a Doors fan for a long time. Oh; I went to see Riders On the Storm last time they hit Cleveland (Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger's touring outfit).
I highly recommend this CD. True, if you're a super-Doors fan, you probably have all this stuff, but if you just love them, you'll dig this one. The soundtrack caters to my personal taste as it contains some live cuts, even including the infamous Sullivan show performance where Jim infuriated the host by using the word 'high' throughout Light My Fire (he had promised otherwise, of course). Also included are performances from the Isle of Wight, New York City (1970) and one from Danish TV. Musically, the CD is evened out by the standard greatest hits you would expect.
Besides the poetry (all by Morrison and read intermittently by Depp and Morrison himself), interview excerpts are present by all four band members. One excerpt by Morrison made me laugh out loud (Track 14. You'll have to hear it.). The interviews that are included display the seriousness with which the band took its music. They understood that many saw them as any pop band, but they themselves were working toward something more than that.
It all congeals into a fun and interesting listen. The music is top-notch of course, and the soundbites add insight into the band. Something new? No, but it's a more interesting listen than just another greatest hits or the poetry-laden An American Prayer.
The CD insert includes notes by various folks, including Mr. Depp. Since he's on there, it's nice to hear what he has to say about the proceedings. The book folds out into a poster for the film, I guess, to remind us that there's a potential movie ticket (or DVD) to purchase. Despite my supposed cynicism, I will be doing just that.
The Doors. Once a big fan, no I am ambivilant.
ReplyDeleteWhen Morrison died I was just a little kid listening to The Archies and The Partridge Family. The only way the music of The Doors made it's way into my suburban home was by way of Jose Feliciano's breezy take on Light My Fire.
AM radio introduced me to the hits, songs like Hello, I Love You and Love Her Madly come to mind. During that time though I was also hearing Neil Young, Lou Reed, David Bowie, The Who, Todd Rundgren, and the best R&B ever, all for the first time. The Doors hit singles didn't stack up or make a big impression. It would be few years later, when I switched away from AM over to FM, that I began to appreciate the Doors. That was when free form FM radio played the deep cuts. Crystal Ship, When The Music's Over, Moonlight Drive. These were dark and mysterious songs. Dangerous sounding. Now I was intrigued, now I wanted to hear more.
I found the band's eponymous debut at a garage sale for a dollar. From Side one Track one I was captivated. Break On Through (To The Other Side). Damn right, lets go. I didn't know what was on the other side, but I was pretty sure it wasn't anything my parents wanted me see. Twentieth Century Fox? The perfect soundtrack to raging male hormones, with it's loopy guitar riff leading into rhythmic foot stomps and pounding drums. The lusty organ lines wrapped around it all as the Lizard King syncopates the syllables and stretches the words he uses to describe the object of his and every man's desire, "the queen of cool, the lady who waits" Fittingly enough it crecendos and finishes a mere 2 1/2 minutes later. The next track, Alamba Song, is filled with sounds unlike anything in my record collection at the time. It throws together bells, an old fashion pump organ, a toy piano. It sounds like an old fashioned sing a long, something my Slavic grandmother and her sisters would listen to, were it not for the lyrics about death, a missing mother, whiskey and girls. Little girls at that. 3 songs later and we reach The End. What the...? Kill who? You want to do what to your mother?! Enough has been written and said about this 11 minute monster. I would just add this. Keith Partridge would NOT think or say that about Shirley.
The Doors is among the best, and perhaps is the best debut album of all time. It is also the one and only truly great album the band would make. Along the way I continued to pick up most of the rest and was dissapointed most of the time.. And, like you, read the biography which was even more disappointing. Not as dissapointing as The Soft Parade album though, which was just embarrasing.
I still like the music for the most part, which means I don't change the station when they come on the radio. The radio is the only place I hear them though. My ambivilance is best revealed by the fact that I never replaced any of the vinyl LPs with CDs and I have never downloaded a single recording of The Doors. I did get a copy of that Jose Feliciano album though. Not for Light My Fire mind you,but because I love his version of Sunny and Always Something there to remind me. Life comes full circle I guess
These are all really fantastic, Rob. I hope you keep 'em coming. Looking forward to your next reviews.
ReplyDelete