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In Concert

The Doors - In Concert Audio CD

A fair review of the The Doors "In Concert" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Doors reviews here, or go back to the The Doors tabs.

Band: The Doors
Title: In Concert
Rating:

Release Date: 1991-05-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: House Announcer 2: Who Do You Love? 3: Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) 4: Back Door Man 5: Love Hides 6: Five to One 7: Build Me a Woman 8: When the Music's Over 9: Universal Mind 10: Petition the Lord with Prayer 11: Dead Cats, Dead Rats 12: Break on Through (To the Other Side) No. 2 13: Celebration of the Lizard: Lions in the Street 14: Celebration of the Lizard: Wake Up 15: Celebration of the Lizard: A Little Game 16: Celebration of the Lizard: The Hill Dwellers 17: Celebration of the Lizard: Not to Touch the Earth - The Doors 18: Celebration of the Lizard: Names of the Kingdom 19: Celebration of the Lizard: The Palace of Exile 20: Soul Kitchen 21: Roadhouse Blues 22: Gloria 23: Light My Fire 24: You Make Me Real - The Doors 25: Texas Radio and the Big Beat 26: Love Me Two Times - The Doors 27: Little Red Rooster 28: Moonlight Drive - The Doors 29: Close to You 30: Unknown Soldier 31: End

Mixed Reviews?: An Explanation
Some reviews said the album was terrible and others said it was great. Before buying this album I looked at some of the reviews and was disappointed. Once I bought the album I came to the conclusion that it is a great album with an exception. The exception is that the average Doors fan will not benefit from the purchasing of this album as much as a passionate Doors fan would.

For example, if I were a 'greatest hits' Doors fan I would wonder why Morrison is reciting poetry in the middle of Light My Fire. I would wonder what Morrison is doing with poetry anyway and what the big deal is with The Celebration of the Lizard. A casual fan would also say: We Get It!!! You cannot petition the lord with prayer, Back Door Man is starting, and you are singing Love Me Two Times. Just why does Morrison have to scream (and shriek in Back Door Man)? Why are the songs so long? Quit it with the organ! Soul Kitchen doubled in length and The End is four minutes longer than in the studio! They should have kept every song the same length as in the studio.

As a long time Doors fan I disagree with the previous paragraph. I have always loved the poetry, the screaming (Zeppelin!!!), and the song lengths but I can see why some casual fans may not agree with my views. I gave this album four stars for that exact reason. While most albums are exclusive to fans of that band, there are some albums that are highly listen-able to any fan of that specific genre (ex. A classic rock fan to Dark Side of the Moon). An album like that, would be five stars.

I Really Liked It !!!
Bought it instead of Absolutly Live and got that and more without realizing it. I Really Liked It !!! It has some rough edges that are a plus if you like live albumns.

The fire marshall is not gonna let this show go on

The first disc and one track from the second are taken from Absolutely Live, which was producer Paul Rothchild's amazing sonic mock-up of a complete Doors show. Of the earlier live albums, this is the best release to get as it culls all of Absolutely Live, all of Alive She Cried, and a couple of other tracks (from Live at the Hollywood Bowl and American Prayer) onto two discs. Edited together from a number of shows recording in '69 and '70, it sounds like a single Doors show but apparently has "about 2,000 edits", according to Rothchild himself.

The sound quality on all of the material is excellent, particularly the AB tracks. The album runs nearly the full range of Doors material, including a full live version of Celebration of the Lizard, an amazing The End, a stonking Who Do You Love, Break On Through, and plenty more, including memorable poetry from Morrison and in-between chatting and audience banter. It all opens with the house announcer's warning from the fire marshall. . .

The Doors have been releasing a lot of excellent live material over the past decade on the Bright Midnight Records label, including most of the Absolutely Live material uncut and complete with no overdubs or trickery. Since Rothchild claimed it was difficult to get a complete take of a Doors fan (good enough for the demands of an official live LP), he resorted to the AB method. The full shows are still pretty amazing---the band was only human, anyway.

This is still recommended--specifically to more casual fans who may not want to buy all of the Bright Midnight shows or may not be as obsessed with complete shows or tapes. The song selection is excellent, just a wealth of choice material.

Great Doors live compilation
The first disc mostly contains music that was originally released as Absolutely Live in 1970. The Doors' In Concert shows the band in top form whether they're a loose jamming blues band or if they're performing theater. While Jim Morrison obviously sounds inebriated on the bluesy numbers ("Who Do You Love", "Build Me a Woman", "Alabama Song", etc), his ragged performance actually adds to the proceedings. The version of "When The Music's Over'' is very good as Robby Krieger's guitar cuts like a buzzsaw through Ray Manzarek's organ lines while John Densmore's sudden stops and starts add a lot of drama. "Celebration of the Lizard" is pure theater as the band's performance bounces from a whisper to a scream throughout under Morrison's poetic tour de force. A rousing version of "Soul Kitchen" closes Disc 1.

Much of the music on Disc 2 was released as 1983's Alive, She Cried and 1987's Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Here the band plays it a little more straight. While Jim does some nonsensical rambling on "Roadhouse Blues", this song along with "Love Me Two Times" and "You Make Me Real" don't vary much from the originals. "Texas Radio and the Big Beat" provides an intro to "Love Me Two Times" while Jim rattles off poetry during "Light My Fire" and "Moonlight Drive. " Also included are a wicked version of "Unknown Soldier" and a studio remake of Them's "Gloria" that is better than the original. The closing version of "The End" is killer, adding even more drama to the original. All told, In Concert is a great live compilation from the Doors, a band that sounded like no other.
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As good as it could be
Like Hendrix, Jimbo created an image that became a crippling anchor around his neck. Like that other great, dead rock star Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison has had his legacy grow beyond even the mythic status it was when he was alive. Doomed by his own vanity and the trappings of success, he died too young and left behind a scattershot collection of writings, recordings, and other works that have been ravenously picked over, packaged, and re-packaged for the greed and notoriety of the remaining band members. The recent deluge of live concerts, some so embarrassing one wonders just how far greed will go given the appetite of the Morrison faithful, and the senseless re-mastering of their studio catalog to the exclusion of the originals (all of which are "currently unavailable" on Amazon) demonstrate that there is no limit to the manner in which a seemingly limited body of work can be parsed and re-treaded ad nauseum to keep the money train rolling. I often wonder what Hendrix, Morrison, et al would think of the handiwork of those whom they left behind. I'm guessing they'd be ashamed and angry and they'd have every right to be.
And so, The Doors In Concert. . . as many reviews have stated, this is a combination platter of Alive She Cried and Absolutely Live with two extra cuts tacked on from the Hollywood Bowl concert. Absolutely Live is worth the price on it's own and the addition of the posthumous release Alive She Cried, a well done compilation of songs from various shows over the years, makes owning this comprehensive live document worth the extra few bucks. You get it all, Jim's audience manipulation, the tight blues and jazz vibe of the musicians, and the poetry. The songs provide a solid argument that Jim's best "poetry" was lyrics. Hearing his writings, particularly the complete Celebration of the Lizard piece, sung and set to music and delivered in Morrison's deep croon is truly the way it should be experienced. Reading his poetry without the music and the baritone delivery, as can be done via his poetry collections, only highlights the pretension and disconnected inconsistencies of his writings. The death obsessed macabre rambling in the live version of The End that closes disc two is neither brilliant nor deep, it's just silly and juvenile. Hey, I'm in my twenties and fascinated by death. . . don the black clothing and light some patchouli quick before I become self-aware. Honestly, I think Morrison himself, had he shook off his puerile need to drink himself to death and made it to his sixtieth birthday would be exceedingly embarrassed at his own overly dramatic and painfully overzealous tripe.
If it sounds like I'm knocking the group, I'm not at all. I love the Doors - the band - and I think Morrison was a great front man. This is a great live album well worth five stars and the price tag. But let's face it, as a poet Jim Morrison was one helluva great lead singer.
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You can see a complete list of all The Doors discography, or go back to the The Doors tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.