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Waiting for the Sun

The Doors - Waiting for the Sun Audio CD

A fair review of the The Doors "Waiting for the Sun" 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: Waiting for the Sun
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-03-27
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Hello, I Love You 2: Love Street 3: Not To Touch The Earth 4: Summer's Almost Gone 5: Wintertime Love 6: The Unknown Soldier 7: Spanish Caravan 8: My Wild Love 9: We Could Be So Good Together 10: Yes, The River Knows 11: Five To One 12: Albinoni's Adagio In G Minor (Bonus) 13: Not To Touch The Earth (Dialogue) (Bonus) 14: Not To Touch The Earth (Take 1) (Bonus) 15: Not To Touch The Earth (Take 2) (Bonus) 16: Celebration Of The Lizard (An Experiment/work In Progress) (Bonus

Great even in its aborted form
The suits and ties basically freaked out and the group went back to Jim's assorted poems and writings for the "remaking" of this release. This album was originally titled "Celebration of the Lizard", complete with the entire recording centered around one long concept. But it's still classic!! After all, this is the album that includes "Hello, I Love You", "Love Street", "The Unknown Soldier", "Five to One", a small section of "Celebration" and its greatest song "Not To Touch The Earth" and the unforgettable "Spanish Caravan". Even though the album includes all of these all-time Doors songs, I personally like the "in between" tunes - "Summer's Almost Gone", "We Could Be So Good Together" and the most underrated song in the Doors catalog "Yes, The River Knows". If you've ever driven through L. A. or have lived there, this song is a musical equivalent to a photograph taken on a very smoggy, hot Los Angeles afternoon. Jim sings in this strange, twisted voice and Ray plays a tinny and compressed piano. The entire song is claustrophobic and magical. Robbie's solo is beautiful. . . . . a true Doors fan has a special attachment to this album, if only for "Spanish Caravan". But I've never found a weak song on this release, which is amazing considering that the finished product was not the way the group wanted it to be. This new remaster includes the entire "Celebration" at last. For a real listening experience, track down the original vinyl version. There are only a handful of rock catalogs that are as impressive as The Doors and you can't go wrong with any of the 6 studio masterpieces. Enjoy. . . . . . .

Doors at Crossroads
As a result, the songs on "Waiting for the Sun" are not as strong as those on their first two efforts, and the group is given more to repetition of prior musical riffs. After "Strange Days," The Doors found themselves occupied with touring and other secular matters. There is (mostly) a change in tone to beauty from night-world, but the songs are all over the place, giving the album an incoherent character. Controversy was the name of the game for The Doors, and "Waiting for the Sun" had its contribution to this.

"Hello I Love You," contrary to what many believe, was not a quickly constructed pop song under pressure to achieve a #1 single. It was one of six songs submitted on demo tapes to Columbia records in 1965 that did not lead to a contract. "Hello" has been overly maligned over time, as some amusing lyrics compensate for its poppy structure. Also, guitarist Robby Krieger has stated the inspiration for its riff was Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," not The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night. " The pretty "Summer's Almost Gone," with nice slide guitar from Robby, is the other entry here from those demos.

"Not to Touch the Earth," the only part of "The Celebration of the Lizard" worth much, is the strongest track. It conveys powerful images as Jim Morrison roams through his visual wilderness supported by hard-driving and menacing music. The group displays its talents in achieving a colorful bleakness: e. g. , "rugs silent, mirrors vacant"). The plan had been to include the entire "Celebration," but that was bagged in favor of merely including the lyrics on the vinyl sleeve. Now, the original plan is realized through the bonus tracks (see below).

Morrison wrote two more strong songs. "The Unknown Soldier," another solid theater piece, has artistic antiwar lyrics by Morrison (but its instrumental line sounds like "My Eyes Have Seen You"). "Love Street," biographical of Jim's love Pamila Courson, is a very pretty and evocative ballad, with a musical chorus that seems like a rework of "The Crystal Ship. "

Morrison's political "Five to One" lacks musical refinement, but it has some memorable lines like "no one here gets out alive. " The a cappella "My Wild Love" takes us nowhere special, and the weak "We Could Be So Good Together" (with traces of "Break on Through") is one of the worst Doors songs ever.

If some of the above sounded "un-Doors-like," Robby Krieger's songs were even more so. Still, the pretty flamenco "Spanish Caravan" was often played in concert. "Yes, the River Knows" is a ballad that is somewhat distended, but it does have pretty guitar lines. The schmaltzy waltz "Wintertime Love," if (certainly) not the group's worst song, is perhaps its most un-Doors-like song as Ray dishes out non-minor-note harpsichord.

Bonus Tracks: Among the reworked CDs of the Doors' six studio albums, "Waiting for the Sun" offers the best bonus tracks. "Albinoni's Adagio" is very pretty, and the "Lizard King" gives us more to Celebrate with. This CD has interesting alternate takes of "Not to Touch the Earth" that do not sound just like the original. Then, there is finally a "studio" version of the Celebration. But it is the "Absolutely Live" version that is the true "studio" version: It is the one we know, structured more plainly and tightly performed. The bonus version is more free-flowing than its predecessor. Its streaming instrumentation meanders more, with more sound variety. The level of originality and adventure, beauty and menace, is increased in this version. The Doors and their reptilian leader cruise to new "cool air heights. "
.

Remixed for modern ears
There's reverb cranked up like crazy. This album, like all the remixes, is way over produced. Jim's voice is double tracked in places where it wasn't before. Stuff that was not meant to be heard in the original (like morrison humming in Wintertime) is mixed up to the front.

The new mixes lack the power of the originals. The Doors were a live band and this stuff lacks that sense of a live, raw performance. Like many "special editions" that seek to "improve" on the original, I can only hope that the originals will remain available along side the new takes. In a few years people will want them as bad as they want the untouched Star Wars movies now.

Waiting For The Sun
Not sure why but it is just a fantastic organic record. The Doors-Waiting For The Sun ****

Waiting For The Sun, Morrison's love album is often concidered the Doors worst album by many, when I must say I listen to Waiting For The Sun more than any other Doors album. Not quite the over the top fiasco that The Soft Parade is though it does feel very bipolar. Some of the strangest sounding songs in the bands career can be found here along side some of their most normal linear tracks.

'Hello, I Love You' and 'Not To Touch The Sun' along side tracks like 'Summers Almost Over' sounds a bit uneven and is really the only reason why I will not give Waiting For The Sun a higher rating than a four star. Because really on a personal level many of my favorite Doors songs can be found right here. The Psychedelic portrait of American society in 1968 'The Unknown Soldier' was one of the most graphic songs of it's kind and time, but than again this is coming from the man who wrote 'The End' easily the most taboo track in rock history so this does lay pretty tame in comparison.

'Yes, The River Knows' is a whisky soaked ballad sung in the most honest voice Morrison ever knew, while 'Love Street' is fun yet still full of longing. 'We Could Be So Good Together' is a plea for Morrison to find the love he at the time felt he lost in his then common law wife Pamela after he found her with another man. On 'Five To One' we find once again Morrison professing his love for her as the rest of his band and management try to tare them apart claiming she wasn't good for him.

While this really is Morrison's love album, Krieger and Manzarek both equally make large contributions. Kriegers guitar work on the flamenco flavoured 'Spanish Caravan' is out of this world and one of his greatest achievements as is the albums closer 'Five To One' which contains his greatest ever solo. Manzarek for the first time ditches the odd key and synth sounds in search of a more organic and natural piano sound, and surprisingly it works here.

Waiting For The Sun is far from the the greatest release the Doors made but for a serious fan it is a must have.

Remix Rouses Suspicion
I'll take the original mix any day. Despite the fact that this is a great album, I was highly disappointed to learn that I'd received a new re-mixed version. What's with the double-tracked Morrison vocal on "Love Street"? Ugghhh. . . If you're not so picky you'll probably enjoy it and the many bonus tracks included.

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.