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Morrison Hotel

The Doors - Morrison Hotel Audio CD

A fair review of the The Doors "Morrison Hotel" 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: Morrison Hotel
Rating:

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

Tracks: 1: Roadhouse Blues 2: Waiting For The Sun 3: You Make Me Real 4: Peace Frog 5: Blue Sunday 6: Ship Of Fools 7: Land Ho! 8: The Spy 9: Queen Of The Highway 10: Indian Summer 11: Maggie M'gill 12: Talking Blues (Bonus) 13: Roadhouse Blues (11/4/69, Takes 1-3) (Bonus) 14: Roadhouse Blues (11/4/69, Take 6) (Bonus) 15: Carol (11/4/69) (Bonus) 16: Roadhouse Blues (11/5/69, Take 1) (Bonus) 17: Money Beats Soul (11/5/69) (Bonus) 18: Roadhouse Blues (11/5/69, Takes 13-15) (Bonus) 19: Peace Frog (False Starts & Dialogue) (Bonus) 20: The Spy (Version 2) (Bonus) 21: Queen Of The Highway (Jazz Version) (Bonus)

ok album.....not as good as 1971's "Other Voices"

But with all the bonus material, it will be a seller. This is probably the weakest Doors album (and I include the 2 non Jom Morrison albums in the mix).
I honestly for one would rather listen to the Doors 1971 "Other Voices" than this album, but let the rock and roll crowd just marvel over Jim Morrsion as if he was some great artist and listen to this album, which is ok, but not one of their best.

fractal's morrison hotell reviw
Little did I know it only had 3. I am a music lover and performer and I collect CDs and thought it would be cool to have Morrison hotel with 8 new tracks. One track I have already. I have an early copy of Morrison hotel CD with out the extra tracks, as well as this one. It's interesting to listen to all of the new stuff, on this CD, but it's not the original many of us grew up with. I will give that the music sounds fuller on my surround sound stereo. But the vocal on the first song (road house) has a horrible echo and it is very odd. I thought it was my stereo, so I turned off the surround sound on it, and the vocal was still over affected and sounded horrible. The rest of the CD sounds really good but as for growing up on this stuff it kind of ruins it. The remastering on this copy gives it a cool spin on this old gem, but leaves a bad taste in my mouth. In short; Road House, Land Ho have over affected and corny vocals. Indian summer and queen of the highway sound awesome almost better. Then there are the extra tracks, these are out takes and mess-ups. These are cool to hear how they recorded road house, but almost too much road house. The others sound really cool, they add to the value. I'll keep this one for the nostalgia. The booklet has awesome facts witch adds to the value, and this is why I give it 3 out of 5.

This new trend of adding things to classic albums, like this, really treads on a fine line. When they add to the songs some times they make it a bit sappy. The Read Hot Chilly Peppers Mothers Milk is one they ruined badly! It was ruined by adding the extra parts; it made the album sappy, and made me uneasy. I don't know what it is with this new trend of adding new things to some of these old classics, it's a shame. some times it's cool to add a spin to a old song we hear 1,000 times, but when they start adding some of this new stuff like the techno beat added to the Who song I heard on TV. It left a bad taste again. I understand it's cool to update these songs and making them modern and its cool making remixes, but I hope these songs don't become the norm.
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Doors Move in a New Direction
Rather than psychedelic blues and haunting, sensuous dark melodies, "Morrison Hotel" is straight-up hard rock and blues. "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe" was the first Doors album I bought, and I was struck by how different it sounded from its predecessors. This album was partly a response to criticism of the gradual softening of the group's sound that climaxed with "The Soft Parade. "

The Doors immediately re-establish their power with the opener, "Roadhouse Blues. " One of their greatest tracks ever, it features Ray Manzarek on banging piano, Robby Krieger dishing out staccato guitar licks, and guest John Sebastian kicking in with country/blues harmonica. Jim Morrison sings about an L. A. roadhouse and bungalows, meals, and beer: "Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel. " Jim is autobiographical, too: "The future's uncertain, the end is always near. "

The first part of "Peace Frog/Blue Sunday," the next-strongest entry, is about "blood in the streets," with reference to Jim's New Haven bust, but also "phantastic LA. " Complemented by a single funky motif, Jim's lyrics are peppered with strong visual images, and again self-realization: "blood on the rise, it's following me. " Robby contributes a great solo, and Jim makes his famous reference to his childhood car-crash experience: "Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding/ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind. " Also top notch is "Ship of Fools," a smooth rocker in which Ray gets in a good solo and Jim's commentary remains primarily negative.

"Waiting for the Sun" finally makes it onto a Doors' LP after a two-album delay, with strong riffs and Jim's dramatic singing. The opening signature/motif to "You Make Me Real" is an only slightly altered version of that of "Twentieth Century Fox," but the songs sound far different. With Ray's "Screaming Ray Daniels" piano, The Doors sound like black artists here more than on any of their songs. This completes vinyl LP Side 1, or "Hard Rock Caf�," which the restaurant chain scooped up.

The second half, "Morrison Hotel," is weaker than "Hard Rock Caf�," pulled down by its forgettable closer "Maggie McGill. " The best track, "Queen of the Highway," concerns Jim's love interest Pamela Courson and mixes in things like midnight whirlpools and images of Americana. Robby leads a good instrumental charge, but the song structure is akin to spoken-word. Jim's "The Spy" is decent but uninteresting cocktail lounge music in which Jim's "eyes have seen you" again. "Land Ho" is a fair sea shanty, but one of the least Doors'-like songs the group ever recorded. Finally, "Indian Summer" is a beautiful slow ballad, but short and repetitive.

Lyrically "Morrison Hotel" is very strong, very American, and very autobiographical for Jim. That helps make it acceptable to those who may have expected a more Doors-like sound but didn't get it. I kept the faith, and eventually, "Morrison Hotel" grew on me.

Bonus tracks: There is a substantial amount of bonus material, including an alternate version of "The Spy," which is really good. The choppy "Roadhouse Blues" entries, both fragmented and extended, will interest those who like the song, and yours truly is one. Still, the total amount of time spent makes me feel chugged out. Other material is mostly false starts and cut-outs.
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Oh man the extras
If your a doors fan as I am and have this on vinyl you will want to pick up this for the future. This is a reissued cd and full of bonus tracks. And what a great price. .

Its Pretty Good
Containing classics like Roadhouse Blues and Waiting For The Sun i recommend this album for only the big Doors fans. After the craziness of The Soft Parade, The Doors came back and recorded Morrison Hotel certinaly not one of there best albums but its pretty good.

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.