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The Doors - The Soft Parade Audio CD

A fair review of the The Doors "The Soft Parade" 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.

The Doors Band: The Doors
Title: The Soft Parade
Rating:
Release Date: 2009-08-18
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Tell All the People 2: Touch Me 3: Shaman's Blues 4: Do It 5: Easy Ride 6: Wild Child 7: Runnin' Blue 8: Wishful Sinful 9: Soft Parade 10: Touch Me [40th Anniversary Remix] 11: Soft Parade [40th Anniversary Remix]

This remaster parades an under rated gem from The Doors album 3 stars, remaster sound 5
The writing is inconsistent. First I have to admit that this was never my favorite Doors album. The band though decided along with their producer to tackle something they'd never done before--create an album with elaborate orchestral arrangements. On songs like "Touch Me" and the opening track the orchestra adds nice color to the band's music. Guitarist Robby Kreiger provides most of the tunes here and while he isn't the best lyricist, the music more than makes up for his shortcomings in that area. "Shaman's Blues" and "Wild Child" are two other highlights that contrast nicely with the experimentation of using a full orchestra and the rambling but fascinating title track.


Steve Hoffman completes his remastering of The Doors catalog with this album and "Morrison Hotel" (which is a strong album than this but isn't quite as varied). "The Soft Parade" has never sounded so good on CD. Hoffman does a nice job with the album and provides us with two bonus tracks for comparison--the remixed versions of "The Soft Parade", "Touch Me" from the recently remixed/remastered effort by original engineer Bruce Botnick. It's nice to compare the two and while the remixes sound really good, I prefer the original analog two track masters as presented here to the remixes. They have a bit more punch and character.

Interestingly, if you look at the sound waves there does appear to be some peak limiting on the track "Touch Me" but unless you listen for it very carefully you might not hear it (you'd have to listen to it on exceptional equipment). Nevertheless, "The Soft Parade" sounds exceptionally good. I haven' heard an explanation as to WHY it appears that some peak limiting appears to be going on when the packaging mentions that no peak limiting has been used.

We get a booklet with the original lyrics included as part of the package as well. This is available in a limited numbered edition so if you are a big Doors fan you'll probably want to snatch this up as soon as possible. While it might seem redundant in the wake of the remixed/remastered catalog reissued last year, these are the best sounding versions of the original mixes I've heard. .


Steve Hoffman mastered The Doors gold discs
1 redbook CD versions. For those who love the music of The Doors, the DCC Gold Discs mastered by Steve Hoffman are the very best 16/44. Hoffman used the original master tapes for the transfers. No attempts were made unduly boost highs, mids or lows. His approach has always been primum non nocere (first do no harm). The results are true and honest. This is what audiophile recordings should be.

The only problem has been that there were only four DCC Gold Discs of The Doors recordings ("The Doors", "L. A. Woman", "Strange Days" and "Waiting For The Sun"). Now this has been remedied by the Audio Fidelity Gold Disc releases of "The Soft Parade" and "Morrison Hotel". All meticulously mastered by Steve Hoffman from the original master tapes. The results are glorious to say the least. Both numbered discs have a few bonus tracks, but that's not why I bought them.

I am grateful to own all six The Doors gold discs mastered by Hoffman. I would highly recommend purchasing both gold discs before they disappear from inventory.


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.

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