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The Doors Album: “Full Circle”
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Release Date:1972-07-01
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Classic Rock, Oldies, Cover Art
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Label:
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Explicit Lyrics:Yes
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UPC:055960833175
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Review - :
{^Full Circle} (1972) is definitely an appropriate name for this last project of original material to be issued under {$the Doors} moniker. After the loss of {$Jim Morrison} the previous year, the remaining trio culled their respective ideas -- some of which had been gathering dust in anticipation of {$Morrison}'s reappearance. Once that wasn't an option, {$John Densmore} (drums/vocals), {$Ray Manzarek} (keyboards/bass pedals/vocals) and {$Robbie Krieger} (guitar/vocals) completed {^Other Voices} (1971). Ultimately, the album made it into the Top 40 rock survey less than six months after {^L.A. Woman} (1971) -- {$the Doors}' final studio release with {$Morrison}. While there are a handful of undeniably remarkable cuts scattered throughout, {^Full Circle} is increasingly sporadic and less focused than its predecessor. Case in point is the somewhat dated 'Age Of Aquarius' anthem {&"Get Up and Dance"} that kicks off the platter. {$Krieger}'s {&"4 Billion Souls"} is a happy little ditty about global survival and ecology, proclaiming "Don't cha see that we could be the first in history/leaving all that we don't need behind". Among the highlights is the slinky blues {&"Verdilac"} with {$Manzarek} conjuring up voodoo and {$Charles Lloyd} (flute/tenor sax) making his first of two guest appearances on {^Full Circle} during the tasty jazz-fusion informed instrumental section between the verses. The whimsical {&"Hardwood Floor"} is sonically stamped by {$Manzarek}'s jangle piano. Instead of being a psychedelic anachronism as heard on {&"Love Her Madly"} and {&"You Make Me Real"}, it comes off as comparatively lightweight. A similar fate befalls the cover of {$Roy Brown}'s R&B jump classic {&"Good Rocking Tonight"} -- titled simply {&"Good Rocking"}. While there is nothing ostensibly wrong with the performance, it fails to catch fire and the lack of inspiration gives the track a sense of being little more than filler. {&"The Mosquito"} is an undeniably peculiar recording and it is difficult to conceive what {$Jim Morrison} could or would have been able to bring to lyrics such as "No man molest a mosquito/just let me eat my burrito". The centerpiece of the number is the nearly four-minute jam tacked on at the end. {$Manzarek}'s impassioned electric organ, {$Densmore}'s tricky timekeeping and {$Krieger}'s transcendent string work are all worth mentioning as the intensity of their interplay hearkens back to former glories. {&"The Piano Bird"} was co-penned by {$Manzarek} and {$Jack Conrad} (bass) and is the second selection to include contributions by {$Charles Lloyd} (flute). The laidback and Zen {&"It Slipped My Mind"} is fairly lackluster with the exception of the quirky melody and very tasty and trippy runs from {$Krieger}. {$Manzarek}'s musical multi-cultural fairytale of {&"The Peking King and the New York Queen"} concludes the disc with an ode to the Aquarian Age of racial harmony and a touch of 'We Are The World' thrown in for good measure. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
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