The Doors Album: “Live in Detroit”

In 1970, shortly before they were banned from performing in the U.S., the Doors recorded several concerts in their entirety. Selections taken from these shows surfaced on the 2-disc LP "Absolutely Live", and later on the CD compilation "The Doors in Concert", which also included songs from other tours.

As is so often the case with the cut & paste jobs put together by the record companies (as with the official Stones live releases) you just don't get the impact of the entire show, and the best performances are left out.

At long last, the Doors have issued the entire concerts, including audience response and chit-chat between songs, on their specialty label, Bright Midnight. This one, recorded in Detroit, is the best of the bunch, and if you've only listened to the older releases, this will knock your socks off. "Light My Fire" is blistering (that's the only word for it) and the band has never sounded better.

This isn't a disc for the casual fan; if you want the greatest hits then the Legacy compilation is for you. But if you want to see, hear, feel, and taste just how good the Doors could be in concert, you need this CD in your collection.

...and if you ever thought the Doors weren't all they were cracked up to be --- listening to this will change your mind.

Here is 'new' Doors product that's actually worth buying. To correct an earlier reviewer, this has not been released 1,000 times. The 1970 Detroit show was one of the many concerts recorded for the Absolutely Live album, so there are portions of this performance on that release, but it's light years from a re-release in the traditional Doors sense. However, the earlier official live albums were all cut-and-pasted to create the illusion of a single show. In fact, some songs are taken from two concerts, seamlessly edited together.

Since 2000 or so, The Doors started releasing material on Bright Midnight Records, a small sub-label of Rhino. It's an outlet for the (many) unreleased live shows recorded for Absolutely Live, among other goodies (rehearsals, interviews, etc). Of course, for years they claimed these shows didn't exist, though die-hards knew better. And since then, they've begun to trickle out this excellent material. (Both Aquarius shows plus the 1970 Philadelphia show have appeared, among others).

This is basically Absolutely Live-type quality; it's the complete show from Cobo Hall, Detroit during the band's 1970 'comeback' tour, after a rocky 1969 saw them cancel many shows following the 'Miami incident'. Suffice to say, if you love the band and have been yearning for more professional, soundboard-quality live shows--complete shows--then this is a great place to start. Great energy from the band, the tour saw them return to the music without so much antics, and it shows. Check the track listing on these for your favorites, or if you're obsessive, just get them all.

Of course, The Doors continue to release the same material (how many verisons of the original albums can they possibly release?) And while there's a link on their website to Bright Midnight Records, it's not too prominent these days since they're busy promoting the 15th release of the same albums, plus the inevitable Very-Bestest-Greatestest-Hits album.

Highly recommended for Doors fans, new, old, casual, or die-hard, this is still in print and well worth it. Even if you have In Concert, Absolutely Live, or whatever other compilation, this is a complete show (important for purists) and sounds great (important for everyone).

The Doors' "Live In Detroit" (recorded live at Cobo Arena, May 1970/Bright Midnight) is a 2-disc masterpiece performed by the band during one of their true moments of clarity shortly before the band dissolved. This recording captures the band on a night when all members were truly ON!! It was recorded during the time the band was working on its "L.A. Woman" album.

Disc One contains Doors' standards, such as "Break On Through," "Alabama Song," Back Door Man," and "Five To One," all of which were woven together seamlessly - it's difficult to find a break in the music & impossible to ever hit the "Pause" or "Stop" buttons on yer player; the performance continually builds momentum with each passing song!! "When The Music's Over," also included on the first disc, is a dynamite 17-minute show-stopper!! This disc also includes "Mystery Train," "Away In India," and "Crossroads," which are Blues numbers that the band clearly enjoy mixing in their set!

Disc Two continues this lengthy performance. "Light My Fire" is a blistering version! And the remainder of this disc is A+ live Blues/Rock ("Been Down So Long," Carol," Mean Mustard Blues")!! "The End" appropriately closes the night. According to the disc's liner notes, this is the Doors' longest show ever performed, and, much to the chagrin of Cobo Arena's Union regulations, Morrison and Co. pushed the show an hour over it's scheduled midnight closing time...the audience was really lucky to be a part of this electric performance!!

The BEST Doors live album!! MOST other bands' live albums don't even stack up!!!! In a word: PHENOMENAL!!

This is a 2 disc, complete concert set. It is over 135 minutes long, with close to 2 hours of actual music. The sound quality is very good.

This is one of many concerts that the Doors recorded for use on live albums. Some of the tracks from this concert have already been availalbe on Absolutely Live, Alive She Cried and the Doors Boxset.

The sound quality, mix and editing are excellent. It is very bright and clear. What is particularly important is that the audience noise is kept to a minimum while the band is playing. This is a sharp contrast to some of the newer concert CD's, by people like Dave Matthews, where the concert noise is purposely mixed to overpower the band.

It is a great concert with excellent performances on most of the songs. Some of the songs are the best versions that I have heard, live Light My Fire, or Dead Rats/Break On Through (but was already on Absolutely Live).

The me, the outstanding track is You Make Me Real/Ship of Fools. Maybe it is because this is the first live version of it that I have heard.

There is a lot of jamming and flamboyant performances throughout this concert. There is a great mixture of blues, rock and jazz. They even play a bit My Favorite Things, just as John Coltrane used to do.

John Sebastian from the Loving Spoonful joins the band for the last hour. He adds some interesting harmonica playing, but has a pretty lousy guitar solo.

But, I disagree that these whole concert albums are better. I think compilation of the best performances is a better way to go.

First, you get a lot of repeat if own other Doors live albums. When The Music's Over and/or The End are on almost every live album, or concert ablum album the Doors have produced. Although they are both great songs, and the Doors never played them exactly the same twice, it does tend to get tedious to hear them over and over again.

Second, you get a lot of stuff you might not want to hear again. That 20 minute version of Light My Fire is really only 12 minutes long. The rest is Morrison talking to the audience and some instrument tuning. This would be great to be included in a concert video, but does not really work that well on a CD.

I think these long pauses between music really hamper the enjoyment of the music.

I think that the compilation In Concert CD (which includes Absolutely Live, Alive She Cried and others) is just as good as Live in Detroit.

I hope to see more live albums from the Doors with more variety (I don't want another version of When the Music's Over). There are many songs the Doors did live that aren't available on an official release. There's a 30 minute version of Mystery Train floating around out there that is excellent. And I would love to hear one of the live versions of LA Woman.

This is the best live album I own. Doors or no Doors.

Its abslutely the Doors at their best. Backdoor man is just 10 times more rocked up than the studio version, an the "heartbeat" like bass on When the Musics Over before the "WE WANT THE WORLD"-stuff its just crazy as the whole audience caves in to this hypnotic bass.

I could go on and on. Everyone should own this record. Its the best I have.