Disco de The Doors: “L.A. Woman [Japan Bonus Tracks]”

The Doors final album with Jim Morrison (they would go on to record two more albums as a trio), remains their masterpiece and belongs in every rock collection. From start to finish, the album is brilliant. It was the Doors at their absolute best. The Doors previous albums ranged from very good to classic, but their sixth album "L.A. Woman" was their crown jewel.

It's common for most bands to start out playing the blues and then evolve into a musical style/idenity all their own. In this sense, the Doors sort of evolved backwards. They started out playing crazy, psychedelic music, and then ended their career playing the blues.

"L.A. Woman" is a very bluesy album. It's not pure blues (B.B. King, Leadbelly), but it's rock tinged with blues. The band never sounded better. To be sure, the Doors albums were always terrific, but they sounded most at home with the blues. Playing blues rock brought out the best in all the Doors members. Ray Manzarek (organ) and Robby Krieger's (guitar) solos worked perfectly against a blues backdrop. Drummer John Densmore's jazzy style was also well suited for the blues.

As for Jim Morrison...I think the Jim Morrison of 1967 was best suited to sing psychedelic acid rock. His ultra-cool swagger and showmanship was the ultimate voice for such music. But the Jim Morrison of 1971 was a much different person. In four years, Morrison aged a lifetime. In 1967, he sounded and looked 23. In 1971, he looked and sounded like an old man. It's hard to believe that the same voice that sang "Light My Fire" sang "Riders on the Storm" only four years later. On "L.A. Woman," Morrison sounds worn and tired, but it matched the bluesy-jazzy downbeat music perfectly. Morrison's finest poetry was also in this swan song. Noting too obscure or bizarre to be found. It was his most honest, straightforward work.

"L.A. Woman" is simply The Doors finest collection of songs. There is no filler to be found. Each song is a jewel on The Doors crown creation. From the opening "The Changeling," to the closing "Riders on the Storm," every song is great. Whether is be the hard rocking "Love Her Madly," the downbeat "Cars His By My Window," the bohemian "The Wasp" or the sublime "Riders on the Storm," every song is a masterpiece.

The general theme of the album seems to be the underbelly of L.A. in the early 70s. The album seems to function as a snapshot/soundtrack of that time and place. It's all about living day-to-day, strung-out, alone, not knowing when it will all end. In that sense, I take "LA Woman" to be sort of like a diary in the lives of Jim and (his wife) Pam. When you listen to this album, you can feel the longing, the desperation, the torment, the addictions, of that time and place. These songs sound lived in. When you listen to Morrison's screams in the title track, or soft-spoken baritone in "Cars Hiss By My Window" you get the sense that he knew it was going to end soon. "Riders on the Strom" seems to acknowledge and accept this fate.

The Doors "L.A. Woman" is one of the greatest albums of all-time and it is an album that every rock fan should own.

This is so close to a perfect DVD-Audio disc from Warner Music that it is disappointing it isn't. The tracks have been meticulous remastered and the sound is sharp and "new". "Riders on the Storm" has the storm in all the channels and is extremely effective. I played it in a local home theater store that had overhead rear speakers and that was very interesting.

The one track that still needs work is "Love Her Madly". The drum solos fly around all the channels per beat. An interesting effect but somewhat annoying after a while. But, the real disappointing part is the LFE (the .1 low bass channel). The LFE level on "Love Her Madly" is almost non-existent on the DVD-Audio version but powerful on the Dobly Digital version. Unfortunately, this means the Dolby Digital version sounds better than the DVD-Audio version of "Love Her Madly". I find it hard to believe that this was intended.

So, with the exception of the one track, the disc is excellent. Too bad Warner Music can't fix that problem and make this a fully enjoyable disc.

Not as splashy as ELP's Brain Salad Surgery DVD Audio but still a quantum leap over any CD version I've ever heard (including the new remasters). There is no audible hiss; the guitars and drums are crystal clear. The Lizard King sounds like he''s in your room. My only gripe is the underutilization of the subwoofer channel. However, this is a must buy.

This is the best doors album and my absolute favorite by them and any other band for that matter. The reason jim sounds (wrongly) tired and bored is that this a blues album, plus with jail time hanging over his head I don't know about you but the fact he put all the emotion he had with little voice he had left to me out distances anything the doors or any other band has done since. The lyrics are awesome, if sad for such a radiant singer who had now burned out from rock stardom. The true fan sees this as a return to their roots of blues and jazz improv and poetry that was the best of Morrison's career. W/ that said I can only hope you see beyond Jim's beard and into the soul of this music. This is the Doors masterpiece.

I have owned this album for about 6 years and I know it pretty well. I recently purchased the 2007 version and have to say that even though it sounds very clean (no tape his) it seems they have also smoothed over the feel of the music. I don't mind that the song versions are slightly different. I prefer the 2000 version. It feels more alive even though it has less detail.