The Doors: The Doors (Rhino High Fidelity series, indie exclusive) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This Rhino High Fidelity indie exclusive was cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray, pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media and housed in a heavyweight gatefold with an obi and an insert of band recollections. The debut has sold over 13 million copies and sits in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.

This edition

• Rhino High Fidelity series
• Indie exclusive
• 180g vinyl
• Cut from the original analog master tapes
• Gatefold jacket
• Obi strip
• Limited edition
• Stereo mix

About the album

The Doors got fired from the Whisky a Go Go in August 1966, which, as career moves go, worked out rather well. Elektra's Jac Holzman had already seen them there at Arthur Lee's suggestion, he brought producer Paul A. Rothchild along, and within days of signing the band were at Sunset Sound in Hollywood cutting the songs they had sharpened over months of club nights.

Ray Manzarek's organ and keyboard bass, Robby Krieger's flamenco-tinged guitar and John Densmore's jazz drumming gave Jim Morrison a sound that sat outside everything else on the radio. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" kicks the door in, "Soul Kitchen" and "The Crystal Ship" show the band's moodier side, and "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" brings in Brecht and Weill. "Light My Fire" appears in its full seven-minute version, and "The End" closes the album with an eleven-minute improvised epic.

Both the album and "Light My Fire" are in the Grammy Hall of Fame, and Rolling Stone has kept it in its 500 Greatest Albums lists. The Whisky, for the record, has long since forgiven them.

Also at Kops: more The Doors on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Elektra / Rhino (cat# RHF1 74007), a reissue of the 1967 album.