The Doors Songs Ranked
The Doors is the debut album by the American rock band the Doors. Recorded in 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California, it was produced by Paul A. Rothchild and released on January 4, 1967. The album features a wide range of musical influences, including jazz, classical, blues, pop, R&B and rock music. Since its release, the record has been often declared as one of the greatest debut-albums of all time, by numerous publications. It features the long version of the breakthrough single “Light My Fire” and the lengthy song “The End” with its Oedipal spoken word section. The Doors and “Light My Fire” have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2015 the Library of Congress selected The Doors for inclusion in the National Recording Registry based on its cultural, artistic or historical significance. Here are all of The Doors Album songs ranked.
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11. I Looked at You
“In the vein of Soul Kitchen’s inoffensive composition. Forget whatever people say about how “controversial” this garbage was at the time; coupled with how boring the guitar has been on this album (especially “I Looked At You”), this is so status-quo its boring me to tears.”
10. Twentieth Century Fox
“Soul Kitchen reprise? The punctuating guitar paired with the volume increase is actually pretty great here. It’s unfortunate that the short solo even exists though; kinda kills my vibe. Devolves into mindless jabber ultimately. A shame.”
9. Back Door Man
“After “Light My Fire”, they should have really laid off the keys, or at least put another track in place. Morrison’s crooning is really awful on this one. It’s actually kind of a odd juxtaposition between this and “Break On Through”, which had better vocals. Once again, tone is really off but this time against the rest of the album. Instrumentation is really mediocre, much to my dismay.”
See more: The Doors Albums Ranked
8. Take It as It Comes
“Definitely one of those tracks people go gaga over because of how sexual it is (for its time), but its jarring compared to the previous track. It’s kind of funny, this is often hailed as the first true album but it’s a really poor example of an album overall and this track really drives the inconsistency home. Luckily, the guitar and drums here are tolerable and the track itself is short.”
7. End of the Night
“If the entire album hadn’t been established before with its pop rock leanings, this track would work. Unfortunately, like most other stuff on here, it’s just so boring. There was one moment where the pitch twitches just a little bit with the keys and that was worth the entire 2:52 but this is the very epitome of Morrison’s pseudo-cryptic poetic vomit.”
6. The Crystal Ship
“This would have been a lot better were it not for Morrison’s singing style I think. He really shifts the tone with his voice. I think I really get it now when Doors critics complain about the fact it sounds like he’s just reciting poetry over music.”
5. Soul Kitchen
“Really inoffensive opening to this track. Took too long to wind up to the chorus compared to Break On Through. Instrumentation is so bland, the keys are pretty annoying although I wonder how much of that is because I hear them all the time in any movie set in the 60s.”
See more: The Doors Songs Ranked
4. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
“The Doors recorded a superb rendition, without quite matching Lenya’s, on their eponymous debut album in 1967. On “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” the Doors consisted of Jim Morrison (lead vocal and tambourine), Ray Manzarek (organ, marxophone, keyboard bass and backing vocals), Robby Krieger (guitar and backing vocals) and John Densmore (drums and backing vocals). The marxophone is a fretless hammered zither.”
3. Break on Through (To the Other Side)
“Great addictive strong, which its main flaw is being so short. Everything is great in it, the rough vocal performance, the groovy bassline, the catchy organ playing, the neat drumming. Definitely one of their defining moments, and a tremendous song.”
2. Light My Fire
“Brilliant song. Never have i seen an organ fit so well into a rock song, and its solo is pretty incredible. The song just grows and grows, the vocal performance is one of the best by the singer and it fits extremely well the mood of the song. Which is pretty powerful. Again, perhaps its biggest flaw is that it is so damn short, but the jam at the end is one of the greatest moments this band is able to offer.”
1. The End
“The End” is one of the greatest songs of all time. It’s a shame it was reduced to only 6 minutes and 30 seconds for the single version, but it’s still brilliant. The buildup at the end is unlike anything else. One of the most psychedelic songs ever released.”