Customer Reviews

In Concert

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the first track you know you are in for a treat. An unruly and uncooperative crowd has surged into the aisles and front rows in "House Announcer" in anticipation of the band, and it's exactly the tone and mood that will take you through an incredible and exotic journey of 31 tracks of rock & roll, cabaret, performance art, and poetry readings.

The Celebration of the Lizard (King), tracks 13 through 19, are perhaps the highlight of this album. Morrison's poetry rings true to the feeling of the uncertainty of the era, shamanism, Greek tragedy, and mysticsm reminiscent of Omar Khayyam, all backed by a hard rock band that had few peers equal to the drums of Densmore, the classically trained guitar style of Krieger, and magician-like hands of Manzarek playing a bass line on one keyboard and simultaneous rythm/lead on another.

Other highlights for In Concert include an extended version of "The End" that supercedes the studio version in its soul and ambience. Also, the Doors lighten up the dark mood set by their more epic pieces, excellent unto themselves ("When The Music's Over", "Light My Fire" w/ an excellent inclusion of the brooding and picteresque "The Graveyard Poem"), with fun versions of "Dead Cats"/"Break On Through" and "You Make Me Real".

The list goes on and on, song after song of a band that was moving forward in its abilities and destined for something even greater and more unique, halted by the death of their charismatic and insufferable lead singer Jim Morrison. Note the comparisons of this album to other live albums, and you will see "In Concert" is a little bit of everything, a comprehensive collection of the "better" live recordings available commercially.

At the time this album was issued, my initial reaction to some of the song selections was of slight dissapointment. Yet many bootlegs and live Doors albums later, "In Concert" now reigns supreme and is a trusted old friend.

This is a great live collection. It compiles music from three old Doors live albums, "Absolutely Live" (disc 1), "Alive She Cried" and "Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine" (disc 2). It will give you a great idea of what this great band was like live in concert. Several of the highlights are 1) the wonderful "Universal Mind", 2) a great "Roadhouse Blues", 3) the excellent combo of "Dead Cats Dead Rats" and "Break On Through", 4) a killer cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster" with John Sebastian playing a mean harmonica, 5) the excellent performance of "Celebration of the Lizard", and finally 6) my personal favorite recording of "The End". I love Morrison's improvisation during it.

The Doors were a great band and this CD shows why. The music is great from start to finish. They do a lot of blues stuff on here and flesh out their own songs with instrumental and lyrical improvisation. Must have for any Doors fan.

...this is the one to get. This album was released in 1991 and was digitally remastered from the original master tapes by Paul A. Rothchild (The Doors' original producer) and Bruce Botnick (The Doors' original sound engineer). The sound quality of this release is outstanding, particularly in comparison to today's overly compressed mastering and remastering techniques.

'Aboslutely Live' was The Doors' only live album to be released while Jim Morrison was alive and that album (originally a double disc set on vinyl) is presented almost in it's entirety on Disc One ("Close to You" has been inexplicably moved to the second disc). Disc Two opens with the definitive 'An American Prayer' live version of "Roadhouse Blues" before presenting the 'Alive She Cried' album in it's entirety. The last two numbers on Disc Two are taken from the 'Live at the Hollywood Bowl' video. "Unknown Soldier" was previously available on the 'Live at the Hollywood Bowl' EP (now out of print) but the live version of "The End" from that show had never been available on CD prior to this release.

For a multi million record selling pop band, their live show often skirted their most popular hits in favor of lesser known album tracks, unreleased tracks, covers and epic pieces. This set is no exception. Missing from this set are hits like "People Are Strange" and "Touch Me" in favor of lengthier pieces like "The End," "When the Music's Over," and the (at the time) otherwise unreleased "The Celebration of the Lizard."

Morrison is at times austere and a times humorous but is always engaging. The band is a crack unit and genuinely shines on the epic pieces.

At nearly two and half hours with no repeated songs, this is a great value.

"The Doors In Concert" is a great taste of The Doors sound live. It is exhilarating, hypnotic, poetic and filled with timeless music. Disc 1 is basically the previously released "Absolutely Live" (except for a few changes in the cutting and editing) and has some great moments. The opening is a rare, rich Doors cover of "Who Do You Love" and features some great slide guitar by Robby Krieger. This is followed by a medley composed of "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)," a roaring "Backdoor Man" where legendary frontman Jim Morrison lets out some of his primitive side, "Love Hides" which could've been left out, it is a bore, and the edgy, revolutionary and in-your face "Five To One" (with the famous lyric, "No one here gets out alive"). Among the other great moments are "When The Music's Over," a lively version of "Break On Through" and the ending, a fun version of "Soul Kitchen." One thing Doors fans must value about this CD is that it contains the complete piece, "The Celebration Of The Lizard," a long poetic work composed of different "songs." It includes the "Waiting For The Sun" cut, the hypnotic "Not To Touch The Earth." Disc 2 is slightly better, it has some of the more popular songs in fact, some better playing. "Roadhouse Blues" is a great blues classic while "Gloria" is a surprisingly good tune. The performance of "Light My Fire" is hypnotic, poetic and has some great instrumentals (Ray Manzarek's organ-playing is especially captivating). The live version of "You Make Me Real" is fun and never bores while "Love Me Two Times" comes out as one of The Doors' best songs, a true classic. I was surprised how good "Moonlight Drive" came out. The slide guitar is dreamy and edgy and the whole song surpasses the album version. The track is poetic and dreamy. One treat here is that we get to hear Ray Manzarek go solo on vocals with "Close To You." "Unknown Soldier" is okay, but there has been better. Ah yes, now we come to The Doors' masterpiece, Jim Morrison's great epic, dark ballad, "The End." It is the version performed at the Hollywood Bowl. There have been better versions, but this one works. It can turn into a hypnotic trip with an Eastern taste and moments of true poetry, it is also macabre when Morrison takes into a violent ending of Oedipal sex. All in all, this is the best Doors live collection out there. It is an example of what they were on stage and how Jim Morrison and his music have influenced some many other artists. It is rare to have such original groups come along, here is one of the best.

This is a great 2 CD Doors live music set. The sound quality is pretty good and Jim Morrison's banter with the crowd is always entertaining. I loved it when he asked the audience what they wanted to hear after "Who Do You Love" and you could hear shouts from the people for "Light My Fire", but instead the band went into "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)". Classic Morrison. Always the antagonist. Morrison and the rest of the Doors are in great form throughout all the tracks. The improvisation on "The End" makes it radically different than the regular versions on the studio CD and the extended play one from the Box Set. The songs that really struck me were the already mentioned "Who Do You Love", "Universal Mind", "Soul Kitchen", and "Moonlight Drive". But all the rest of the songs were great too. My only complaint is the edit of the song "Gloria". The Box Set contains the unedited version which sounds more complete. I guess Elektra found "Gloria" too graphic to be released in its full form on this sample of Doors concert material. Great listen though and well worth the price.

All The Doors you need to own, along with "Waiting for the Sun." This is a remarkable collection of live music, assembled with an ear for the music so that the tracks flow seamlessly together. it helps that many of the tracks have been assembled into medleys including the fantastic "Celebration of the Lizard" which takes in 7 pieces ranging from "Lions in the Street" to "The Palace of Exile." This is Morrison at his best, on stage, unfettered, able to draw everything out of his magical songs. The long, extended "The End" carries with it all the weight it had in "Apocalypse Now." But, it was concert gems like the pairing of "Dead Cats, Dead Rats" with "Break On Through #2" that really make this box set memorable. There is plenty of music here which will keep you going for a long, long time.

One of the best live albums of all time, The Doors In Concert puts you there with all the humor, asides and energy that you get at a live concert, starting with the House Announcer.

The performances themselves transcend the typical rock concert, approaching a sort of mystical musical nirvana, where the band and the audience are caught up in a completely surreal experience. Jim Morrison's mesmerizing voice and lyrics and band's unique sound envelop you and transport you to another place and time. While you may have many of the same songs on other CDs (such as The Best of the Doors), they take on a different quality here. The performances are more uneven, as you would expect with a live CD, but they have more passion and paint more of a picture...You can just imagine the sweat pouring off of Morrison, or the crazed women screaming...

All of the complainers here who don't want The End to be 15 minutes long can go listen to the studio version if it makes you happy...I usually listen to this, because somehow it feels more -- Real.

Enjoy!

Of the earlier live albums, this is the best release to get as it culls all of Absolutely Live, all of Alive She Cried, and a couple of other tracks (from Live at the Hollywood Bowl and American Prayer) onto two discs.

The first disc and one track from the second are taken from Absolutely Live, which was producer Paul Rothchild's amazing sonic mock-up of a complete Doors show. Edited together from a number of shows recording in '69 and '70, it sounds like a single Doors show but apparently has "about 2,000 edits", according to Rothchild himself.

The sound quality on all of the material is excellent, particularly the AB tracks. The album runs nearly the full range of Doors material, including a full live version of Celebration of the Lizard, an amazing The End, a stonking Who Do You Love, Break On Through, and plenty more, including memorable poetry from Morrison and in-between chatting and audience banter. It all opens with the house announcer's warning from the fire marshall...

The Doors have been releasing a lot of excellent live material over the past decade on the Bright Midnight Records label, including most of the Absolutely Live material uncut and complete with no overdubs or trickery. Since Rothchild claimed it was difficult to get a complete take of a Doors fan (good enough for the demands of an official live LP), he resorted to the AB method. The full shows are still pretty amazing---the band was only human, anyway.

This is still recommended--specifically to more casual fans who may not want to buy all of the Bright Midnight shows or may not be as obsessed with complete shows or tapes. The song selection is excellent, just a wealth of choice material.

I Really Liked It !!! It has some rough edges that are a plus if you like live albumns. Bought it instead of Absolutly Live and got that and more without realizing it.

The Doors have always been famous for their concert performances and Jim Morrison has always been notorious for his antics during these live performances. However 1991's In Concert compilation is obviously one of the bands tamer nights as Morrison does not not sound too drunk during the performances. Does this mean that this live compilation is boring. Hell no! In Concert contains some of the bands most electric performances ever!

Disc One is basically a reissue of the Doors famous live album ABSOLUTLEY LIVE (released in 1970). The concert is quite good as it features an opening blues classic WHO DO YOU LOVE. The medley of ALABAMA SONG, BACKDOOR MAN, LOVE HIDES, and FIVE TO ONE is awesome. Some of these songs surpass the studio versions. BUILD ME A WOMAN is okay. WHEN THE MUSIC OVER is one of the cd's lengthly tracks where Morrsion does great improvising. UNIVERSAL MIND is outstanding. PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER is the interlude to the awesome medley of DEAD CATS DEAD RATS/ BREAK ON THROUGH # 2. I always wanted the Doors to record a studio version of BREAK ON THROUGH # 2 it was so more effective than the original 2 minute version. The true highlight here is THE CELEBRATION OF THE LIZARD. This performance of Morrison's notorious lyrical poem is very haunting. The final track in a nice seven minute long version of SOUL KITCHEN which raps up things nicely.

Disc 2 is far more disjointed as it comes from several different concerts. The songs are excellent on their own but Disc 2 lacks the In concert feel of Disc 1. None the less the live version of ROADHOUSE BLUES opens Disc 2 with a bang. GLORIA is another undiscovered gem but I can see why Elektra never allowed the Doors to put this on one of their albums. Pretty risque! LIGHT MY FIRE is okay but it lacks the energy that the original posesses. YOU MAKE ME REAL is just as good or better as the studio version. I don't see why they bothered to include TEXAS RADIO AND THE BIG BEAT here as it is incomplete and pointless. LOVE ME TWO TIMES is another gem that sounds wonderful live. LITTLE RED ROOSTER features John Sebastian on harmonica. MOONLIGHT DRIVE is a stellar performance.
CLOSE TO YOU features Ray Manzerek on lead vocals for a very bluesy feeling song. THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER is another classic. And finally THE END closes the Disc 2 with Morrison doing his wild improvisations again.

Although there are some points where the recordings may sound utterly messy and uneven. In Concert is a wonderful live performance none the less. I'm sure the Doors have put on better concerts than this however if you want to hear these guys live this is just what the doctor ordered. It is a wonderful compilation. Let's hope to see more Doors live recordings in the future.

Overall The Doors In Concert is a must for all Doors fans. Both disc 1 and disc 2 are fantastic. You really have not heard the Doors until you have heard BREAK ON THROUGH # 2 and FIVE TO ONE live. This is an awesome double cd set. Highly recommended!