Customer Reviews

The Doors Box Set, Vol. 1

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

 

 

This half of the Doors box set is the only part worth having.
The first disc includes some interesting songs: "Five To One"
is a Doors' staple at concerts but the sound quality here
is terrible. The only reason it was included (this is
just my guess) is that it was from the "Miami concert".
Next is a jazz rendition of "Queen Of the Highway" which
may be as good as the original, but it wouldn't take much
effort to better that one. Then comes "Hyacinth House", one
of the better demos on the whole set, as it sounds like
they actually wanted to sing this one.

"My Eyes Have Seen You" is pretty bad but it has a decent
excuse to stink, it was one of the original '65 demos, but
the sound is terrible as is the preformance. "Who Scared You"
we all owned allready since it was released on "Weird Scenes
Inside the Gold Mine" in '72. The next song, "Black Train Song",
a combination of "Mystery Train" and "Away In India" is the
best song on the first disc and is almost worth the price
of admission in itself. "End Of the Night" was another '65
demo that the Doors' should have saved for their own personal
nostalgia or given to their kids. It is, however better than
"My Eyes Have Seen You".

"Whiskey,Mystics,and Men" is one of this disc's highlights and
would have been a good adition to "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock
Cafe". "I Will Never Be Untrue" was o.k. but not a classic.
The first "Moonlight Drive" is another one of those annoying
'65 demos. The next one wasn't too bad since it had Robby
Kreiger playing guitar. "Rock Is Dead" would be better
if they had edited it down to about 3 or 4 minutes, because
the same thing for 17 minutes is really boring. The last
cut on the first disc is not too bad, but it's instrumental
however, "Albinoni's Adagio In G Minor" is an interesting
take on classical music.

Disc 2 is really the best part of the whole box set. However,
contrary to popular assumption it isn't a complete concert,
it's the highlights of four concerts played at Madison
Square Garden. The opening number "Roadhouse Blues" was
included on "The Very Best of the Doors" except that version
was edited. "Ship Of Fools", a concert rarity is really
a good inclusion.

Then is a live version of "Peace Frog" which has the lyrics
with it. Following that is "Blue Sunday", which is well,
you know, "Blue Sunday". The next cut "Celebration Of the
Lizard" is the best song on the whole set. It even surpasses
the version on "In Concert". The next track, the un-edited
version of "Gloria" actually wasn't from any NY concert,but
was actually recorded at a concert in Hollywood. "Crawling
King Snake" should have just stayed on the shelf but,it's
an interesting addition. "Money" is allright too but not
the Doors' best.

For the sake of getting my review published I'll call the
next cut "Build Me A Woman",and let you read the actual
title on the track listing. This song was also included
on "In Concert" but was called simply "Build Me A Woman" and,
thankfully, the "Sunday Trucker" part was taken out, however
it is included here. The last cut "The End" is probably the
best live version of this song, or at least the most similar
to the studio version.

This set is definatly better than the second half of the set
so just get this one and forget about the other half!

The Doors Box Set is a great collection of music, but the 4th disc is sadly a waste of money for most hardcore Doors fans. Part 1 on the other hand is the import which only contains the first two discs which were the best parts of the box sets. Featuring rare studio out takes and odd live performences on disc one and a great compilation of songs from the Doors four shows at the Felt forum in NYC on disc two this set is a must have for Doors fans. Be warned that Disc two is not all songs from the Felt Forum, "Gloria" is an amazingly dirty version that was done at a sound check in LA, but really it is a nitpick as the song is great as it is. This is an uncensored presentation of the Doors and new fans may be surprised to hear Jim Morrison like this, we all knew the stories but when you hear him cursing at the fans from the Miami performence for the first time it is a new experience.

In the US, the Doors Box Set was released as a 4 CD set in one of those standard 4 x 8 inch boxes. Each CD comes in it's own jewel case with a small booklet. In addition, there is a nice 50 page booklet with details about each of the songs and a history of the band.

The European version of the box set was broken up into two volumes and released in the standard double CD jewel cases. I don't know how complete the booklets are.

This volume 1 set contains the best two CD's. The first CD is a mixture of absolutely fantastic live material and demos and outtakes. Not all of it is perfect, the sound quality on one of the live tracks is horrible, and some of the outtakes aren't worth listening to more than once. Black Train Song is almost worth the price of the whole set, and although Rock Is Dead is very sloppy, it is also a must have. The second CD is a complete concert from New York. It came just after the release of Morrison Hotel. The performance is excellent, and the sound quality is good.

Volume II has some good material on the first CD, but it isn't as strong as Volume I. The second CD in Volume II is all previously released material, and of no value to anyone who already has the complete Doors collection.

At half the cost of the whole Box Set, it might be a better deal just to buy this volume I and forget about volume II.