Live At The Matrix [Live]

The Doors | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Live
• Label: Rhino Records
• ASIN: B001GQO50I
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,870 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Doors were still working on arrangements and feeling out their moves when they played the Matrix Club in San Francisco for four nights in March, 1967- just two months after the release of their revolutionary self-titled debut album. These two seminal gigs were captured on tape but were previously unreleased until this new two disc set. 'Live at the Matrix' features over two hours of performances from the legendary band led by lead singer Jim Morrison.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 3rd Generation Tape Sources, Out of Sequence & Incomplete, November 21, 2008

By 

Highway 61 Revisited (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live At The Matrix (Audio CD)

EDIT: UPDATE: Sept 12, 2009 - The Doors purchased the complete Matrix Master tapes from original location engineer Peter Abram circa April of 2009. Doors manager Jeff Jampol recently posted on the Doors Message Board that the band will issue a complete Matrix Box Set in Q1 or Q2 of 2010. This upcoming official Matrix box set will include 2 previously unheard instrumental jams recorded on March 7, 1967. If you are considering buy this CD, it is recommended you wait until 2010 and buy the complete box set which will mark the first time the original master tapes have been used.

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The Doors and Warner Music Group issued a press release to promote this CD, stating: "Restored and carefully mastered from first generation tapes acquired by Elektra Records and The Doors 40 years ago, these historic shows never sounded better."

However, at least 4 tracks here were sourced from 3rd generation or higher bootlegs. The remaining songs were mastered from an edited 2nd generation 1/4" reel to reel copy of a cassette dub made from the master reels.

Neither the Doors, nor their corporate record label Warner Music Group (aka the Rhino and Elektra imprints) own the original master recordings.

The master tapes are owned by Peter Abram, who had the foresight to record the band at The Matrix (with the band's permission)--more than two years before Elektra and Paul Rothchild got around to recording The Doors in a live setting at The Aquarius theater in 1969.

These legendary 1967 live tapes were well engineered by the young Abram and find the rock band at the peak of their prowess as an improvisatory unit.

However, the tapes Warner Music Group has published on this 2 CD rip off are vastly inferior to the master tapes, brief samples of which are circulating on the Internet with Peter's permission for comparison purposes.

Some fans may choose to believe that Abram is being greedy by asking for cash for his tapes. However, The Doors manager Jeff Jampool has publicly stated the Doors' policy about acquiring live tapes is that they will only provide a small royalty based on sales.

According to Abram, he wasn't even approached to sell his tapes to the Doors for this release. And what about all those bootlegs on the market? According to Abram, all bootlegs derive from the missing first generation cassette copies in the Doors archive, which vanished in the 1970s.

The fans get a sonically subpar, incomplete product. The legality of this release is suspect since Peter owns the master tapes. Peter Abram receives zero money from this product, even though he owns the master sound recording. Meanwhile, your purchase of this material will make Warner Music Group and The Doors a little bit wealthier.

And this is the same rock band that recently sued itself for $5million dollars over issues of "integrity."

By the way, how much money was cover designer Stanley Mouse paid for his Matrix album cover art, while they guy that actually recorded the show--on his own nickel and made this cash cow possible for The Doors--doesn't even receive a credit as recording engineer in the liner notes?

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars From Dr. Rhino himself, December 11, 2008

By 

Robert Dubrow (Ipswich, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live At The Matrix (Audio CD)

After all the negative reviews here, I thought it might be helpful to inquire from the record company itself about the legitimacy of their first generation claims. Here is the response received from "Dr. Rhino" at Rhino Records:

Dear Bob,

Thanks for your email.

Bruce Botnick and Jeff Jampol (engineer and manager) both believed that
they had a copy made from the original recording. It was not until the
release came out, that Jeff found out that a superior source existed.

We sincerely believed all the statements made about the source tapes at
the time the production masters were delivered to us.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Dr. Rhino

The honesty here is refreshing. It's too bad something originally purporting to be first generation was being dangled before us. So needless to say...caveat emptor!

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a big disappointment, November 22, 2008

By 

Chrisp "Chris P" (Cromwell CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live At The Matrix (Audio CD)

Please keep in mind...I LOVE LIVE CDS and I LOVE THE DOORS music....that being said, this cd is a major disppointment.....I (like other Doors fans) have heard boots of these shows (more complete 4 cd versions too) and they sound terrific compared to this official release (the performances are cool...i cant complain about that)...i mean does remastered mean ray manzarek did some tribal dance in the control room as the tape played....if anything, they denegraded the sound on this tape....just a shame.....while i would rate the perfomace a 4 out of 5 im just tired of the doors weak product...cheesy packaging....poor sound....edited incomplete shows....enough already...plus at a high price in these times...its just not worth it