Customer Reviews

Soft Parade

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I don't quite know what to think about this remix/remaster. On one hand, there is greater clarity and detail, the recording breathes, and the instruments are well defined in their own space. On the other hand, it lacks fullness and warmth due to being lower-midrange deficient, and it is slightly bass-shy. How many times are they going to sell this to me before they finally get it right?

The remix is another issue: I have nothing against remixing classic titles when they try to duplicate the original mix in an effort to improve the overall sound quality. I also don't have a problem when they remix to deliberately alter the music, but I'm not sure if they don't belong in a box set or as bonus tracks. In this case, the only significant alteration occurs on the title track, and I don't care for it. Unfortunately it's not presented as a bonus track, but as a part of the original album.

This smells like another attempt to simply sell us the same title again. All I want is an identical remix, remastered to sound as good as possible - but if they did that, I wouldn't have to buy it again!

Edit 9-26-10: Audio Fidelity recently released an audiophile version of this, and it sounds quite good. There have been problems with their releases, and this one is no exception, but overall, it is definitely the one to buy.

I don't have much of an opinion about the remastering, other than to note that it sounds clear and I really enjoy the music. I consider the original a 3-star album. If you like The Doors, you'll like the original. My particular favorites include Shaman's Blues, Wild Child and the title track.

The Rhino remix includes several additional tracks including Who Scared You and 2 versions of Whisky, Mystics and Men. These tracks are hard to find elsewhere, very strong, and bump this version of the CD up to 4 stars.

It's always been a BIG mystery to me why so many people are convinced the Soft Parade is the weakest of the six classic Jim Morrison Doors albums. To me, the songwriting is *just* as good as it has always been. I can't figure out what the problem is with all the negative opinions. A very solid and enjoyable Doors album.

"Tell All the People" has a melody very similar to "Touch Me", and it boggles the mind why "Touch Me" continues to receive all the classic rock radio play when it's not even the best song on the album. Sure, the horns are great, and the vocal melody is really beautiful, but it's NOT the best song on the album.

"Shaman's Blues" might be the very best song on the album. It's a blues song with a special mystical-like atmosphere. Plus it's just an exciting song. I love it. "Do It" has a chorus for a vocal melody and a guitar riff repeating for only a couple minutes. "Wild Child" has a chugging blues riff. It's a highly memorable track as well. You know, the whole album feels really good because it's so exciting and electric and mystical. Great stuff.

What would a Doors album be without a spooky chilling Jim Morrison vocal melody? That's what "Wishful Sinful" is for!

You won't hear rock music like this anymore. Oh, and the title song is over eight minutes of jamming, and not much atmosphere (which is what separates it from stuff like "The End" and "When the Music's Over"). It's more musically focused in comparison. Overall, a very solid effort.

So I put this on purely because I thought it would be a good laugh, you know? One of those "unintentionally hilarious" deals, like Batman and Robin or those movies they parody on Mystery Science Theater 3000. But then I discovered something I was totally not expecting. I actually like this album! That was not expected. I was expecting to, at best, get a couple laughs out of it. But I honestly liked most of it. Here's the deal, for those who didn't know. Jimbo always had a bit of crooner in him, but on several of these tracks he goes all-out with it. Not only that, but here the Doors enlisted a bunch of guys playing horns and strings to back them up. So this is a lounge album, right? Wrong! The string and horn arrangements are weird and creative and stuff! A great example is "Tell All the People." By all means, it should be bad. Huge, over-the-top horn fanfare, strings, and crooned vocals. But it's good! The strings and horns are used in a good, atmospheric, odd, dark way. I'll admit that sometimes Jimbo's crooning makes me laugh, but not too often. The album's hit, "Touch Me," may sound like a corny Vegas anthem at first brush. But it's not! The string arrangements are very good, the horns add punch, and Jim's vocals are first rate! Plus I love the sax solo. And the chorus. It's a great song! The horns and strings also add a lot to the wistful, menacing, and outright cool "Wishful Sinful," which mixes a rock guitar with an oboe solo. The only song with horns I don't like (and in fact, I hate it) is "Runnin' Blue," one of the Doors' worst songs ever. Interested in what bluegrass and soul would sound like if somebody mixed them? Awful, that's what they'd sound like. It's a tribute to the incredibly talented Otis Redding, who would probably be disgraced by such a song. Robbie Krieger sings the verses, but he can't really sing, and the only good part is the free jazz horn break. Only about half of this album has strings on it. The string-free half is a bit hit-or-miss. While I'm no fan of the weird bluegrass track "Easy Ride," I fully endorse the menacing, underappreciated "Shaman's Blues," the funky "Do It," and the crawling blues "Wild Child." And then there's the title track. God, that is some weird stuff. But it's good weird! It starts off a capella, with Jim going on about how you cannot petition the Lord with prayer. Then it moves into even stranger territory. There's a harpsichord part, a trippy tremolo keyboard part, a bouncy happy music-box part, a funky breakdown section with Jimbo talking about an acid trip, and an overdubbed Jim Morrison part. And I don't have even the faintest idea of what it's about. But it's cool! And, you know what? This album isn't that bad! Yeah, it's got strings and horns and all, but listen to it with an open mind. You might find you really like it! Bonus tracks? A couple alternate versions of "Touch Me," and a couple genuine outtakes ("Whiskey, Mystics, and Men," "Push Push," "Who Scared You").

BUYER BEWARE!
This 2007 version is REMIXED. In fact all 6 DOOR albums have been remixed. It does not clearly indicate this in on the Amazon netsite. Being a Doors fan from way back I know all their songs very well. This MIX is different. As stated in the liner notes of the CD, PARTS HAVE BEEN ADDED. Ray Manzarek says piano, guitar and backing vocals were found on the original tapes and added to this new mix. I don't really like the added material. It was probably left out for a good reason. More is not better. In this case I find it distracting. Wishfull Sinfull and Soft Parade are not better in my opinion. Soft Parade does not have Jim's "what did he say" after the "I really like this part...." Some songs have the instrumentation clearer and more up front than the vocals. The only thing gained is a new part in front of Soft Parade.
The overall sound is much better but it is not the classic mix and Jim was not here to approve or disapprove. If I had known this I would not of bought this version. I wanted to replace my original vinyl copy and this will not do. Even worse, the original REMASTER from 1990 has been discontinued!
I THINK AMAZON NEEDS TO CLEARLY INDICATE REMIXED IN THE PRODUCT DETAILS. There is no mention of this fact. (or I don't see one!)

On the surface it may seem strange to think a band that has meant so much to rock music in every corner of the globe could have an underrated recording. When you look at not only the Doors but many other legendary bands there seems to be one album in their amazing catalog that gets appreciated as the fan gets older and maybe some grey hair appears.

A lot of Doors fans will tell you every note about the debut or L.A. Woman. In conversations the Soft Parade doesn't get the same splendor.

While Touch Me may attract the eye at first to the CD, Tell All The People and Wishful Sinful are right there as tracks that say so much in a short span. Runnin' Blue is one of the more unique numbers that let's Robbie have some fun, and the title track will never fail to haunt you, make the brain analyze everything, and remember the first moment it hit you the Doors are one of the best to ever come from our or any shore.

If the music doesn't hit your rock bone the first time, give this a few listening's when you are uninterrupted and can absorb it all.

1969 may be the year of Woodstock and Altamont but it was also the an Easy Ride to the local record shop to pick-up a masterpiece.

When this album was released in 1969, people freaked. The Doors used an orchestra and brass instruments on a lot of the songs. Their third album (Waiting For The Sun) made people worried because it was viewed as too commercialized, as if the band was abandoning their darker side and selling out to the Top 40 crowd. So when The Doors released their fourth studio album (The Soft Parade) it REALLY had people worried. How could The Doors go from the darkness and mysteriousness of their first two albums to something like The Soft Parade?

Time to review this unique and somewhat underrated album.

The first song, Tell All The People, sets the tone for the rest of the album. Brass and strings dominate throughout. The classic song Touch Me follows, with the famous saxophone solo at the end of the song by Curtis Amy. My favorite song on the album, Shaman's Blues, follows. This song is vintage old Doors music. No orchestra on this one. Just plain bluesy/rock & roll Doors music. The song Do It has Jim Morrison laughing in the beginning. Very upbeat. An average Doors song. Not bad. The song Easy Ride has sort of a polka type sound to it. A real changeup. The classic Wild Child is one of the great Doors songs of all time ("Do you remember when we were in Africa?"). The song Runnin' Blue is pretty much a bluegrass song. A Sandy Koufax curveball if there ever was one. Robbie Krieger AND Jim Morrison sing this song. It begins with Morrison saying a poem that is a tribute to Otis Redding, who had recently died. The song Wishful Sinful is a classic that has the orchestra's help. This song is mellow and a little mysterious. The title track follows, the last song on the original release of this album. It clocks in at 8:40. A happy song, yet terrifying at times. Just when you start getting happy and comfortable, the atmosphere changes to classic Doors dread. A great song.

The rest of this CD has unreleased songs. The song Who Scared You should have been included on the original release in 1969, in my opinion. It's a very good song with the help of the orchestra. It's interesting to hear the lyrics mixed with the orchestra. Very unique. This song was released on the 1972 "best of" album Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine, which I have. Again, I don't know why this song didn't make it onto The Soft Parade.

If you like The Doors and have avoided this album all along, I highly recommend it because The Doors were all about experimentation, and this album is a perfect example of that. From the trailblazing radicalism and darkness of their first two albums, to the Top 40 sell-out albums, to the orchestra album, to a straight blues album (L.A. Woman), The Doors' music didn't all sound the same. The Soft Parade's songs are so different from one another. You get a little of everything on this album - rock & roll, blues, bluegrass, pop, you name it. Buy this album.

In 1969 Soft Parade was recorded by the hard rockin' Doors, horns were added, Jim Morrison was doing his crooning thing, the public and the critics just didn't know how to take this. Now in 2010 if you sit down, pay close attention and listen, you realize these college graduates created a masterpiece, something real special, a recording ahead of it's time. Jim Morrison never sounded better, imagine Frank Sinatra singing Tell All The People, a perfect fit. You gotta love Running Blues, "poor Otis dead and gone left us here to sing his songs". The incomparable Wild Child, a sure-fire Morrison signature rocker. The nine minute Soft Parade could've easily fit on Sgt. Pepper..."this is the best part of the trip I really like, proud to be a part of this number"...Soft Parade. The 2007 remix remastering is a different story, this is for the Doors collectors who already own everything previously released, basically new parts were added from the master tapes that were not used on the originals, Morrison's vocals are sometimes drowned out, the remixes lack the punch power of the originals, the overall audio. I'd recommend to start with the original recordings, remastered, you'll find this in the Perception box set with all the Doors studio recordings, the two disc Legacy covers the best, the cheaper route to hear the original remastered sound.

OK, I had to write a review to counter the guy who gives a caveat against buying this version of the Soft Parade. This is the 40th Anniversary remix, it's supposed to be different. If you want the original mix pick up a copy of the last release of this album. I don't see any problem with the Doors re-vamping thier catalog. I've got all the 40th Anniversary remixes and all of the last round of re-mastered CD's. What's the problem? If you're a serious Doors fan you'll dig hearing the extra stuff, I'm digging these right now. Sure these remixes are different but they don't suck. Just do a little homework before you buy and you won't be disappointed.

"The Soft Parade" was the least well-received of the six Doors studio albums, at least among the critics, but many people like it. More than any other Doors album, it provokes disagreements on its merits. I will do my best here, and in any event, my comments are somewhat in between. Like many, I believe "The Soft Parade" is the group's weakest effort, but this is measured against a very high standard.

What is clear is that The Doors' power, in full display in the group's first two efforts, was fading during this period. This is true not only in the case of guitarist Robby Krieger's brass/string-backed songs but lead singer Jim Morrison's songs. Nevertheless, the Morrison compositions "Wild Child" and "Shaman's Blues" contain excellent lyrics, the former being accompanied by an interesting primitive beat with the Doors trademark sound. "Shaman's Blues," too, is Doors-like in hypnotic feel, and it creates a compelling mood.

Along with these two, the title cut is the highlight of the album. "The Soft Parade," also strong lyrically, compares favorably to the band's other long cuts. The music in this five-part suite is incoherent, but still interesting. Isolation and self-realization at the beginning give way to the simple, steady progression of the latter parts, which contain a parade of striking images.

As for Robby Krieger's entries, I liked "Touch Me" when I was younger and still do, but I am now ambivalent because of its pop excesses. "Tell All the People" even supersedes those excesses, but there is still something about its melodrama I like. Robby dedicated the un-Doors'-like "Runnin' Blue" to the recently deceased Otis Redding, but a catchy, if insubstantial, main verse is overshadowed by horns and an odd bluegrass chorus. "Wishful, Sinful" is the best Krieger entry, pretty with an underwater feel, although it is cloying at one moment too. "Easy Ride" (Morrison) and "Do It" (Morrison/Krieger) are both silly and flippant, but the former has a little more substance.

"The Soft Parade" reflects the last vestiges of the original Doors sound, somewhat degenerated. The hard rock and blues of the two subsequent releases serve as a reminder that "The Soft Parade" was not an ending or downhill point for this immensely talented band, but an inflection point for a new direction.

Bonus Tracks: There are a fair number, but do not be enticed unless you have a special interest. "Touch Me" is similar to the original. "Whiskey, Mystics, and Men" (basically spoken poetry) and the cocktail "Who Scared You" are available on the Box Set.