Customer Reviews

Waiting for the Sun

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The Doors were--and are--one of rock's greatest bands, with a unique sound all of their own. Flamboyant frontman Jim Morrison may have been the face & image of the group, but these guys always worked together like a classy four-headed machine to produce some of rock's greatest music. Picking a favorite Doors album is hard---even the criticized "Soft Parade" album has got some terrific Doors gems on it. But 1968's "Waiting For The Sun" is my personal favorite from The Doors. It's a great Doors classic that sees the band masterfully walking the tightrope between the hard rockers and the softer ballads. For their third album, singer Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger & drummer John Densmore decided to go for an earthier, softer sound on some of the tracks, which lends this Doors album an extra kind of beauty. Even Jim Morrison himself sounds more down-to-earth on this album, as his vocals on the first two Doors albums were very echoey, making him sound like he was a disembodied spirit, or recording his vocals inside a cave. Not that there's anything wrong with that---I love "The Doors" & "Strange Days"--- but Jim sounded on those first two albums like he was always floating in the clouds above his three musical co-horts. But on "Waiting For The Sun," Jim's voice is warmer, not so echoey, and on definite equal footing in the mix with his bandmates, which is a plus.Great Doors songs are everywhere on "Waiting For The Sun"---the huge hit "Hello I Love You," the beautiful "Love Street," the bizarre "Not To Touch The Earth" (an extract from an even longer Doors composition, "The Return Of The Lizard King," found on the live "In Concert" CD), the haunting "My Wild Love," and other Doors classics like "The Unknown Soldier," "Spanish Caravan," and the terrific rocker, "Five To One." Say what you want about Jim Morrison's strange lyrics & poetry, but give the man some credit---this guy definitely had a way with words, AND he had a monster voice & presence to match. He was the quintessential rock singer, and he is greatly missed. Ray Manzarek can stroke the keyboards like no one else on Earth (and NO ONE plays the organ as brilliantly as he does). Robby Krieger is a mean guitarist, serving up some incredibly memorable licks, and John Densmore is one of rock's finest drummers, whether slamming his drumkit like a man posessed, or just kicking back with a steady beat. I suppose "Waiting For The Sun" is also my favorite Doors album because it captures the band right smack in the middle of their lifespan, with two albums behind them and three more to go, and with so much life left in them as a great musical force. They rocked all the way to the end, in fact, right up until Morrison took his leave of planet Earth. But "Waiting For The Sun" is, I think, the band's masterpiece. It's an amazing Doors album filled with variety, feeling, and tremendous power. Pick it up! :-)

The depth and insight of this music on these tracks are unprecedented. Robby Krieger's distinct sound that he has established as his own on the guitar in these songs, is like no others. When he plays his rhytmn/lead parts you can tell he is one of the greats. No wonder that in 1993 "The Doors" were inducted into the "Rock N Roll Hall of Fame"!!
His phrasing and finesse'that he releases here is from the soul and heart. For him to continually come up with something new and fresh is nothing short of genius! And for the band as a whole to create this masterpiece that is still flying off the shelves at your local record stores after more than 30 years speaks loud and clear to the critics of the past and present.

Having read a few reviews on this website it is apparent that a lot of people consider this one of the best Doors albums. It's good; don't get me wrong but it doesn't hold up to such albums as their debut, L. A. Woman, Morrison Hotel, and Strange Days.
Its better than The Soft Parade and every song on the album is good, but it lacks the energy that the other albums featured. Here's the track list;
1. Hello, I Love You-5/5-I love this song. Catchy and the lyrics are great.
2. Love Street-5/5-This song is interesting. Morrison sings it in a very sensual voice.
3. Not to Touch the Earth-5/5-This is one of my favorites. The song sounds haunting; The keyboards are very psychedelic and cool. The song is compiled from excerpts from "The Celebration of the Lizard" a poem by Morrison.
4. Summer's Almost Gone-4/5-OK song. Not the best.
5. Wintertime Love-4/5-It's really short. It's a pretty good song, but not the best.
6. The Unknown Soldier-5/5-This song took a while to grow on me; but it's one of their best. The lyrics are amazing.
7. Spanish Caravan-5/5-Guitar & Keyboards are amazing in this song.
8. My Wild Love-5/5-Don't know what it is about this song, but it's great. The indian chanting in the background (I guess that's what it is) is a great touch.
9. We Could Be So Good Together-4/5-(No Comment)
10. Yes, The River Knows-5/5-I love the lyrics in this one. The song is good as well though.
11. Five to One-5/5-"No one here gets out alive."
A-

This is a very underrated Doors' album. So many great songs are on this album. Jim's voice is great here. Ray Manzerek's Organs is amazing a always but what really shines is Robby Kriegers guitar its at its best on Waiting for The Sun. Jim Morrisons lyrics are best here. just Listen to "Five To One" the best Doors' song ever great lyrics, Kreigers best solo (solo remade by Ace Freely on She and Pearl Jam on Alive!) this is really the best song by the band, dont believe me pick up the record and listen! "Love Street" is classic Jim's best vocal performance ever! "Hello I Love You" big Doors hit but I dont like it that much. "Not To Touch The Earth" and "The Unknown Solider" are classic Morrsion lyrics, some of his best. "My Wild Love" is just Jim and only Jim doing what he does best.... "the other big highlight is "Yes The River Knows" which is like no other the Doors have ever made and its really a great ballad. all the other songs are great as well but these songs stand out the most. These is one of the better Doors albums along with the debut and "L.A. Woman."

"Waiting for the Sun," all things considered, represents the softer side of the doors. Just come the difference in tone of both the music and the lyrics of "Light My Fire," the first song most people remember hearing by the Doors, and "Hello, I Love You," the hit single off of this third album. For the most part "Waiting for the Sun" was something of a disappointment after the first two albums, but whereas "The Doors" hit #2 on the Billboard charts and "Strange Days" made it to #3, this one made it all the way to #1. Go figure, boys and girls. But in the end this might be a lesser album by the Doors but it still has its moments.

The word that really describes the difference between this album and the rest of the Doors' oeuvre is, believe or not, "mellow." Listen to the rock ballads "Love Street," "Wintertime Love," "Summer's Almost Gone," and "Yes the River Knows" and you will quickly get the point. Jim Morrison's lyrics for "Love Street" are pretty autobiographical in terms of his budding romance with Pamela Courson and fans can still check out some of the locations alluded to in the song, which is a lot less expensive than going on a pilgrimage to Paris to see Morrison's grave.

But while mellow might be a dominant element it is the eerie sounding song "The Unknown Solider," with its anti-war lyrics, that is the standout piece on the album. I am always amazed this song is only 3:10 long because it has so many parts that you think it goes on longer: Ray Manzarack provides a spooky organ intro (the man is one of my top three organ players of all-time in rock 'n' roll), the first verse has jazz elements, there is a firing squad in the middle, then the verse repeats in more of a rock style, and the song ends with the sounds of celebration. This was not a prominent anti-war song, but it is hard to find one this literate or musically ambitious.

"Hello, I Love You" was the hit single, but I always found it rather bland for a Doors song and at odds with pretty much everything else they did. The explanation is that this song actually predates their self-titled debut album, so there is a reason it sounds so outdated and out of place (face it, this is a pop song). I like Robby Krieger's flamenco guitar on "Spanish Caravan" and that song a lot more. "Not to Touch the Earth" is part of the legendary uncompleted work "The Celebration of the Lizard," and the final track "Five to One," driven by John Densmore's drumming, has some interesting lyrics attacking the flower children for failing to organize into a political power. With the heavy guitar and organ playing this last song is decidedly not in the mellow mode. The mix is a bit unsettling, but just proves the point that there is always something worth listening to on a Door's album.

This re-issue of "Waiting For The Sun" not only sounds better than the first CD edition, it doesn't repeat a glaring mistake. The initial CD release contained an alternate take of "Wintertime Love." The 1999 CD re-issue features the same version as the original 1968 LP.

"Waiting For The Sun" was The Doors' third studio album. It followed "The Doors" and "Strange Days" and featured the Number One hit "Hello, I Love You." I enjoy the first six tracks, which made up side one of the LP. The flamenco guitar on "Spanish Caravan" was another great demonstration of Robby Krieger's talent. You can also hear him singing on the song "Running Blue" from the album "The Soft Parade," released by Elektra in 1969.

I still don't understand why "Waiting For The Sun" was named for a song that doesn't appear on the album. The song is featured on 1970's "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe." "Waiting For The Sun" still holds its own in the Doors' album catalog. You'll love it, and love it again.

The Doors came bolting out of the gates with two LPs in 1967. Waiting for the Sun appeared in mid-68, and it's clear there were already some problems with the band.

The album is very disjointed, and indeed it's known that this was supposed to include the full Celebration of the Lizard. Instead, only one track survives--Not To Touch The Earth, which is excellent but is surrounded here by the happy go lucky tracks Love Street and Summer's Almost Gone. The former is an ode to Patricia Morrison and is completely pleasant. The latter is actually a holdover from their demo days. It should have been on an earlier album.

Hello, I Love You is one of their poppiest tunes, and the riff is of course recognizable from the Kinks. Spanish Caravan and The Unknown Soldier are known hits and are actually pretty dark. This album ushers in the Moog full force, with a big, fat, warm fuzz sound. Five to One is another track full of menace, another live favorite.

My Wild Love is different, no instruments, just voice and hand clapping. But it reeks of improvisation in the face of ill preparation. And indeed, the song Waiting for the Sun would not even appear on this album, but would wait until Morrison Hotel two years later.

The songs are good, but the album as a whole is not cohesive and is all over the place. They probably should have waited to make the album they wanted to make. But back in the old days, you were releasing an album a year, though with the vinyl LP you only had to supply around 30-40 minutes of music as opposed to CD capacity.

This is recommended for Doors fans, as are all six of their albums. If you're interested in The Doors, it's best to skip the fifteen or so Greatest Hits or Best ofs or whatever shameless repackaging they come up with next for the same material. Invest in the albums and you'll always find other gems and gain a better appreciation of the band.

This is The Doors' first set that is not strong. After turning in two great LPs, they came back with this, their third and weaker set. When the organ riff comes on from Hello, I Love You, you know this isn't like the other two albums. It was Morrison doing bubble gum lyrics.

The rest of the album is fair (the highlights being Not to Touch the Earth, Unknown Solider, and Five to One. Some tracks come across as filler (My Wild Love and We Could Be So Good Together). This album's chief problem was the band itself was starting to self destruct. Morrison was becoming more and more an alcoholic. Morrison sung the album version of Five to One when he was totally wasted on alcohol.

Another chief problem was, unlike the other two albums that preceded it, it does not have a long track. The reason being is Morrison wrote a track called Celebration of the Lizard. It is very musically disjointed, but it has his best lyrics. As I understand it, they actually recorded it in the studio, but it is lost now. The band would not cooperate with him and would not put the track on the LP. So Morrison had to go write some more lyrics. This greatly weakened the album, because subpar material had to be written to take up the long absence of Celebration of the Lizard. A truncated four and a half minute portion of it is placed on the album (Not to Touch the Earth). These lyrics easily rival the best of his other stuff. Morrison was an artist, and was a master of connecting strange imagery and tying them together. But because of his rock star status, some of his artistic notions had to be sacrificed. Waiting for the Sun is a commercial album with a bit of artistry shining through. Too bad the band would let him put on the full version . . . then this album would represent Morrison much better. As it is, it is a sad album. The summer of his artistic freedom forsook him on this album, and the band had the wintertime love of money.

These problems would be further manifested on The Soft Parade. There is was not so much commercial as it was Morrison just got more and more into self destructing. But I will save that for another review.

The third outing for the doors had a lot of POP FRIENDLY tunes on it. Candy coated LOVE STREETS and swooning numbers like WINTERTIME LOVE. Not to mention HELLO I LOVE YOU.
This may have failed the album somewhat but the balnce comes from some of the most tripped out psychedelic stuff the band ever did. Like (hold onto your FACE) NOT TO TOUCH THE EARTH, the lizard kings anthem. Also SPANISH CARARVAN and my personal fave MY WILD LOVE.

Some could easily say the album is entirely filler but you need an open mind for this one and easily its a classic. Not to many albums get that kind of respect.

Make sure you hold your girl tight when the trip gets too intense!

This 1968 release found Manzarek, Morrison and Co. in a rather adventurous mood. This third studio album was easily their most eclectic, ranging from hard charging rock stompers ("Not To Touch The Earth", "Five To One") to softer, more melodic fare ("Summer's Almost Gone", "Love Street") and all out bizarre, moody set pieces ("The Unknown Soldier" &"Spanish Caravan").They even kick things off with a catchy throwaway ("Hello, I Love You")which became their second Number 1 single! The collection of sounds and textures on this LP are quite varied and gives me a distinct feeling that the band was stretching far beyond the basic blues rock/pop formula perfected on it's first two albums, but remarkably, the entire thing holds together and never gets boring or repetitive. A Solid Classic.