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62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Box Set 40th Anniversary, December 9, 2006
The audios are good but videos could of included some rare footage. It seemed like an after thought & they picked videos from previous released videos. This was the reason it didn't get 5 stars.
I had The Doors on vinyl and finally decided to get this box set. Now I'm not familiar w/ the previous box set but this includes all the 6 Doors albums. Yeah, American Prayer came out later but that was post-Jim. So you don't know if he would agree w/ the arrangements on that album. Plus you have the remaining Doors who produced 2 more albums post-Jim. Who would of known if Jim ever came back from Paris would he continue playing w/ them. I've read a number of books of The Doors and many speculations of Jim writing screen plays to moving to New York to working on a solo album. I don't own much rare recordings or bootlegs so the bonus tracks are a treat for me. Too bad the video aspect wasn't thought out. All of the videos except for one I have in my Doors DVD collection. As an audio standpoint this is a good deal and really enjoy it.
This package is the 6 albums The Doors includes 2 disc per album.
You have the CD w/ bonus tracks and a DVD disc.
Each Album/CD is a tri-fold that copies the original artwork front & back cover. Inside includes the art from that album as well as a booklet w/ some cool pics gives in detail the making of that record.
Each DVD includes the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound.
Photo Gallery w/ some very cool photos and 2 videos of the songs from that album.
Now the videos aren't any rare footage. If you have The Soundstage Performances, Hollywood Bowl, and the Dance On Fire DVDs. The only one I don't recognize is Crawling King Snake that was shot in The Doors rehearsal studio filmed for a 1971 Australian TV. This is rare footage I haven't seen of Jim performing a song from L.A. Woman album. Of course there must be some collectors out there who have this whole show. But it was a treat for me to view.
The Doors
debut album includes some of my favorite tracks The Crystal Ship, Light My Fire and The End. Also 3 bonus tracks. 2 versions of Moonlight Drive. The 2nd version was previously unissued. Matter of fact version 2 of Moonlight Drive reminds me a little of Alabama Song. 3rd previously unissued track is Indian Summer which is on Morrison Hotel CD. This is a sort of acoustic song that shows off Jim vocals.
Videos include Break On Through, which is on Dance On Fire DVD.
The End is from The Soundstage Performances DVD Toronto performance, 1967
Strange Days
one of my favorite Doors albums has my all time favorite track When The Music's Over . The bonus tracks comes w/ People Are Strange false starts & in studio talking. It's John Densmore talking to producer Paul Rothchild. This is only about a minute long so it's no alternative version of the song just the talking before they start.
The other bonus track is Love Me Two Times which is listed as Take 3. I really couldn't hear a difference.
The videos include Love Me Two Times and When The Music's Over both from Europe Concert, 1968. These are on The Soundstage Performances DVD.
Waiting For The Sun
has 5 bonus tracks. Albinoni's Adiago In G Minor an instrumental that was included in American Prayer lp. Not To Touch The Earth has a minute of dialogue w/ Jim. If only a minute long it was interesting hearing Jim goofing around.
Then you have 2 more takes of Not To Touch The Earth. Take 1 time is 4:22 as Take 2 is 3:58.
A 17 minute poem of Celebration of The Lizard which was printed inside the album cover. This is noted as "work in progress" there are some lines that are not in the printed version of the album.
Videos in Spanish Caravan from Live Hollywood Bowl, 1968 from the DVD of the same name.
The Unknown Soldier is the performance from The Soundstage Performances DVD.
The Soft Parade
The Soft Parade is my fav song from this album. The 6 bonus tracks are Who Scared You that is on Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine album. Good song btw. 2 versions of Whiskey, Mystics And Men, a very good tune. Push Push is more of an instrumental reminds me of Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown song) w/ the only chorus of the band singing repetitively "Push Push"
They list 2 versions of Touch Me but really version 1 is just 27 seconds of talking in the studio. It's maybe Paul Rothchild producer talking to John Densmore about the positioning of the snare drum mic.
Videos include Soft Parade and Touch Me both from Soundstage Performance DVD.
Morrison Hotel
Is The Doors going back to basics w/ bluesy tunes. One of the biggest hits was Roadhouse Blues. Another good tune I like is Queen of The Highway. Now for bonus tracks I would say this is the best CD that included 10 bonus tracks. 3 versions of Roadhouse Blues which Jim starts off w/ Money Beats Soul poem. There is also a funny line on Peace Frog w/ a false start. It seems the band is dragging before Jim sings. Jim says to the band "Boy you guys sound like a drunken cripple walking up a flight of stairs, man...drunken flight of stairs". A jazzy version of Queen of The Highway which I find interesting for an alternative sound.
2 videos from Dance On Fire DVD are Roudhouse Blues and Wild Child.
L.A. Woman
Final album of The Doors w/ Jim that includes my all time favorite "Riders On The Storm." The bonus tracks are only 2 compared to previous CD this is pretty dismal. You have Orange County Suite a song about Jim's girl Pamela. I know Jim pitched this to The Doors but they passed on it a number of times. To tell the truth it's very good song. This was also on The Doors Boxset. The other track is (You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further which is on Weird Scenes In The Goldmine album.
Videos include The Changeling that was edited from the Soft Parade DVD..The second video is Crawling King Snake which I haven't seen before footage. This is from 1971, The Doors rehearsal space filmed for Australian TV. It was a very cool performance I would like to know more about this TV appearance.
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97 of 112 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing New, but Huge Price Drop 2008 re-release that makes it worth it!, November 25, 2006
EDIT (Because some stuff has changed in price & release):
Ok, before I get into the pros and cons of the box set, I just want you to know there is "nothing extra" here that can't be found somewhere else, it's just a bunch of stuff compacted in 1 set that is actually worth it for $80 (2008 release), but not as much at $150 (2006 release).
Pros / Benefits when this came out in 2006:
1) Includes every studio album w/ Jim Morrison (meaning it leaves out Other Voices & Full Circle)
2) Includes rare unreleased versions of songs & the Studio version of "Celebration of the Lizard"
3) Includes a 5.1 Surround Sound DVD of each album with videos
MAIN PRO:
4) The 2006 version is $150 list, the 2008 version is now $80 list or currently $65 on amazon. I tried to find out if their are any difference between the 2 releases, and I could not find any. If anyone finds anything definite, please let me know, because otherwise this price drop certainly makes it worth to consider, and is still cheaper then the out of print "Complete Studio Recordings Box Set" see below.
Cons / Things You Might Want to Know (but is not bad at $80):
1) This is not the 1st release of all the doors albums w/ Jim Morrison in it in 1 box, that goes to "The Complete Studio Recordings" Box Set released in 1999, which includes the exact same re-masters, but unfortunately is out of print since this was released.
2) This does not include the "Essential Rarities" bonus disc found in the "Complete Studio Recordings" Box Set, which you can buy separately
3) The 5.1 Surround Sound DVD's don't sound that good compared to other reviewers, which you can also buy separately
4) All the bonus tracks from this box (I'm pretty sure anyway) can be obtained from the 2007 re-released versions of the albums
Ok, now some suggestions:
1) If you are looking for some great footage of the Doors on DVD and have none, get the "Doors Collection" DVD, that shows the best concert footage and films of them
2) If you want more unreleased material, seek the "The Doors Box", which is a 4 cd box set including rare & semi-live versions of songs that I don't believe you can get anywhere else, but look that up yourself
3) Again, because of this huge price drop which I still find quite unusual, this is actually a good deal at $80 and certainly at $65 currently on amazon, but not at the $150 when it was first released. If you want all the re-mastered albums, I think this is the way to go.
Hope this helps.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Follow me down..., May 15, 2007
Quite simply, outstanding!
I'll be the first to admit, at 28, I'm a young Doors fan. I grew up with kids in the late 80's and early 90's who worshipped the Doors, especially Jim, as their messiah, and I never got it. I've known their hits, enjoyed them, and that's kinda where it stopped. I didn't even own a Doors record (The Doors) until I was in college in '99... that's when I started to understand what was so great. However, I never investigated further.
This past year, at the end of '06, the Perceptions box set came out and I made it my mission to save and buy it, 'cause my old copy the The Doors sounded horrible. Well, before I knew it, it was gone, but thank you Warner for atleast re-issuing it ASAP in a slimmed down, frill-less box.
I now own the best box I've ever owned. I've read all the reviews for the LTD version, from people saying it's a waste of money compared to previous Doors boxes (fools!), to the the 5.1 mixes being poor (fools again!), to everything being redundant (yeah, but between 2 formats, not on the same disc or anything). Here's my opinion... this is AWESOME! Seriously. I haven't even touched the CD's yet. The 5.1 high-res audio mixes are blowing my mind, not to mention, for me, the exposure to a whole slew of songs I've never heard before. Sure, The Doors doesn't benefit much from 5.1, but the high-resolution is what makes it better than any other mix you've ever heard previously. Starting at Strange Days you can start to hear clever use 5.1. Never anything to be distracting, but maybe just some good ambience, or background vocals actually being in the back. The real fun starts at Waiting For The Sun and Soft Parade. Those two, in 5.1 high-res are leaving me breathless. I carry on rediculously to my girlfriend about the clarity of the mixes and little nuances to the point where she's just ignoring me!
If you can't tell yet, I'm a huge fan of DVD-A's and high-res sound (SACD as well). I've heard some people complain about 5.1 mixes, from saying that it ruins an original recording (too fancy, sounds swirling around), to there's nothing but abmience and it's nothing special (nothing fancy, no sounds swirling around). I think it's obvious when listenin gto this what the band and engineers intentions were. To place you in the studio, or in the case of some songs, sort of... transport you into the heart of the music. I got sucked in. I heard someone say it wasn't as good as Beatles' Love. Well, Love is all studio trickery my friend, based on original Beatles songs. That is not, in any way, how the Beatles intended for those songs to be heard. These are easily as good as DVD-A's for Eagles' Hotel California and Queen's Night At The Opera.
Anyway... enough rambling. Go to a high-end stereo shop, ask if they have it as a demo to hear it properly. Don't use MP3's as a basis for this. Borrow it from a friend, or better yet, trust a strangers opinion and buy this for an amazing listen. If you're already a Doors fan and you think you've heard this stuff before and this won't be a reason for you to dig out your collection any more often, you're wrong. Sell your old stuff (even your LP's, they're re-releasing those in August '07!) and get this. You'll never be happier.
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