Reviews

The all-important second album by The Doors arrived a mere eight months after the first. After the success of the debut the band could have followed a similar formular with album number 2, but although there are some similarities, for the most part this is an album standing on its own feet. Starting gently with the winding keyboard notes of Ray Manzarek, the title track opens the album with a gentle nudge, but once the intense punch of the wordless chorus hits - the song really finds its own. In fact, the whole song minimises it use of lyrics, with Jim Morrison's warbling, processed voice almost becoming another instrument of its own. The carnival bass line drives the track forward, and at just over 3 minutes it is stunning opener. 'You're Lost Little Girl' follows next in the track order, but not in style, as the song is wholly its own. The moody guitar line is the focus of the track, and again Morrison's vocals take a back seat as he croons through the uplifting chorus. The musicians play off each other perfectly, and 'Love Me, Two Times' (arguably the most well-known track on the album) is another guitar showcase, but the keyboard wrap around the guitar line so perfectly is almost unfathomable. This is another side of the band, a bar-room blues themed shuffle, and the jarring chords at the end of each chorus shake the listener out of their comfy shell. Things get odd with 'Horse Latitudes', a track that feel like Morrison has finally been unleashed to be himself for the first time. As the poet steps up to the microphone and barks redemption like a deranged preacher begging his flock to find salvation, the soundscape behind swirls in and out of view. It is a minute and half of madness which some will enjoy and others no doubt will despise. 'Moonlight Drive' returns to the simplicity of the earlier tracks, and has some great slide guitar work to carry it. It is reportedly the first song written by the band back in 1965, and isn't particularly strong on its own, but its charm works perfectly in its placement here. Side 2 opens with the classic 'People Are Strange', although it is likely most people first heard it via Echo & The Bunnymen's version that featured in the film The Lost Boys. It returns to the rollicking bar-room vibes, a theme the band would continue to mine into the future. 'When The Music's Over' is an epic closer, which is very reminiscent of the final track from the band's debut album, 'The End'. At a quick glance is seems like a clone, but repeat listens reveals the track is far much genuine than that. Unlike its spiritual successor it has many turns and a number of sharp dynamic twists. It is structured beautifully, and the 11 minute play-time passes by without any low points or drag. There are live recordings of the song reaching back into the year prior, so this wasn't a track thrown together to suit the album. It always had a life of its own. With Morrison cycling through multiple 'movements' the track is exhausting, and a perfect ending to the suite. As with the debut, the album is perfectly produced by Paul Rothchild, weaving the instruments together into a single fabric, but not even his production can save the album from a few spots of tempo-fatigue, as each track pours out at similar speed. Morrison's vocals are restrained, and at this point he could still sing in the syrupy croon pre his meddling addictions. His lyrics are not as impenetrable as other albums, and his poetry is in more of a conventical lyrical style. The Doors as a band was bigger than the sum of its parts. It was four great musicians coming together to transcend their individual abilities, and in many ways Stange Days is like that also. Ten mostly simplistic songs that alone are somewhat unspectacular, but sequenced together they form a perfect storm and create a unique and compelling album.

Think of this - It's heading to late 90's. Us 20-somethings have just had a glut of music to ingest through the Grunge/Alternative period that, at this point, was slowly receding and only the true survivors managed to make new music that appealed to a slightly different audience. Arguably the surge of Nu-Metal in '96 or there abouts interrupted the Grunge/Alt juggernaut. Metal was still in a spin over the take-over in kids listening preferences. In all honesty, they didn't help themselves with even Metallica hitting a lean period and trying to re-invent. System Of A Down came into being in 1994 which included demo tapes (hello?) and the typical cutting your chops a nightclubs and bars. Just so happened that Rick Rubin caught one of these gigs and the rest, as they say, is history. Not really known outside the U.S., they released their self-titled in June 1998. This went huge very quickly with MTV play (remember when that was around?) and all of a sudden the world was exposed to an aggressive metal protest band. Not that many took note of the protest part. Being Armenians, they sing mostly about injustice to their people, war, genocide etc. On reflection, with the 5 full-lengths the band released in their time, I still think arguably this is the top of the pile. When re-listening I try to imagine what it was like to hear the opening few songs for the first time. It is unrelenting, aggressive, adrenaline charged music and lyrics. Very quickly you learn Serj's singing stye which is quite unique. Screaming in desperation with his beautiful interludes. He can hold a decent tune. Back up by some incredible aggressive and abrasive music, you have to wait until track 5 before you can take a breath, 'Spiders'. A brilliant ballad that got a lot of MTV play. Very passionate and equally desperate/haunting. In the middle of the album you get to experience songs like 'War' and track 10, 'Peephole'. A part polka/metal song. What the? Very different, but equally catching. I love it. I previously gave Toxicity, their sophomore release a 4/5 stars. On reflection of the s/t release it is a 5/5.