The Doors – Greatest Hits
- AllMyVinyl #105
- Band: The Doors
- Album Title: Greatest Hits
- Release Date: ? Oct 1980
- Date purchased: Unknown
- Location purchased: Unknown, likely Sam Goody
- Color of vinyl: black
- Number of discs: 1
- Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]
The Doors are ABSOLUTELY one of those bands I can get by with just the Greatest Hits album. They seem to have strong opinions one way or the other. Either you love them or you hate them (or just don’t care). There seems to be no middle ground with them. They are definitely unique. Their overall band sound is one that can’t really be mistaken for someone else. If you hear one of their songs that you’re not familiar with you can probably still place it as The Doors. It’s definitely of its era, yet doesn’t sound like everything else FROM the era. Their recorded era with Jim Morrison went from 1967-1971. The Doors had three other albums after Morrison’s death – the third he appeared on (via reconstructed spoken word recordings of his). But I never bought any Doors album properly. I heard them all the bloody time on the radio back when I was a teenager. A lot. In fact so much that I never felt the need to buy any.
In 1980 when I started in earnest buying albums, the Doors released this compilation. There’s about half a dozen Greatest Hits albums by various bands that are for me legendary – when you think of a band, you think of that one. This GH is one of that group. The “Red Greatest Hits by the Doors” was always gonna be my Doors album. The few times I’ve tried listening to full Doors albums on Apple Music or something it always feels weird. No, that song doesn’t go there, it comes after this one (referring to the running order of this Greatest Hits album).
So I was quite pleased when this was one of the survivors of my mom’s basement – this is my original copy I bought back in 1980 or 1981. I’m unclear on that, as it appears to have come out in October of 1980. I can’t remember if I bought it then or in the following year or so afterwards, but this is my original vinyl from the early 80’s – nearly 45 years later. That’s today’s spin. This collection of Doors songs. It’s my lone Doors album on vinyl.
One thing about the songs – it’s a weird mix of long and short. There’s three songs that are two minutes and change, and three others that are over seven minutes. The rest are in the 3-4 min range. I always felt that some of the longer ones are too long, but Doors fans probably loved that jam stuff. :) Anyway….
Hello I Love You – I always loved the slightly fuzzy guitar sound that starts off this song. It’s my main draw here. It keeps going through the song and morphs into something else as it goes along. The really trippy part in the middle definitely was something I always felt of being of the era it came from (song came out in 1968). That fuzzy sound works best for me – I did love Morrison’s screaming “HELLO” towards the back end of the song, too.
Light My Fire – This one sounds more like the 60’s – starts off with a very 60’s sounding keyboard intro. In fact, that 60’s keyboard sound is the driving force on this track. It’s always been one of their biggest hits, but at 7:05 we could have done with less keyboard noodling by Mr. Manzarek. Probably heresy to Doors fans, but I think this would have worked a lot better around 4 – 4:30 in length. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the song. When the rest of the band is involved, it’s enjoyable. Like the guitar sound by Krieger here, it’s in contrast to the 60’s keyboard sound – perhaps that what makes it work, the different sounds merged together. Just wish it was a big shorter.
People are Strange – Rather like the beat of this, and Jim’s lyrics always gave me a visual in my head visualizing what he did – much in the same way Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” song did. In reading about this, it has to do with something Morrison came up with after going out for a walk. Musically, this works for me. It’s another one that doesn’t sound like the 60’s, but it’s unmistakably “The Doors”. Good stuff.
Love Me Two Times – Of the big Doors hits, this one is probably one of my least favorites. It’s not bad, just doesn’t get me going. The only part I really like is the slight “twang” sound you hear on some of Krieger’s guitar work – it’s a subtle thing in the background and only pops up a few times in the song. I do like the end of the song more, as it ends louder than it starts
Riders on the Storm – Back in the mid 80’s when I used to get high all the time, this was a daily driver. This was a great song for that kind of thing. While I don’t do that anymore, I still have those memories, so just listening to this songs reminds me of some of those days. Musically this is the kind of song I shouldn’t like, but I adore this track. Don’t mind the seven minute length. Even now in 2025, I remember those times in 83 & 84 when I’d get high and float listening to the Doors. The song still works for me all these years later. For me this song is more about my own thoughts and mindscape than the actual lyrics or even the music going on. It’s all a finely woven tapestry for me when I listen to this one – kind of hard to quantify and put into words how I feel when I listen to it.
Break on Through – This one I always liked because it’s one of the more “louder” Doors songs. They’re not metal, nor do I pretend they are, but… This passes over their usual sound with aplomb – creating a sound I wished I heard more of. Perhaps if I listened to their actual albums I might get it. That 60’s keyboard sound is here, but the bulk of the song doesn’t sound that way. I do love Morrison’s vocal delivery here. It’s my favorite part of the song.
Roadhouse Blues – I always forget about this song when I think of the Doors. This is a great track. Probably gets me going more than most – which is a surprise given I know the other big songs in this very well. I would have loved to have seen them do this live back in the day. Must have been a sight to behold. Love the jam feel to this song. I mean I’m sure it’s not a pure jam as such, but it feels like that to me – the listener. When I was much younger I always thought there was always some mystique about getting myself a beer due to the lyrics of this song. haha. :)
Not to Touch the Earth – The one song from this I never cared for. This feels like a marked lesser quality song than the rest of the stuff on here. Just don’t like this song.
Touch Me – I don’t know quite how to describe this one except to say I love the orchestral arrangements here. I think it adds a nice sound to the traditional Doors sound which is also in play here. My favorite part is when the entire band is playing then they drop out and get just what sounds like a bass guitar (keys maybe?) playing the same riff that we were hearing with the full band just seconds before. It’s not quite a full on time change, but I love the different sounds there. Especially the last 5 seconds or so, that’s a sound I really adored to end the song.
L.A. Woman – One of their most well known songs, and for a good reason. Just listen to it. It’s gold.
Mr. Mojo rising….
Every time I listen to this album I always end up saying “I need to listen to the Doors more”, and then I never do. But what’s on here (minus one song) is total gold, great stuff from front to back. It’s kind of why I never felt the need to expand beyond the Greatest Hits album – I get all their best stuff here. I’m sure a Doors purist reading this will scream at me.. “you f’in jackass – there’s so much more than that”. I get it. I’m that way with Black Sabbath. But this Greatest Hits album more than scratches my Doors itch when I get one.