THE GATE IS STRAIGHT

Forgive the indulgence, but I'm going to take a week or so to walk through each of The Doors six studio albums-- I'll give a sentence or two to each track-- and maybe touch on some effluvia on the seventh day. Lord knows we're going to have to do something about all this classic rock content...

Break on Through (To the Other Side)
OK, if you're selling the whole Dionysian blah blah blah, this is a pretty good place to start-- an overture with just the right undercurrent of menace...

Soul Kitchen
This works best when it's simmering, as in the first verse. But the choruses, particularly the final one, are overcooked. And that little blues vamp at the end? Burp.

The Crystal Ship
I once saw Doors cover band Crystal Ship play at Great Adventure in New Jersey. No, I didn't have a mullet, but I can practically feel one growing as I type those words.

Twentieth Century Fox
This got some radio play because it's mildly crunchy and witlessly sexist, but it should have been left in the can.

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
This is more like it-- boozy, woozy cabaret with nice louche vocals. Really, they did Brecht well-- they did Brechtian horribly...

Light My Fire
Castrated for AM radio, with all the sex excised, this was still a huge hit. Which shows you just what a stroke it was...

Back Door Man
Bring back the garage-band Brecht! Pretty please.

I Looked at You
It's quite easy for even the most ardent Doors fan to forget that this song exists. It's probably even advisable that they do so.

End of the Night
You can do worse than to crib from Blake, and this, um, sustains a mood. Next.

Take it As it Comes
You could, for example, crib from the Maharishi. And "Specialize in havin' fun" doesn't exactly sustain the mood...

The End
Cut out the snake, the blue bus, and the Oedipal nonsense, and what are you left with? Seven beautiful, mournful minutes, plus an orgasm-- what could be better? It's too bad they couldn't find a better way to bring this to climax than with the mother fucking.