The Doors, A Collection, Mini

When my music fanatic friends and I first got into music in a big way The Doors soon became one of our absolute favourites. For us Jim really was a god - as were the rest of the band. Over the years thereafter I at least shifted focus elsewhere and I didnt listen to The Doors for years. Not too long ago I heard Moonlight Drive again and I was totally blown away, so I bought this. Before it was delivered I read the one-star review and, on listening to the first album, I felt he was right: the balance of songs that had been virtually etched in my DNA had been arbitrarily shifted around and it just sounded weird. So I shelved the whole thing and didnt listen to any more for months. Last Friday I decided to listen to Moonlight Drive again and, lo and behold, it sounded fantastic. Then I tried LA Woman (try listening to the title track while looking at or having in mind _that_ picture of the real-life LA woman Eve Babitz...) and I was just blown away: it's amazingly exciting, even for someone who's heard it a thousand times. I suspect something did go awry with the first album, which is really a remix rather than a remastering, but at least Strange Days and La Woman are immeasurably better than any previous versions. Thanks again, guys!

I have all The Doors albums on original vinyl, ie almost contemporary with when they where released; this box set improves greatly on those albums. There are little studio flourishes and interjections that weren't on the vinyl: like Jim saying 'C'mon Robbie' during a track or the extra lyrics in 'Cars Hiss By My Window' also the 'Star Spangled Banner' being played just before 'L.A Woman' all were certainly never on the vinyl. All of the albums seem less muddy and sound brighter and more involved than the original mixes did in my opinion. Bruce Botnik has done a very fine job on these remixes; very fine indeed.This is a great way to spend less than £15 buying some of the finest music, to my mind, made in America. For that small amount of money you get six albums! To me that is a bargain. I am glad I didn't choose the Perception collection over this one. Some of those remixes can be like the old 12 inch remixes used to be; all reverb and echo and not a lot gained, except perhaps boredom with a track you previously loved!All in all less than £15 well spent (at the time of writing). Buy it and enjoy The Doors at their finest and brightest and best.

It is amusing that the digitally remastered DVD in places is quite different to the LP version, much more detail in the into and sometimes higher notes.

I was never a big Doors fan but have liked them through the years. I was looking for the Doors 13 album which had "You're Lost Little Girl" on it. It's not on CD but I noticed this item with their first 6 albums in a mini-box set so I ordered it just for that song. One thing I regret is that I never got in to the Doors more. What a fantastic bunch of songs on these albums. There's a couple songs in this set that are very blues. In my opinion, the blues just doesn't suit this fantastic group. On one blues song I think Jim Morrison was trying to imitate Mick Jagger. I'm quite happy that I did order this item. There's a lot of fantastic songs in this collection, song's I've heard way back in the 60s, some I've forgotten about. If you're a Doors fan or just kind of like them, I'd highly recommend this item. This is definitely one set that should be included in any music collection.

I've been following this thread with great interest since the beginning.Wow, John J. Martinez; you've certainly stirred up a lot of controversy with your one-star review! However, you're certainly entitled to your opinion; you've explained your reasoning for the single star again and again, and I think people should leave that alone. Star ratings are often controversial (and rarely properly used IMO) - many people use either 1 or 5; i.e., hate it / love it - you see 2,3 4 less often). I think it's valid if you want to give it a 1. Personally, I'd give it about 3.5 or 4; the material is mostly 5-star IMO (*), but I'd dock a star or two for your reason(s) already clearly stated. So - **** from me. (Besides, look at the size of this thread! You and I (if not others) are still hooked (laugh it up, John!)[* They had a few real clunkers; e.g., Horse Latitudes on Strange Days - one of Jim's failed attempts at Beat Poesy.]I disagree with those of you giving John the kiss-off. Maybe his 1 star rating was harsh, but the reasoning behind it was rather well thought out, mostly. We're all frustrated with record companies' exploitative tendencies, but in this case, we have a decent bare-bones collection which Rhino/Elektra has aimed at a particular market.I think there are several markets out there for reissues/remasters: the completists, the casual/curious, the audiophiles, the true fans, who only want the original cuts (i.e., the "replacers"), and more, for all I know :). I'm in the "audiophile" and "replacer" categories: I would buy the 180-gram vinyl reissues (if I had a decent turntable), but because each LP is about the same price as this entire set, and are more perishable because they're vinyl, I'm not going to. I have no need of the "bonus" cuts - I've heard them all, over the years; there was a reason most of them were not considered for original release. The rest (e.g., "Who Scared You") were left off albums for space reasons, or may have appeared as single B-sides. I should mention that I have a 2-disc "Best of " from the year 2000 Best of the Doors 2 - a nice summary, but like most collections, crucial cuts are missing. True believers and completists would be frustrated, but casual fans would do very well with it. Also, that collection is the 2000 remastering of the original mixes, while these are, crucially, the 2007 Botnick remixes.Speaking of which, Bruce Botnick (the original engineer/producer) explained his reasons for remixing in the booklets accompanying the individual 2007 releases. I won't go into this (all over the WWW!), but some of Botnick's comments were fascinating, especially those regarding incorrect mastering speeds on the first album . Unlike this set, most reissues are simply that - often (not always) remastered, and often adding extra tracks: alternative mixes, recording, unfinished songs, etc, etc, but nothing new.The Doors' canon has been treated well over the years, and there are choices for everyone. There was a similar box set of the reissues of the Byrds' The Complete Album Collection canon, also a real bargain at times. Having "been there" when these two brilliant SoCal bands were together, it's gratifying to see that this great music is considered worthy of archiving in the best possible ways (both electronic and "hard copy").Comments on individual albums:LA Woman was a fine album, right up there with the eponymous first, and a great way "to go out" - kinda like Abbey Road. My personal favourite is (perversely?) The Soft Parade - I like their use of brass, and Robby Krieger's tribute to (the recently-deceased) Otis Redding (Running Blue) is one of their best songs ever. I also have a soft spot for Waiting For The Sun (probably because, when it was released in the summer of '68, a girl I was totally into (briefly) had a copy which we listened to for hours on end - those were the days! Strange Days was pretty good - essentially containing songs not used in the first album. [Horse Latitudes, as I said, was junk, but the rest of the album was good enough to help me forget.] And Morrison Hotel / Hard Rock Café: very good back-to-the-roots stuff after the experiments of The Soft Parade (kinda like Beggars Banquet after Their Satanic Majesties' Request).The record companies are dying, so get this, in whatever format, while you can. I finally bought this box, and I'm sure glad I did. At the rate The Doors' stuff is reissued then remaindered, this could become an overpriced "collector's item". At the current price, it's probably worth it. Higher - definitely not!