I think Ship With Sails is one of the Doors best songs period.

If they would of changed the band name, this album would of done better.

There was way too much history to compete with and the songs didn't stand a chance. Much less, any vocal performance by somebody not named Jim. I always thought that it should've been a S/T album and the band called Other Voices.

I didn't know this album existed. Were these songs (or the music at least) composed for the next album with Jim in mind and were then re-worked? Or are these entirely 'new' compositions written after Jim's death?

Didin't the remaining members put out something later with Jim's poetry set to their music? My Doors band history is spotty.

The second and last post Jim Morrison CD was released in 1972. This album sounds like it is for the most part completely free of their late vocalist influence, and it also as a result the least Doors like album in their discography.

The album opens with 'Get Up and Dance' -A sort of rockabilly number meets New Orleans jazz, with some throw away lyrics from Ray Manzarek. Not a bad song but not the strongest song to open the album and definitely not a song you could see the band performing with Jim Morrison.

4 Billion Souls-Another jazzy type New Orleans number that sounds like a discarded Rolling Stones track then a Doors song. Sung by Robby Krieger, and it is not a bad song but not very memorable.

Verdilac-This song shows some of the Doors old magic. Robby Krieger takes the song on an acid drenched wah wah solo, and the song is so good that even the insipid don't ruin the song. Besides the lyrics, musically this is the only song on the album that sounds like it could have been an old leftover Doors track.

Hardwood Floor-Alot of Doors fans hate this song but I actually like it. Maybe the purposely corny lyrics had to the charm of this piano romp:

Go Tell your daddy we need some dough/Gonna get married in Mexico/We got love don't need no more/All we've got to live in is this Hardwood Floor. Again not a song I could see the original line up performing, especially with the added female back up singers.

Good Rockin'- A cover of an Roy Brown, made more famous by Elvis Presley during his Sun Session recordings and later in the 80's a hit for the Honey Drippers. Good version but they add nothing to the song.

The Mosquito-It starts out with a silly intro and acoustic opening. The song which begins as a parody then kicks into high gear by Krieger who takes the song into a different dimension. Good song and one of the best post Morrison songs.

The Piano Bird-With a title like this you would have expected this song to have been written by Ray Manzarek, but it was actually written by drummer John Densmore. An excellent song that features an accompaning flute and percussion from Densmore.

It Slipped My Mind-Sounds more like a Frank Zappa song then a Doors song, but IMO a good song that features Robby Krieger's warped sense of humor.

The Peking King and The New York Queen- A song that tries with a sense of humor tell the story of east meets west philosophy but still comes off a little heavy handed. Not a bad song but not a great song either.

With this album the band would embark on a short tour, but the nightly calls for Jim Morrison and diminishing returns, had the band reconsider continuing without a proper lead singer.The band in early 1973, after considering auditions decided that the public would not accept anyone but Jim Morrison has the lead vocalist of the Doors and quietly shut the door and disbanded.

I really dig the cover. Psychedelic to the max!

I don't mind this album at all, the only complaint I have with the 2 post-Morrison albums is that I expected more out or Krieger both musically and especially lyrically being that he wrote some killer stuff but maybe Jim had a hand in helping Krieger flesh out his tunes IDK. On most compilations featuring "The Mosquito" it's renamed "No Me Moleste Mosquito".



Fave:The Mosquito

This album was recorded and released 7 sevens after Jim Morrison's death. It came about when Robby Krieger and John Densmore had wondered what happened to the poetry recordings Jim Morrison had done in 1969 and 1970. After locating the master tapes the surviving Doors recorded new music underneath Jim Morrison reading his poetry.

Some of the poems on the album where only fragments since some where edited to fit the music the surviving Doors wrote. Also other segments where edited into the album such as dialogue from Jim Morrison's unfinished movie he was working in 1969 'HWY'.

The album opens like Doors concerts often did with Jim Morrison asking if everybody's in and then screams 'WAKE UP' and kicks into the first poem. Entitled 'The Ghost Song' this poem/song is a strong opening, and even thou Morrison had been gone for seven years, you could never tell by seamless the music sounds with Morrison's voice that this was recorded so many years apart.

The album is broken in three sections all which the band put together to give an account of Jim Morrison's life, in the poet's own word. 'Awake' his awakening years or years of discovery, 'To Come of Age' which covers his pre fame life observations, 'The Poet's Dream' his decadence and descent, also includes a killer live version of 'Roadhouse Blues' from the 1970 tour, and finally IMO Jim Morrison's best poem 'An American Prayer' which shows why Jim Morrison was considered a poet and has IMO a powerful verse with a great accompanying music created by the band.


I am over simplifying an album that is very complex, emotional, at times funny with a hint of the absurd, just like I imagine the man himself was in life.

The band payed an excellent and respectful tribute to their fallen frontman by bringing an album that lets fans hear a relaxed Jim Morrison recite the art that was close to his heart, by a band of musicians who themselves admit that at times it was spooky and emotionally draining experience, having them relive the loss of their friend but also an enjoyable experience to band. As Robby Krieger stated an interview, 'It was good to hear his voice again"

This is the only Doors' album I've never owned. Why! I don't know, I haven't even heard it enough to comment...yet.

Never knew that Other Voices and Full Circle even existed. And I'm only vaugely familiar with An American Prayer. Doubtful that I'll ever hear any of 'em, but An American Prayer has potential.

Maybe I can talk that toothless hillbilly from Missouri that just won a $258 million lottery to slide me a few bucks.

The Doors have released a number of compilations since the death of Jim Morrison and even released a greatest hits package during Jim Morrison's lifetime much against his wishes, instead of doing a thread on individual comps I thought I would do a brief rundown on them in one shot:




The album '13' was released in 1970 and this was against Jim Morrison's wishes, he felt comp albums where a rip off and did nothing to promote it, which made little difference since the album still managed to go gold.

'Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine' was a double comp album, and it is of interest because it contained a song 'Who Scared You' which was a b side and post Jim Morrison Doors tune 'The Trees' that still has not seen the light of day on CD. Also noted because neither comp has ever been reissued on CD, and 'Weird Scenes' is the only comp in the Doors discography did not sell well.



This album was released in 1980 and immediately went double platinum, inspiring the first of many Doors revivals. That year was a high profile year for a band that at this point their frontman had been dead for 9 years. In that year their music was featured in the film 'Apocalypse Now' and the biography of Jim Morrison, entitled 'No One Here Gets Out Alive' had been published. This album served as their first introduction to The Doors for many children of the 80's.





This double CD released in 1985, is their best selling album in their discography as of 2009 has sold over ten million copies. This album features an excellent comp of the bands career and for years was the only comp available til their record label started to release what seemed like endless comp albums from this band.



In 1991 the 20th anniversary of Jim Morrison's death and Oliver Stone's film 'The Doors' naturally a soundtrack was released and this album also went platinum. The main interest was the inclusion of tracks from the An American Prayer' album which at the time of the release of this soundtrack was out of print.

This was essentially a comp of the Doors box set with unreleased track 'Woman is a Devil' not a bad tune but is sounds uncompleted. I will talk more in depth about the boxset at a later date.



Another comp and the first pressing had the studio version of 'The Celebration of the Lizard' which was omitted on later pressings of the album. The 'Celebration of the Lizard' can be found on the anniversary edition of 'Waiting for the Sun', this album sold well but is now out of print.



This album was released at Starbucks locations and incredibly since this is just another comp album, this was one of the few Starbucks exclusive CD's to turn a profit. It contains an unreleased demo of 'Indian Summer' which has since been included on their anniversary edition of 'Morrison Hotel'



This album was released in 2007 and has sold over a million copies, impressive considering it is another comp album and that this is the age of downloading. It also helped that the surviving Doors insisted that is their record label was going to release another comp against their wishes that this double CD be priced at the price of single CD and Walmart also promoted it very heavily by displaying the CD. If you are going to get one comp CD by the Doors I would insist on this one, their slight different mixes on this album and you hear little snippets of music and vocals not heard before.


Other comps have released and down the line I will give a brief rundown on two more live comps from their own label Bright Midnight in the future.

The Doors released their box set simply titled 'Box Set' in 1997, in time for their 30th anniversary. The box set got good reviews and sold very well.

The disc contains rare cuts, pre Krieger demo cuts and a concert CD, along with a comp where the surviving Doors choose their favorite Doors cuts. I am just going thru some of the highlights of the disc.

Disc 1: Without a Safety Net- Opens with the infamous bootleg recording of the infamous Miami show, where Jim Morrison supposedly exposed himself, while most people who where their claim he did not, what Jim Morrison exposed was he could be an obnoxious drunk. Insulting the audience and going on drunken rage, it is a fascinating look at a low point in their career, also amazing that the other Doors members do not miss a beat.

Also of interest is the demo of 'Moonlight Drive' before Krieger joined followed immediately with another demo version of this song with Krieger, incredible what a huge difference this makes and no wonder Morrison called him their secret weapon and felt he was way underrated.

'Rock Is Dead' is an edited version of a song that has made the bootleg rounds for years, four very drunk Doors improving and creating this jam. Very cool song, also included ' Who Scared You' a great song that deserves more attention.

Disc 2-Live In New York-a Felt Forum concert which combines two different shows, a great live disc recorded in 1970 and a show displays the brilliant musicianship of the band and Jim Morrison's charisma, this live album smokes the other live albums the Doors had previously released. The live version of 'Gloria' is turned into a filthy Doors romp and some of Morrison's interaction with the audience is funny.

Disc 3- The Future Aint What It Used to Be-Another great collection of odds and sods, and has a killer live version of 'The Soft Parade one of the few times the band performed this song live, also very cool live version of 'Rock Me' with guest on slide guitar one Albert King. Also contains one post-Morrison song 'Tightrope Ride'

One song 'Orange County Suite' was a left over demo from a song that Jim Morrison wrote but was at the time rejected by the band, in 1996 the band went back in the studio and completed the song, with Jim Morrison's piano melody left intact on the disc.


Disc 4-Band Favorites-The three surviving member of the Doors each pick 5 songs each and some of the songs are the usual suspects and few deep cuts that are somewhat surprising choices.

Overall this boxset is not just for diehard fans but can even be enjoyed by the more causal Doors fans.

I am have 9 live albums from their label Bright Midnight, two comps from this label, and one box set from this label, I am going to blow thru this fairly quickly since their appeal is to die hard Doors fan and I am not sure how many people own these releases since most folks on this board are not fans of live albums in general.

I will post the first live album from this label either tonight or tomorrow, thank you for your patience in anyone who is following (reading) this thread.

This comp was released in anticipation of the band releasing their 1970 live recordings the band was releasing on their own label, this is a good sampler for anyone who wants to sample the live albums but does not want to break the bank acquiring them. The cuts like the albums they are taken from are not dubbed and where recording for the live album 'Absolutely Live' album which was assembled from different concerts from their 1970 tour.







This is an excellent comp of the two different Aquarius show that band will release on their own label, again it is good way to get an sample of the shows the band recorded, the performances are strong and Morrison sounds great and the band is setting the night on fire.

I really like the box set, nuff said.

I doubt I'll go for any of the post-Jim releases or the live stuff, but this thread has certainly inspired me to fill out the rest of my collection with their studio albums. I'm missing 2 or 3.

Nice job, Manny.

The first release from their own label, The Doors release this complete live show that was recorded on May 8, 1970, 4 days before my birth. This show along with the others that will be released in the series where recorded for a live album. No two Doors concerts where ever the same and this show is no exception.

The band is loose and having a good time, the set list on disc one is the usual set list that the band employeed during this tour, with the expection of a live cover of Elvis Presley's Mystery Train that would segue way to their own song 'Away In India' that would morph to Robert Johnson classic 'Crossroads'

The second part of the show the band throws the set list out the window and cover Chuck Berry's 'Carol' and few blues classics, along the way 'Light My Fire' makes an appearance with both Krieger and Manzarek trading solos back and forth allowing Jim Morrison a couple of beer breaks backstage. They end the show with 'The End' which is different from the studio version in both arrangement and lyrics. An excellent start and IMO an excellent live album that demonstrates why the band is so fondly remembered.

I feel the boxset was missing a few songs myself

Just a quick review of this release, this is a good performance by the band if not a spectacular one. The band sounds a little stiff at points and even Jim Morrison sounds self conscience since in the intro he tells the audience they are being recorded for a live album, the second performance which I will review on down the road is alot looser than this one.

The band plays to its strengths and does not take too many noticeable detours with the structures of their songs as they where known to do. As the concert progresses the band loosens up, enough in fact to do a false start to their cover of Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love'

The version of 'The Celebration of the Lizard' is the same version that appears on 'Absolutely Live'

It is a good performance recorded on July 21, 1969, and detuned is correct when he states live albums work better when they release one show instead of cuts from multiple concerts. If you don't own any Doors live albums, this is not a bad one to own but it really appeals to die hard fans such as myself but then again I guess that is the point of having a vanity label that only releases live albums for fanboys to purchase.

A friend of mine is always listening to live Doors stuff when I'm over wrenching on his Harley for him. I am always to greasy to look at the cases to see what they are. This coming Wednesday evening on the PBS station in town, they are playing a documentary on The Doors.

This second performance at the Aquarius Theatre is looser and stronger performance then the previous nights performance. This recordings where done in hopes to compile them and release a live album which did along with several other recordings done on this tour to release 'Absolute Live' in 1970.

The set list does not differ too much but it does feature a few surprises such as 'Peace Frog' done as an instrumental, a looser and jammer version of 'Celebration of the Lizard'. Also 'Crystal Ship' is added to the set list.

The crowd at this show is much more rowdier and at one point grows in patient while the band decides which song to play next! Incredibly they leave it all in, the pauses and even a few times Krieger tuning up.

It sounds like a band and audience had a blast, and Jim Morrison is singing great and sounds better then the previous recording (night).

If you are only going to buy one Doors live album I would recommend this classic show.