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The excitement Jim Morrison elicits nearly thirty years after his death is just one of the many fascinating and seemingly eternal aspects of the Doors. Lest it be forgotten, the band also recorded some of the darkest and most challenging music of their time. What is so distinctive about the Los Angeles monster group is how the musicians -- especially the multifaceted Ray Manzarek -- successfully melded rock, jazz-inspired improvisation, and Weill-esque angularity into dramatic settings for Morrison's haunting baritone and acid-damaged poetry. Their amazing range set them apart from their Psychedelic brethren, as they moved seamlessly from the propelling rock of "Break on Through," the breathy beauty of "Indian Summer," the manic blues of "Five to One" and the Coltrane-flavored "Light My Fire" to the funky edginess of "Peace Frog" (it could be argued that the latter was the single biggest influence on the 1980s "Madchester" scene). Whether you feel that Morrison was a brilliant and complex modern-day shaman or a second-rate pretty-boy poet who lost it to alcohol and pills, it's impossible to deny the long-lasting impact the Doors have had on rock 'n' roll. |