Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors [Import, Compilation, Enhanced]

 

 

Create your own review

Hey, this isn't The Doors, but as a Doors fan since I was a teen...and speaking for my friends as well...great cd. A little twisted, but remixed and recovered nicely. If this doesn't spark your interest in the band...nothing will. Scot Weiland's "Break On Though" and Marilyn Manson's "Five To One" make it worth the listen.

The Doors remain one of the most influential bands of all time and so it seems fitting that big names like Creed, Stone Temple Pilots and Aerosmith would pay them tribute, and they do it with flare and gusto. The album is a great exhibit of the theater, poetry and sound The Doors brought to rock music. Yet, this album could have been much more. First let's look at the performances. Stone Temple Pilots open the album with a stylish, energetic "Break On Through" that serves as great modernization of the song but also a loving homage to the original. One of the band's stellar tracks (especially when you look at their recent material). Creed follows with another masterful cut, their "Riders On The Storm" pulses and builds, it is a perfect hybrid of the Creed sound and Doors spirit. Robby Krieger here adds a great slide guitar solo. Train kills the mood with a horrible "Light My Fire" that totally loses the timeless essence of the original and makes the lame assumption it is nothing more than a hippie tune. Smash Mouth delivers a fun "Peace Frog" that keeps the spirit of the original with a little modern fusion of what one can see as hip-hop and semi-Punk feels. Days Of The New also delivers with an exhilarating, edgy "L.A. Woman" (eventhough I would have preferred Iggy Pop here considering he was the original rumored name for this song). Aerosmith burns and grinds with an awesome "Love Me Two Times" that stands as the best cover of this song ever performed. The Cult proves to be a metal band of great magnitude with "Wild Child," a burning cover that retains the tribal feel of the original. Ian Astbury delivers one of the best vocals on the record. Some have given a bad look towards the combination of John Lee Hooker's vocals with Jim Morrison's for "Roadhouse Blues," this is not a bad track though. It's a great blues jam with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea on bass. William S. Burroughs delivers his last recording here, the grandfather of Punk reads a loving homage to Morrison in the form of his poetry. Oleander (whatever happened to them?) gives a not so-great "Hello I Love You" (U2 would have been perfect here). Ian Astbury of The Cult performes an unwanted "Touch Me" while Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction and Exene Cervenka of X read some more Morrison poetry (why not sing a duet?) while Bo Diddley presents a rather boring "Love Her Madly." Days Of The New finish with a rather fresh, alsmost hypnotic "The End." It seems that the first half of the album works while the second feels lazier. Oh, the Burroughs track is great and "The End" rocks, but do we honestly want "Touch Me?" Why not "People Are Strange," "The Crystal Ship" or "When The Music's Over?" Even a Blondie "Moonlight Drive" would be welcome. "Five To One" was recorded by Marilyn Manson but was kept to be used a B-side for his "Holy Wood" album (great track too). "Under Waterfall" and "The Cosmic Movie," remixes of Doors samples are interesting, but not as interesting as it would have been to see maybe U2 or Pearl Jam deliver a track. If one looks at the current Ramones tribute album, one sees what this one was missing: More bands performing. Hell, where's Jim Carroll? Iggy Pop is sorely missed as well as all of X and Jane's Addiction, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Garbage could've done a track. The plain truth is, a fanatic Doors fan like myself expects more from people who supposedly want to keep Jim Morrison's legacy alive (is Bo Diddley really the best way to introduce "Love Her Madly" to a new audience?). I say a re-make is needed, Danny Sugerman and Ray Manazarek, the most feverent keepers of the flame, should've thought of more to add. Reportedly, a new Doors album is in the works, let's hope some of the mentioned abscentees can make it.

Okay, now whats with all this dissing of Tarin's cover of Light my Fire? I'll admit, it doesn't compare with the original, but it's a hundred times better than Jose Feliciano's wretched mangling! I mean, at least Train seems to understand the lyrics! And everyone here is bashing STP, Stappy, and The Cult for trying to imitate Jim, but Train just makes the song all new and different! Enjoy it for Mojo's sake! (Although I dearly miss the Organ intro)
Now the others...
STP's Break on Through blew my socks off! It's possibly better than the original! Wild Child is better than the original, and vies with Break on Thru for #1 song on the album! Riders on the Storm is excellent, as is Smashmouth's Peace Frog. Exene and Farrel give an interesting spin on Celebration of the Lizard, but it is lacking in Jim's trademark screams, moan, whines, and wails that made me jump in my seat the first time I heard it.
Love Her Madly is excellent, Touch Me is a good cover of a so-so song. Hooker's Roadhouse Blues is uninsired. the band sounds top notch, but all he does is repeat what Jim says, and not very interestingly.
LA Woman and The End are also excellent, and Love me Two Times is AWESOME!
In all, an excellent album, but misiing some of my favorite. It needs a cover of the Crystal Ship (Tori Amos! She could have handlesd the piano solo beautifully!), Soul Kitchen (PAUL MCARTNEY(!) or U2) and Five to One (Yes, we all know Manson did a cover, but how about getting Eric Clapton to give it a whirl!)

All in all, a worthy buy.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 49 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Cosmos of Doors, in music and words
In a cover CD, the musicians should to some extent preserve the basic texture of the songs. Forget fully punkified or fully disco Doors, or electronic boredom or totally altered... Read more

Published on May 14 2002 by Jinkyu

4.0 out of 5 stars The Lizard King is Smiling...
A smokin' tribute album, but even more IMHO...I bought it just to see what the "new breed" was doing with these classic songs. ... Read more

Published on April 29 2002 by soldham56

1.0 out of 5 stars Hell has a special place for Jim Morrison wannabes
This is quite possibly the worst thing I have ever heard. With the exception of Bo Diddly and John Lee Hooker, none of these bands are worthy enough to be doing a Doors cover,... Read more

Published on Mar 1 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been so much better
I love The Doors, but I wish that they would have let all the artists on this album have more creative control over the tracks on this collection. Read more

Published on Feb 8 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars He took a face from the ancient gallery...
Low expectations seem to the norm for tribute albums. The greatness of bands like The Doors virtually guarantees that those who would pay tribute are unworthy of doing so. Read more

Published on Feb 6 2002 by Chanandler Bong

4.0 out of 5 stars For a bunch of remakes, this is good...
It is obviously hard to recreate Jim Morrison or the era of the Doors but these bands have each put forth a suprisingly great effort. Read more

Published on Jan 3 2002 by Kaseybec

3.0 out of 5 stars They should have let Travis Meeks do the whole thing!
This cd is pretty much a mixed bag. There are the interesting "new" songs, the horrendous covers by Creed, Aerosmith, and Train, and the convincing tracks by STP,... Read more

Published on Dec 26 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty cool, pretty cool.
It's not the Doors, but it is an interesting listen. There are two cuts with some Jim in the backround but it is definatly not an American Prayer.

Published on Nov 27 2001 by Isaac T Smith

2.0 out of 5 stars Keep it real with the originals.
I don't think there should be a tribute album for the doors. They have such a timeless sound that nobody can duplicate. I sure as heck do not own this. Read more

Published on Aug 31 2001 by Alan Crisler

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice tribute to Morrison's poetry
My favorites were Riders on the Storm, by CREED, and The End, by DAYS OF THE NEW. A nice tribute, especially to his poetry.

Published on Aug 30 2001 by Robin Gore

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 49 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!