Published on May 18, 1998
Just when most bands decide to call it quits after a member has
died, the remaining members had to face that horrible question:
“Does the band go on, or die too?”
When Doors singer Jim Morrison died in 1971, The Doors remained
as a trio for not one, but two albums.
Full Circle, released in 1972, was the trio’s second release
without the famous lead singer.
As expected, both albums,
Other Voices and
Full Circle are completely different in style than that with
Morrison. Of the two,
Full Circle would have to be much different than the
other.
“Get Up And Dance” starts out the album, and it’s a bouncy
number, likewise “4 Billion Souls”. It turns out that the Doors
trio is concentrating on being a rock and roll boogie band, an
unlikely style when Jim Morrison was around.
“Verdillac”, on the other hand, features great keyboards by Ray
Manzarek, and it just might of passed as a song that Morrison could
of done, in the style of the
Morrison Hotel and/or
L.A. Woman albums. It comparison, this song is somewhat
almost like L.A. Woman’s “Texas Radio and the Big Beat”. Another
musical instrument heard is this song is the saxophone. I don’t
think this instrument was used when Morrison was around. Towards
the ending of this song has spoken material, another feature Jim
Morrison used.
Back to the boogie: “Hardwood Floor” and a remake of “Good
Rockin’ Tonight” returns to the basic rock and roll boogie
style.
Starting off the second side is “The Mosquito”, which I guess
could pass as a novelty song (because of the way the vocals sound),
rather than an actual rock song. The vocals (which weren’t many)
and music are unique: the vocals are nasal somewhat, and the
remaining music breaks/solos add different touches to the song.
(Some of these breaks and solos feature again, great keyboards by
Ray Manzarek and guitar by Robbie Kreiger.) All in all, it’s
another song unheard of in the original style of The Doors. “The
Piano Bird” is considered jazz than rock. It features horns, and
the vocals are very laid back. The electronic keyboards are in the
typical jazz style. Quite frankly, this song is quite
interesting.
“It Slipped My Mind” is another rock/boogie number, and the
vocals here can easily slip past your mind and become forgetful as
the title states. And lastly, another rock/boogie song, “The Peking
King and The New York Queen” is another song that can be easily
forgotten.
This album is a different approach to when Jim Morrison was lead
vocalist. Even though the remaining Doors made their best efforts
after Morrison’s death, it probably would of been best just to
close the books on the Chapter of the future of The Doors. But
instead, the trio focused on rock/boogie compositions for what
would be their last album with The Doors name.
But still, it’s very interesting in hearing how a band records
without their dominating band member(s). After hearing this, I’m
kind of glad that bands like Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead
decided to call it quits after John Bonham and Jerry Garcia passed
away. Sure, both these bands could have found replacements, but it
just wouldn’t be the same. But in The Doors case, instead of
finding a new replacement singer (like Van Halen has done two times
now), they went on without Morrison, and the results were, well,
not as high as you would expect. If the remaining members of The
Doors really wanted to find a replacement singer, they probably
should of considered Iggy Pop. He was influenced by The Doors, and
his musical abilities are easily matched to Jim Morrison.
But, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore had the idea
that they could survive and record again as a band called The
Doors. And they probably knew well that it wouldn’t be the same,
but there was only one way to find out: They recorded two albums on
their own with less-than-average reviews. (Hey, didn’t The Who did
something like this too? Recording two albums with a new drummer
and receiving not-so-great reviews?)
Again, it was probably best for both The Doors and The Who to
quit after their loss, but the idea is always there: “What would
happen if we continued on?” Well, the results are, quite frankly,
that if a member does die, it’s best to have the rest of the band
die too.
But then there’s the case of The Rolling Stones and Van Halen:
It was easier for The Rolling Stones to replace Brian Jones. Jones
may not have been a huge influence as a Mick Jagger and/or Keith
Richards, but still, their future albums after Jones’ death has
received both great and negative reviews.
And Van Halen: Well, I’ve always liked the original lead singer
David Lee Roth, but when the group replaced Sammy Hagar with Gary
Cherone, it seems that they still wanted a Sammy sound-alike. At
least when Sammy first came into the picture, Van Halen changed
their style completely as they did with Roth. They should of done
that with Cherone.
As mentioned before, if you have doubts about continuing on
after a member has died or quit, go with your true instincts. When
my band broke up in 1986, it was because our drummer had quit to
join another band. We were smart by ending our band completely.
Sure, it would of been easy to get a new drummer, but like
everything else, it just wouldn’t be the same.
I’d be very anxious if they were to re-issue both post-Morrison
albums on CD. Some (if not, all) of the solo albums by Krieger and
Manzarek have been re-issued on CD, and it would be a matter of
time if The Doors’
Other Voices and
Full Circle ever make it to the CD laser beam.
If you wish to listen to this album on the Internet, visit
this Doors website.
RealAudio is required.