Waiting For The Sun

Waiting For The Sun was the Doors third studio album, released in 1968. While not being a masterpiece in the minds of many critics, it is still a very important work- not because of it's mass popularity, but more so because of the diverse content heard in the album. The big hit from the album, "Hello, I Love You," was a number one single, a bombastic, fuzzy pop tune originally recorded as an early demo in 1965, when the group was named Rick & The Ravens. After this grand opening to the album, the listener is taken on a wild and unpredictable journey, through songs comprised of classical jazz, Spanish Flamenco, psychedelia, theatrical rock, even a sort of primitive heavy metal. Today, Waiting For The Sun doesn't seem to receive it's just due as a cohesive assortment of The Doors at their very best; experimental, boundary-breaking, and highly intelligent.

"Love Street" is an odd, homage to a woman, a fashionable girlfriend who's laden with material treasures but who also has conflict in relationships. "Not To Touch The Earth" is an excerpt of Jim Morrison's epic poem The Celebration Of The Lizard, the only part of the poem recorded independently in the studio as it's own song. The ominous psychedelic verses turn into choruses designed with a Russian folk motif, a galloping pulse which keeps propelling the song to faster and more manic heights. "Summer's Almost Gone" is another song from the early Doors 1965 demos, a dreamy, sleepy, slow minor blues which laments the loss of the warm season, and also symbolizes the end of a relationship. This song and it's seasonal theme is followed by another seasonally-themed song, the upbeat, Baroque-inspired "Wintertime Love." There's a certain elegance and regality in the sound not heard on any other Doors song. Interestingly, the lyrics were written by guitarist Robby Krieger, and are centered around the quasi-fantasy oasis of love and warmth amidst the cold and snow of winter. "The Unknown Soldier" continues The Doors pioneering use of rock as theater, as well as being a commentary on war (specifically the Vietnam War). It is at once a political device and a staged execution of a presumed P.O.W., complete with sound effects and acting. In 1968, no band was doing this kind of thing anywhere. It wasn't until a year later when The Who released their Tommy opera, and began acting out Tommy during live stage performances (most notably on the album Live At Leeds). But the roots to The Doors marrying rock and theater go back to the 1967 debut album The Doors, and it's Oedipal drama "The End."

"Spanish Caravan" also continues The Doors worldly adventures, moving out and beyond Los Angeles and West Coast subjects to Spain and the West Mediterranean Sea. Introduced at the start is some fine flamenco finger-style guitar courtesy of Krieger, and the song drifts from a quiet flamenco-theme into a swirling, psychedelic storm at sea, a merchant's worse nightmare. "My Wild Love" is The Doors as chain gang prisoners, in the American South, anywhere between the mid 19th century to the 1940's. This time frame is roughly when "blues" music was created, starting with slaves and their field hollers, and prisoners singing work songs. The Doors commemorate this tradition and add some vocal sound effects as the song intensifies. There are no musical instruments present besides The Doors' voices. "We Could Be So Good Together" is another earlier Doors demo re-worked for release, and it loosely follows the archetypal sixties pop song structure with a hooky organ riff, fuzz guitar harmony, and an inventive bridge. "Yes, The River Knows" is a quiet piece, a classical jazz song with a Duke Ellington feel. There is some incredible instrumental interplay between the band, and Morrison is in top form with his vocals. Thematically the words revolve around the idea of love as infinite, as a river, flowing on and on. "Five To One" might be the most crude album track ever put to tape by The Doors, a plodding keyboard-driven song with drunken vocals. The revolutionary idea of the song is that of the embattled youth against an oppressive establishment. The menacing sound is considered to be an idea of proto-typical heavy metal, without heavy guitars and all the other cliche aesthetics associated with metal. Instead, it is more of an experiment which sounds closer to Deep Purple than Black Sabbath.

Waiting For The Sun was re-released in 2007 as part of the entire remastering of The Doors main studio albums (official canon albums from 1967-71). Added to the standard eleven tracks are five bonus tracks: "Albinoni's Adagio In G Minor" is a piece The Doors recorded with a string section, and was written by Italian composer Tommaso Albinoni. The downbeat yet emotional mood of the song captivated Morrison. There are three progressive takes of "Not To Touch The Earth" which display the band in a rehearsal context. There is interesting dialogue and alternate musical sounds in these takes not heard anywhere else besides poor-sounding bootlegs. Lastly, the highlight of the bonus material is the studio recording of "The Celebration Of The Lizard" (An Experiment/Work In Progress). For years many fans wanted to have this, some resorting to piecing together various concert excerpts and bootlegs. Although not crystallized here as a completed, refined work, "Celebration" still brings the excitement and wonder heard often through the released live renditions the band played (the Madison Square Garden version from 1970 stands out among many other excellent performances). Morrison truly wanted to include the complete "Celebration" for inclusion on Waiting For The Sun, but ran into disinterest by the label and band (for fear of the album flopping under the weight of a 17-plus minute long poem set to music). The song would have taken one entire side of the LP, thus eliminating a bunch of shorter songs. No bands back then were releasing double LP's; only The Beatles were able to do to this, in November 1968, with the release of The Beatles (White Album). Morrison was thinking ahead, thinking outside of the box, as were the rest of the band, but sadly his ideas for "Celebration..." were left on the shelf for future consideration.