Continuing my favorite CD countdown at Number 52 is...
The Doors - The Best of the Doors (1985)
The Doors, the band that lives in a singular mystique of druggy poetry and enigmatic charisma thanks to lead singer Jim Morrison. I used to really hate this band. Whenever they would come on MTV in the '80's, my friends and I would complain through the whole song. No specific critique, we would just talk about how they suck and could not see what the big deal was. A bad Oliver Stone movie in the early '90's didn't help, watching a great director begin his slide into self indulgence wasn't much fun either.
It wasn't until I heard my wife's cassette of their Best of that I became interested in the Doors. In the mid '90's, the sign post where most good rock music stopped, I started to listen to more classic rock. In that context, the Doors started to stand out and the Lizard King schtick fronting a stomping blues / psychedelic band sounded good. The epic navel gazing ("Break On Through", "Waiting For The Sun", "Riders On The Storm") the I'm Too Sexy come ons ("Light My Fire", "Touch Me", "Hello I Love You") and drugged detachment ("People Are Strange", "The Crystal Ship") came together to form a magnetic portrait of a guy who is pretty cool when he's high.
And in the 1960's, who wouldn't want to be that guy? Now that I'm used to the Doors, I find his I've-walked-the-earth-and-now-sound-like-a-booming-subwolfer voice backed by a pounding electric organ to be entertaining. And like another 1960's artifact, 2001: a Space Odyssey (1967) he seemed driven to take modern society to a more primal end. While I may never find the depth in his music that rock critics claim to be there (maybe because I've never done drugs) I now enjoy listening to their ominous tone. And it's got a good beat you can dance to!
In other news, Sanjaya has been booted off American Idol! After a dull performance of "Something To Talk About" during country week he went from a top vote getter to last place. While I would never say this guy is incredibly talented, he was entertaining and motivated Simon Cowell to his best critiques this week. Cowell was so enraged after seeing Sanjaya's limp performance that he went on a rampage on every contestant that followed. Even front runner Melinda Doolittle wasn't safe as he carped on her "I'm shocked I'm receiving praise" reactions. I hope Simon continues with this now that Sanjaya's gone, it inspired him to his sharpest criticisms in a while.
And now the Father of the Year award goes to...Alec Baldwin! His venomous, profanity laced phone message for his 12 year old daughter is now all over the internet. Gotta love the bit where he tells his daughter he's going to come to California to "Straighten...You...Out!!!!" Yeah, it takes a real man to threaten your 12 year old daughter. To think all those years Baldwin won accolades for playing jerks was considered acting. He was just being himself!
Baldwin could take a lesson from Jim Morrison and Sanjaya Malakar. Chill out dude.
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