Morrison Hotel
The Doors
1970
Album Summary
Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: "Hard Rock Café" and "Morrison Hotel". Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists. The album reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and performed better overseas than the preceding album (it was the group's highest-charting studio album in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 12). The accompanying "You Make Me Real" / "Roadhouse Blues" single peaked at No. 50 in May 1970 on the Billboard 100 chart. The cover photo was taken by Henry Diltz.
WikipediaWell this album does nothing to change my perception that Rge Doors are the most overrated "great" band from the 60s.Even the one hit is pretty icing to me and no other song does anything to save this very ordinary album. 2 🌟
Loved it. Never listened to an entire Doors album. This is down to my assumption that they were pretty depressing to listen. I’ve been missing out though. It had everything, and Maggie Magill the last song was sensational
Amazing album. Loved it from front to back. Lots of good blues stuff with killer keyboards
Such a weird, yet cool blend of blues and psychedelic rock. Normally this isn’t something I’d like but The Doors just pull it off so we’ll. I especially love “Waiting for the Sun”. Such a cool groove to it.
I reckon these guys have better and more adventurous albums than this. Sometimes there were moments when they diverted from the normal blues formula, but this was rare and fleeting. After some research...apparently these guys were the pioneers of edgy, social-outcast, counterculture (which I'm all about). But I think it's partly coz people fancied Jim Morrison and loved that he sang low and about ominous and dark subjects. "Peace Frog" and "Indian Summer" were good, but they're no "Riders on the Storm". They deserve credit but this album in particular is probably not the one for me.
Waiting for the Sun was good, but nothing else left much of an impression.
great album, pretty much all the songs are good, worthy of my 5 stars.
RIYL: the calliope music that plays on merry-go-rounds, drinking beer for breakfast.
The Doors es una bandota que por alguna razón la evadí inconscientemente mucho tiempo y quizá me arrepiento un poco, pero no cuando puedo emocionarme por primera vez. Gran disco. Todo se oye lo más rockero. Mis preferidas: "Waiting for the Sun", "Ship of Fools", "Indian Summer" y "Roadhouse Blues", que sí conocía, rolón. 10/10
one of The Doors better albums. I thoroughly enjoyed it and give it seven deadly baths
This is probably my favorite Doors album. Incredible return to form after the Soft Parade, which is my least favorite Doors album. Everything about this album is great. 5 stars.
One of their best end-to-end listens, maybe second only to their debut.
One of the best blues albums I've come across. Not a bad song on there but special mention to Peace Frog and Queen of the Highway (obviously).
The Doors are absolutely LEGENDARY and this album is no exception. Jim was an enigma and blessing in one.
I'm 30 albums into this project and this is the first to come up that I actually own. And love. I had Jim Morrison on my dorm room wall -- you know that poster. The last album served me by the generator was by Living Color, which rocks but is let down by the lyrics, which remain relevant and are presumably heartfelt, but they aren't poetry. Morrison Hotel, on the other hand, is the whole package. Roadhouse Blues is a strong opener, very bluesy Doors-y with the music supporting/echoing/riffing on the sung melody, with some classic Morrison flourishes and lyrics like "The future's uncertain and the end is always near". Waiting for the Sun paints a darker picture, I think, and gives us the uber Doors line "This is the strangest life I've ever known." You Make Me Real is back to a rockin' good time love song, but then Peace Frog gives us the unsettling imagery of "Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding / Ghosts crowd the young child's eggshell mind." Even the (slightly) weaker tracks towards the end Queen of the Highway and Maggie M'Gill are like snuggling up in a thick velvet blanket, although admittedly one made of scotch and sex. TL;DR: This album is a journey. I was born in the wrong time and place and introduced to The Doors at the wrong age to have any genuine perspective on this music. This album mother's milk to me.
I love the doors; soulful, bluesy, groovy! Much derided, but extremely unfairly!
Hey, one I already own! There's a rockin' start to this album with 'Roadhouse Blues'. The album keeps it up mostly, though it stalls at times when it gets slower and more contemplative. Overall, however, the album comes together as a cohesive vision, which I really appreciate. So many albums feel fragmented and broken apart from song to song, but this one maintains a steadiness throughout that makes it an engaging listen from beginning to end. I also really like that it doesn't linger longer than it needs to. It's a little bit of a shorter album than some of the other's on here, and I can appreciate getting in, making your point, and getting out.
Kolejne Doorsy na liscie, jesli pamiec mnie nie myli bedzie to juz ich trzeci album, kolejna klasyczna pozycja ich dyskografii, czyli Morrison Hotel z 1970, chronologicznie piaty krazek, wydane po mocno srednim soft parade, ktory swoja eksperymentalnoscia brzmial tak jak polowa muzyki wydawana w tamtym okresie, Morrison Hotel byl powrotem do tego co Doorsy robily najlepiej czyli granie hardego rokowego bluesa, mniej tu psychodelciznosci z pierwszych materialow, a za to wiecej klimatycznego zawodzenia w akompaniamencie ktory nigdy sie nie nudzi, wiec przede wszystkim Manzarekowe klawisze, Kriegera gitara i Densmorowe drumsy, do tego goscinny bas od Raya Neapolitankiego, co do samych wokali Morrisonowych, to plyta powstawala w ciezkim okresie dla frontmena bandy, co slychac zarowno w glosie jak i w kontencie lirycznym albumu, bo sporo jest tutaj materialu z starszych nagran, najbardziej rzucajacym sie w oczy jest pojawienie sie kawalka waitining for the sun, ktory byl pisany na plyte o tym samym tytule, ale nie znalazl na niej dla siebie miejsca, a dostal drugie zycie tutaj, podobnie z peace frogiem czy indian summer, ale jak to bywa odpadki po poprzednich sesjach staja sie glownym daniem nastepnych, tak jest rowniez w tym wypadku, bo hajlajtowymi momentami plyty sa dla mnie wlasnie te dwa pierwsze wspomniane utwory, pewnie przemawia przeze mnie fangejowosc doorsowa, ale ciezko doszukac mi sie czegos co by mi nie pasowalo w tym 37 minutowym krazku, nagranym zgrabnie i dosc szybko, ale prosto i autentycznie, juz tyle odtworzen nabitych na last fmie, choc nadal nie jest to najbardziej osluchany album z dyskografii zespolu, dopiero teraz przy systematycznym sluchaniu nowych plyt czlowiek jest w stanie docenic prawdziwe perelki, nie ma jeszcze polowy listy, a juz pojawilo sie to co obstawialem, ze bedzie doorsowego, teraz tylko czekac na pozytywne zaskoczenie gdy pojawia sie kolejne dwie pozycje
This was released one day before my anniversary! (22 years before I was born.)
Not one of my favorite Doors albums but honestly The Doors were my first favorite band as a teen, and it still sounds as great to me two decades later.
In my opinion, this is not their best, but hey... how can I give under 5 stars to a Doors album?
Damn this is really great album. A couple stinkers but overall I loved it.
whoof what a ride. love love love the doors. they can manage to make any subject matter harrowing and expressive, that being said, the subject matter in Morrison Hotel is one track, and for that reason I'm docking as many points as I probably could for a 70s doors album 9.7/10
Peace Frog is a bop, and I enjoy the groovy keyboard action throughout the album. Morrison's lyrics are amusingly on-the-nose, at times. Not exactly wall-to-wall bangers tho.
Peace frog and roadhouse blues are in Unbelievable, rest of the album was very solid but those are timeless bangers
4,8/5 Kannte ich schon BANGER The doors sind premium haben aber NOCH bessere Alben
White boy blues, sure. But The Spy? Indian Summer? I'd never have lost my virginity without this album.
A remarkable comeback to formula. Fantastic dark blues with utterly beautiful themes. Morrison has some of his best works on the album, and also not to neglect Manzarek too. And oh, Kreiger does some great work and Densmore does his best work on this album. Ok, so all of them are on top of their game on this album. The album has some of the band's greatest songs. A strong recommendation!
Koja slučajnost da se baš nakon one žustre rasprave kod Ivana u stanu ko je zgodniji našao ovaj album. Nije čista petica, fali do toga, ali svejedno mislim da bez problema mogu dati toliko.
o mais rock do the doors, mas não importa muito, qualquer album deles é um 5 pra mim
I love the Doors. I don't harbor illusions about Jim Morrison being the great poet that he obviously thought that he was, but I do like his singing style and voice. "Maggie M'Gill" sounds so much like "Back Door Man" that I would bet that Maggie was quite a lady.
love it, one of my fav albums ever. the opening track is one of the best tracks in the entire discography.
The future's uncertain and the end is always near I LOVE this album. 5/5
This album is anchored with a really brilliant side 1, which includes one the all time great album openers ("Roadhouse Blues"), along with several of The Doors' best songs. Side 2 is a little uneven, but taken as a whole, the album is better than most bands could ever hope to muster. I don't think the band ever sounded better. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Roadhouse Blues, Indian Summer, Waiting for the Sun, Blue Sunday, Peace Frog, The Spy, Queen of the Highway, Maggie M'Gill, Land Ho!, Ship of Fools, You Make Me Real
I didn’t like this one as much as other doors albums before but now I see the vision
I've loved the Doors for ages - don't care what anyone says! This is not quite their best album, but with Peace Frog and Queen of the Highway etc it still gets a 5 from me
Reminds me of led zeppelin self titled and houses holy a bit but that’s definitely because of blues and psychedelic sounds combined with hard rock
I haven’t listened to much from the Doors other than their hits… I think I might have recognized one or two songs on this in some distant memory. I guess I see why these aren’t the usual Doors songs I hear, but they sure are great! I loved this album!
This rating has far less to do with my listening experience and more about how I want to make sure that Jim Morrison loves me when I meet him in heaven some day.