| 27th August 2006 11:10 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Rhino Announces The Doors’ Perception DVD-Audio Box Set
August 26, 2006
highfidelityreview.com
Rhino and Elektra Records have officially announced The Doors Perception box set, released to salute the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Available on November 21st, the 6-CD/6-DVD boxed set presents all of The Doors’ classic studio albums with legendary vocalist Jim Morrison, each supplemented with rare and unreleased audio and video tracks.
Perception was produced in cooperation with surviving band members John Densmore (drums), Robby Krieger (guitar), and Ray Manzarek (keyboards), with The Doors’ longtime engineer Bruce Botnick back behind the boards. Each of the six albums is presented with bonus audio – much of it previously unreleased – on a remastered CD with an additional DVD-Audio/Video disc including a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and additional tracks as well as a photo gallery, lyrics and discography, and two videos of songs from that album.
One of the most impressive debuts in rock history, The Doors (1967) was as commercially successful as it was musically daring, with the signature single “Light My Fire” reaching #1 on the singles chart (the LP spent more than two years on the album chart, eventually going double platinum). Bonus material includes two takes of “Moonlight Drive,” a previously unreleased version of “Indian Summer,” the promotional video of “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” and a Canadian television broadcast of “The End” from Toronto in 1967.
Strange Days (1967) capped The Doors’ breakthrough year in fine form, with “People Are Strange” narrowly missing the Billboard Top 10. Among the extras are previously unissued takes of that hit (including false starts and dialogue) and “Love Me Two Times.” “Love Me Two Times” and the album’s closer, “When The Music’s Over” are seen on the DVD in live performances taped in Europe in 1968.
The chart-topping Waiting For The Sun (1968) opens with one of the band’s most irresistible pop singles (and their second #1 hit), “Hello I Love You,” before delving into darker terrain. Audio extras include previously unreleased dialogue and two takes of “Not To Touch The Earth” plus the group’s interpretation of Tommaso Albinoni’s classical composition “Adagio In G Minor” and the 17-minute epic work-in-progress, “Celebration Of The Lizard.” The DVD features footage of “Spanish Caravan” from The Doors’ storied 1968 gig at the Hollywood Bowl, and a Danish TV performance from that year of “The Unknown Soldier.”
The Soft Parade (1969) showed the group’s willingness to explore more elaborate arrangements including strings and horns; one of those sonic experiments, “Touch Me,” became a #3 hit. An unreleased take and studio dialogue of that single, plus the previously unheard “Push Push,” two takes of “Whiskey, Mystics And Men” and “Who Scared You” are among the audio tracks added. Rounding things out are video performances of the album’s title track and “Tell All The People” taped for New York’s WNET-TV in 1969.
Morrison Hotel (1970) was issued in the wake of Jim’s notorious Miami bust for indecent exposure, and shows The Doors battling back with such powerful broadsides as “Roadhouse Blues.” Eight previously unissued takes of that song are among the many bonus tracks included here, along with never-before-heard versions of “Peace Frog,” “The Spy,” the intriguingly titled “Money Beats Soul,” and a quick run through of Chuck Berry’s “Carol.” Music videos of “Roadhouse Blues” and “Wild Child” are tenants of the Morrison Hotel DVD.
L.A. Woman (1971) was released just a couple of months before Morrison’s untimely – and still mysterious – death in Paris. The album includes some of his most visionary lyrics, as well as the hits “Love Her Madly” and “Riders On The Storm.” “Orange County Suite” and “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” appear as additional audio, with a music video of album-opener “The Changeling” and rehearsal space footage of “Crawling King Snake” shot in 1971 for Australian television providing supplemental visuals.
These landmark albums are housed in a package truly worthy of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall Of Famers. Appropriately enough the box cover is designed as a door which opens to access the album digipaks within. The front also sports a peephole with a wheel of images behind it that can be rotated to display photos of the band. Perception will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets and at www.thedoors.com for a suggested list price of $149.98.
In conjunction with the upcoming 40th anniversary of the release of The Doors’ first album is the release of the first authorized and legitimate autobiography by the remaining members of the band that forever changed the face of music, popular culture, and America—THE DOORS by THE DOORS (Hyperion; November 7, 2006; $45.00; Hardcover); includes never-before-seen photos, rare interviews with Jim, and the words of Ray, Robby, John, their families, and the pedigree prose of former Rolling Stone editor and scribe of Morrison’s obituary, Ben Fong-Torres.
Each DVD-Audio disc will have:
A 5.1 mix of the album, with new parts, and all alternates and outtakes also mixed in 5.1
The "40th Anniversary Stereo Mix", with new parts
The classic stereo mix, as you have always heard them, but in hi-resolution 96kHz 24-bit audio
Videos (stereo only)
10-20 photos in a photo gallery
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| 27th August 2006 11:13 AM |
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| keefjunkie |
Im currentelly reading the book The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. |
| 27th August 2006 12:02 PM |
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| mac_daddy |
interesting book, kj.
i will get slammed for saying this here, but i dig the doors, and likely will be checking out this set...
maybe it is a soCal thing, i dont know, but i dig the doors: always have, and always will - they were terrific live, and they were fabulous on record.
flame on. |
| 27th August 2006 12:05 PM |
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| mac_daddy |
i wanted to add, this will likely be the impetus for me buying a dvd-audio player (like the stones sacd were the impetus for me buying an sacd player). yes, hi rez is that good, and yes, these albums are that important to me...
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| 27th August 2006 12:11 PM |
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| GotToRollMe |
You're not alone, Mac. The Doors were HUGE in their day, and for good reason. They produced some of the most innovative, exciting music of the time. I loved 'em.
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| 27th August 2006 12:22 PM |
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| Taptrick |
There are things known and there are things unknown - and I like the doors.
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| 27th August 2006 01:44 PM |
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| time is on my side |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
interesting book, kj.
i will get slammed for saying this here, but i dig the doors, and likely will be checking out this set...
maybe it is a soCal thing, i dont know, but i dig the doors: always have, and always will - they were terrific live, and they were fabulous on record.
flame on.
Your defintely not alone. It's the given wisdom on this board among some of the heavy posters with more advanced taste that bands like The Doors or Led Zeppelin is music for teenagers. Music strictly for one's adolescence state of mind. Music they have long since outgrown. The Morrison posters were torn down from the walls & the Zepp t-shirts were given away to charity or donated to the Salvation Army as a goodwill gesture.
No, it's not a soCal thing and this age thing may sound nice on a post or in theory but I don't necessarily buy into that at all. People still listen to both bands and my guess is there are more than a few that have long since past beyond their youth.
Could it be that both bands simply made good music that is withstanding the test of TIME???
Bring on the flames.
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| 27th August 2006 04:24 PM |
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| TornAndFrayed |
I love The Doors.
Their studio output is incredible: First album, Strange Days and L.A. Woman are timeless masterpieces and Roadhouse Blues is one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Forget about the "Lizard King" crap, Morrison was a talented and charismatic singer/frontman, very smart and incredibly funny (his rants and endless speeches during the infamous Miami´69 show always crack me up).
They were also a fantastic live band, especially during the later years (1969/70) and Densmore is a very underrated drummer. |
| 27th August 2006 09:05 PM |
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| full moon |
The Doors are greaT.Way ahead of their time....... |
| 27th August 2006 10:09 PM |
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| Soldatti |
Great band, I love their last album with Morrison. |
| 27th August 2006 10:12 PM |
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| Gazza |
Looks like I have my Christmas present all picked, then! |
| 28th August 2006 01:32 AM |
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| Zack |
The Doors were my favorite band as a teenager, in keeping with what many have already pointed out. Still like them and now my 15-year-old is into it.
It's amazing how the surviving three have been living of Morrison's corpse for 35 years though, repackaging and repackaging the same stuff and releasing every scrap from the vault. Not to mention the "Doors of the 21st Century" travesty. |
| 28th August 2006 03:11 AM |
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| speedfreakjive |
quote:
Zack wrote:
The Doors were my favorite band as a teenager, in keeping with what many have already pointed out. Still like them and now my 15-year-old is into it.
It's amazing how the surviving three have been living of Morrison's corpse for 35 years though, repackaging and repackaging the same stuff and releasing every scrap from the vault. Not to mention the "Doors of the 21st Century" travesty.
Zack, check PM. |
| 28th August 2006 08:19 AM |
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| corgi37 |
Big Doors fan here. Or, was. I find they appealed more to the teeny, introspective, "the world hates me" part of me. They are are darker version of what Led Zep is to alot of teenies.
But they DO have some great shit. Trouble is, 90% of this stuff has already been released. The box set from 1/2 a dozen years or so ago had alot of this "rare" stuff, and believe me, its bad. To quote Gazza: "its fucking shite!"
The footage has all been seen. Most of it is not original clips, but clips done in the mid 80's for the Dance on Fire VHS. LA Woman was shot by Manzarek circa 84. I think it contains something like 25 total seconds of 60's footage of the band from home vids. Likewise for Riders. If i see R/house Blues again, i will scream!
Still, i'll simply have to get this for the 5.1 mixes.
Oh, and "You need meat" is a brilliant song. Fantastic blues rave, sung by Ray.
I have really waned in my love for the band (mainly because of the shoddy stuff they keep churning out - i mean, face it, the vaults are bloody empty!), but i still dig alot of their music. There can be no denying their influence on American music.
Also, i consider LA Woman one of the finest recorded pieces of music from that era. If it was released today, it would stand up pretty well sonic wise. Their use of the studio was awesome. Of course, having Botnick & the other guy (Shit, cant recall his name off the top of my head) was a stroke of luck.
I have long thought of the Doors as the best ever Yank band, and maybe i am still right. They had a good strike rate, releasing only 1 dud - Soft Parade. Their live album is just amazing to listen to. What a glorious shambles! I dont mean the re-hashed crap that came out about 10 years ago, which merged with the EP "Alive she cried", no thats shit. But the original version of "Absolutely Live" is a very good reflection of the times. I just love the chaos.
This will make a fine Xmas present for Corgi boy.
Then, never will i buy another Doors thing. |
| 28th August 2006 12:11 PM |
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| GotToRollMe |
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
...Their live album is just amazing to listen to. What a glorious shambles! I dont mean the re-hashed crap that came out about 10 years ago, which merged with the EP "Alive she cried", no thats shit. But the original version of "Absolutely Live" is a very good reflection of the times. I just love the chaos.
I absolutely love "Absolutely Live!" One of my all-time favorite live albums by anyone.
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| 28th August 2006 12:27 PM |
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| charlotte |
My first trip to Paris as a college student I went to Le Pere Lachaise...
mac:"this will likely be the impetus for me buying a dvd-audio player yes, hi rez is that good, and yes, these albums are that important to me..."
gazza:"Looks like I have my Christmas present all picked, then!"
same here fellows, same here!!!!
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| 28th August 2006 01:16 PM |
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| gimmekeef |
This will be great!.....hey guys when the musics over...turn out the lights! |
| 28th August 2006 01:23 PM |
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| Egbert |
Any band that inspired Iggy to form the Stooges is OK in my book. |
| 28th August 2006 01:45 PM |
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| Gazza |
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
Also, i consider LA Woman one of the finest recorded pieces of music from that era. If it was released today, it would stand up pretty well sonic wise. Their use of the studio was awesome. Of course, having Botnick & the other guy (Shit, cant recall his name off the top of my head) was a stroke of luck.
Paul Rotchchild? Fine producer, although he walked out of the LA Woman sessions in disgust at what he thought was a serious drop in the quality of the music (he considered Riders on the Storm 'cocktail bar music')- and Botnick (who was the engineer) ended up producing it with the band
bad misjudgement. For me, its their greatest record and a fantastic swansong. |
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