add to wish list | library


14 of 17 recommend this,
would you recommend it?

yes | no

Support this site by purchasing from these vendors using the paid links below. As an Amazon Associate SA-CD.net earns from qualifying purchases.
 
amazon.ca
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.de
 
amazon.fr
amazon.it
 
jpc
 
Label:
  Analogue Productions - http://www.analogueproductions.com/
Serial:
  CAPP 74007 SA
Title:
  The Doors: The Doors
Description:
  Jim Morrison, vocals
Ray Manzarek, organ, piano & bass
Robby Krieger, guitar
John Densmore, drums
Track listing:
  1. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
2. Soul Kitchen
3. The Crystal Ship
4. Twentieth Century Fox
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
6. Light My Fire
7. Back Door Man
8. I Looked At You
9. End Of The Night
10. Take It As It Comes
11. The End
Genre:
  Pop/Rock
Content:
  Stereo/Multichannel
Media:
  Hybrid
Recording type:
  Analogue
Recording info:
  "Throughout the record history of the Doors, the goal between Paul Rothchild and myself was to be invisible, as the Doors were the songwriters and performers. Our duty was to capture them in the recorded medium without bringing attention to ourselves. Of course, the Doors were very successful, and Paul and I did receive some acclaim, which we did appreciate.

"If you listen to all the Doors albums, no attempt was made to create sounds that weren't generated by the Doors, except for the Moog Synthesizer on Strange Days, although that was played live in the mix by Jim, but that's another story. The equipment used was very basic, mostly tube consoles and microphones. Telefunken U47, Sony C37A, Shure 56. The echo used was from real acoustic echo chambers and EMT plate reverb units. In those days, we didn't have plug-ins or anything beyond an analogue 8-track machine. All the studios that we used, except for Elektra West, had three Altec Lansing 604E loudspeakers, as that was the standard in the industry, 3-track. On EKS-74007, The Doors, we used 4-track Ampex recorders and on the subsequent albums, 3M 56 eight-tracks. Dolby noise reduction units were used on two albums, Waiting For The Sun and The Soft Parade. Everything was analogue, digital was just a word. We didn't use fuzz tone or other units like that but created the sounds organically, i.e. the massive dual guitar solo on "When The Music's Over," which was created by feeding the output of one microphone preamp into another and adjusting the level to create the distortion. The tubes were glowing and lit up the control room.

"When mastering for the 45-RPM vinyl release, we were successfully able to bake the original master tapes and play them to cut the lacquer masters."

- Bruce Botnick, July 2012

read discussion | delete from library | delete recommendation | report errors
 
Submitted by hooperthom
 
Related titles: 8 show all

The Doors: Infinite      

 
Reviews: 4 show all

Review by analogue June 4, 2013 (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:  
A truly great debut album from a classic rock band.

This review is of the new Analogue Productions sacd which features a new Dsd stereo transfer by Doug Sax.

The original two channel tapes are no longer with us so for this release Sax used a second generation tape which was the best one that could be used.
Unfortunately this sacd sounds like a third generation tape was used. This is not the fault of Mr. Sax but it still makes me wish I hadn't purchased this disc. Especially when you compare what he did for lets say......L.A. Woman on sacd.

This sacd does sound like a dub tape and it never gels. When it starts out it sounds decent enough but soon after one begins to notice the severe limitations of this tape source. Dynamic range is clipped, there is little in three dimensional rendering. Transparency is also lacking greatly here. Its simply a drab affair. Rather dull.

There are some good things to be had. Its at least organic sounding and there is that analog feel to it. When i compare it to the Dvd Audio version from the box set there are some differences too. I don't usually find the pcm version better but here I do. By a long shot. While the sacd has better sound stage the Dvd Audio is better overall even with the new remixing. The pcm version has better vocals and separation and much better bite.. Its louder than the sacd too but has better bloom. Its the preferred version by far.....and actually the more musical version to own. I am a huge fan of the Doors box set .

I cant recommend this sacd as the tape source doesn't even come close to capturing those delicate nuances that make recorded sound so compelling. I get bored and listless when I hear this sacd after about 5 minutes.

Stay away from this release but not the others . They are great.

Was this review helpful to you?  yes | no

Review by Audioflea February 28, 2013 (5 of 8 found this review helpful)
Sonics:  
First-time release of The Doors 6-album catalog on SACD from Analog Productions. Each disc contains both multi-channel and stereo. The multi-channel layer comes from the original 96K, 24-bit files that were originally mixed and mastered for the 2006 DVD Audio Doors/Perception release. For stereo purists, the re-mastered, hi-rez stereo layers on all of the discs are fantastic and have never sounded better. However, in my opinion, it’s the multi-channel presentation that, when done right, takes this music to a whole different level. My reviews are based solely on the quality and fullness of the stage presence of the multi-channel layer of each respective disc in the set.

On the classic 1-10 scale, IMHO, here’s how each disc ranks in quality and fullness of the stage presence of the 5.1 layer. Strange Days (9) The Soft Parade (9), LA Woman (8.5), Morrison Hotel (7.5), Waiting for the Sun (7), The Doors (3)


The Doors

With regards to multi-channel presentation, this disc is the weakest link in the otherwise pretty strong 6-disc catalog. Not that the sound quality is poor, it certainly has pretty good sonic presence and clarity in the front 3 speakers. But, with few exceptions, the multi-channel arrangement is mostly front channel, front left, and front right. This is just not the immersive sound stage that is offered in the multi-channel layers of the other 5 Doors discs; most of the time the rears are just barely audible.

With that said, I do think that there is a definite uptick in quality over previous CD releases that are out there. For one, even though there is, for all intents and purposes, only 3 active channels, there is some separation of the musical parts within that 3-speaker framework. Some tracks shine a lot more than others, depending on how much of the vocal is separated out & focused in on the center channel; and some tracks definitely have higher recording levels on the vocal than one other tracks.

The tracks that benefit from the 3-channel SACD upgrade most are; “Light my Fire”, “I Looked at You”, “The End Of The Night”, “Take It As It Comes”, and “The End”; which all display a strong vocal presence in the center and surprisingly crisp percussion in the FR & FL.

Unfortunately two of my favorite tracks, “The Crystal Ship” and “Back Door Man”, have really suppressed vocals and are mostly drowned out by the instrumentation that come out of the two side channels. Unless you have the capacity to adjust the relative volume level on your center channel, these tracks are almost better represented in their original stereo format.

At the initial retail of $30, I still recommend it for those who want a 3-channel version, which definitley an improvement over the CD format. Just adjust your expectations slightly if you happen to hear the other 5 Doors SACDs first.

Was this review helpful to you?  yes | no

Review by tdunster December 12, 2014 (1 of 2 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:  
Perhaps one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Unfortunately, the sound quality of this disc is woeful. I prefer the sound of the original CD and the remix CD over this one - and by a good margin as well.

Analogue's review pretty much says it all

Was this review helpful to you?  yes | no