There are some bands which are more or less defined by a single person. This may be the vocalist, the guitarist or the drummer etc.. Kurt Cobain is an example. Others can be noted as Tom Morello, Ben Harper, Mark Knopfler, Jack White etc. However, there are also some bands who are based on a more collective approach like Beatles, Metallica, Kronos Quartet, and Pink Floyd. These are more diversified bands which there is more than a single person directing and defining the music.
When these leaders of bands somewhat leave the stage or depart the band, there are not much to do. Some bands try to go on with extreme rare success. Mostly the result is "need to be forgotten" albums. RATM tried this after Morello departed. The result was a mere OK. He came back, life is good now. Nirvana didn't even got together since the idea of replacing Cobain was plain dumb. They went their separate ways which turned out to be a much better decision. GNR is still trying to survive after the departure of Slash and what's coming out is nowhere near the good ol' days.
Why I am pushing on with this "obvious for most" issue is that the album in question tends to be the album of The Doors after Jim Morrison hit the sack. Jim Morrison was The Doors, The Doors was Jim Morrison. With all respect to the somewhat talented Manzarek, his fight to keep The Doors alive was purely financial, nothing less. The result. Oh man. Totally embarrasing.
To be frank, I didn't listen to this album before. It's probably nobody even cared to mention. All in all, life sucks after Jim Morrison. Music is not the same. It's nowhere near. The lyrics are mere -I tried hard to seem like- Jim Morrison copies and fully lacks the poetry and imagination of him. If the band did not use the name The Doors, it would have been a little milder critic, but it's not the case. Since they wanted to benefit from using "The Doors" name on the cover, it would be only fair to judge it accordingly.
The only track that had me focused during listening was Hang On To Your Life. Apart from that one, all the others are a waste of time. It is somewhat Blues oriented or to be more precise, the basis is Blues and the road that Jim Morrison has paved on it. However, Jim Morrison's music evolved through every record and came to a point where he had a similar maturation point that Cobain also felt. On the other hand, this maturity did not even pass onto his fellow band members since it is quite evident that they went back all the way to the beginning and wrote music like teenagers. I believe these explanations will suffice to say that this is a record that you should be aware of and discard. We are The Doors fans alright, but what you have on this record is not The Doors. The real The Doors closed down shop on 3rd of July, 1971. Oh by the way, these guys went on to release another record called "Full Circle". Haven't listened to that one, but seeing from this one, I'll be more wiser not to get even close to it.
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