The Doors Immersive
I am a life long Doors fan.
The first time I heard Moonlight Drive my mind was carried away.
5.1 audio is my most treasured audio format, ever.
Put the two together…. ah magic is here.
Not too long ago, the Doors released a box set of their albums remixed into 5.1 audio by their engineer, Bruce Botnick.
Yes I got it. It is amazing.
Some highlights of the set:
This album and LA Woman are my favorite Doors album. I can’t seem to choose one over the other. They are astounding book
ends to a fantastic band.
Break on Through- kind of feels as if you’re listening to the playback in the control room. Some additional vocals added.
Deep and wide.
The Crystal Ship- A haunting beauty of a song. Some keys weep in the rear speakers.
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)- Has good natural sounding reverb. The added depth of separation between the instruments is delightful.
Light My Fire-The keys sound incredibly rich. So rich they own their own island.
Nice cymbal wash in the rear speakers.
Back Door Man- Feels more improv/live at a blues joint which is nice. Different bits and parts of added vocals.
Robbie ripping the guitar!
I Looked At You- Has some added menace.
End Of The Night- Deep travel time inside and outside.
The End- Some additional vocal tracks are added here that really move this track into another level of insanity.
John is playing sublimely here and you can feel it in this mix. The snare is thunder.
He walked on down the hall….
More wild vocals.
Most likely my second favorite Doors album.
Strange Days- Morrison’s reverb ladened voice in the rear speakers with keys and then more keys and the drums in front. Epic. This is why I love these mixes.
You can feel right inside the song.
Unhappy Girl -Now with clapping. Some interesting sounds I never heard before. It’s jarring in a way because I know the original well.
Very hippy cool.
Horse Latitudes- Trip! Trip! This is a wild swirl of chaos in sound. A classic. Beautiful without being beautiful. Savage power poetry. Full 5.1 powers activated.
Moonlight Drive- The first Door’s song I ever heard. Great immersion blur of sound. Morrison sounds amazing. So do they all. Robbie’s slide!!! Everything spread around the listener’s room on our moonlight drive.
Robbie’s guitar bounces around the channels! Worth the box set!!!!
People Are Strange- excellent chorus!
My Eyes Have Seen You- Good bounce layers of sounds. Some added vocals. Fade out is astonishing.
I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind- Feels like they’re on stage right in front of me in a tiki bar in LA. Really well done surround mix. Makes a strange song even stranger.
Fantastic slides Robbie!!!!
When The Music’s Over- John plays so into this song, wow. He makes it. Nice reverb on this mix. I get a control room sort of vibe. Imagine watching this being recorded live? I have that vibe with this mix.
Good feedback erupting from the rear speakers. Savage! We want the world…. those words fill it! Good job here!
Hello, I Love You- Everything is in full surround mode. Nice spread of the sound. This track should be a primer for anyone making a 5.1 mix. This is an extended take too!
Love Street- Jim harmonising with himself. Bliss in sound.
Not to Touch the Earth- Snaking guitar in the rear speakers as John drives the drums in front! Some of the drums end up in the back speakers and it sounds killer.
I am the Lizard King I can do anything…
The Unknown Soldier- Jim’s voice is super deepened. The marching drums move all around. Brilliant! The bells crash into the mix.
Spanish Caravan- While not really using the back speakers a lot… the acoustic guitar at the beginning has a depth that puts
the original mix to shame. Sublime. Beautiful. Later the 5.1 kicks in very well…
My Wild Love- Shining percussion in this version.
Five to One- Trading your hours for a handful of dimes… The back speakers awaken with backing vocals. Get together one more time… Some additional vocals at the end.
Touch Me- The strings are mostly in the back speakers. So good. Gives excellent separation of the instruments letting you focus on what you will. Sounds so full!
Shamen’s Blues- Guitar sounds so alive and dangerous. Keys on everything. This song sounds as if it’s a breathing life form.
The stereo version doesn’t have this vibrancy.
The Soft Parade- Has an alternate intro that is brilliantly odd. I dig it so much.
Roadhouse Blues- Feels like you’re in some tiny roadhouse with the Doors on a stage so small you could pass them a beer from your tiny table.
The mix of the harmonic is brilliantly perfect. They also dropped in some additional vocals from Morrison. Might be better than the original release.
Waiting For The Sun- Some of the keys are on the rear speakers and they have a bite that is really effective.
Peace Frog- The guitar! They really pushed the immersion with Robbie’s playing on this song.
Land Ho! - More good use of the guitar in the mix.
Indian Summer- Has some wonderful echo and reverb. Better than the original mix. Nice reflection of the drums in the rear speakers. Gives me wonderful chills.
This is tied for my favorite doors album. Yes, I stated that already.
Of the two in 5.1 I prefer LA Woman. It takes more advantage of the format.
The Changeling- The keys are in both the front and back speakers. Gives it a nice full feeling. Robbie’s guitar cuts into the back speakers. Excellent!
You’ve got to see me change! Nice clapping in the rear speakers too.
Love Her Madly- Has a nice feel of you sitting at the mixing board while the band lays down the track in the studio.
Cars Hiss by My Window- The vocal take they use here is different than the original album and very cool. Even more bluesy than the one originally used.
LA Woman- The extended intro really helps set the mood for the rise and fall of this track. Riding riding.
L’America- Guitars moving all around. Perfect and not gimmicky at all.
The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)- Jim’s voice echoes across the speakers. The keys have a nice rich sound. The DRUMS burn across the speakers.
Riders on the Storm - This is what the word “immersive” means. You are surrounded by the storm.
Riding the music through the rain. I really dig the Doors ending albums with songs that stretch out like this one. Jim’s whispers are really audible.
My only complaint with this set is that, American Prayer, the two Jim-less albums (which I like a bit, there is some great material spread across those albums), and a live album should have been included.
Tightrope Ride alone in 5.1 would have made the inclusion of the two Jim-less albums worth it.
The wildness of American Prayer makes for an experiment of mind altering proportions.
Hearing any of their live albums in this set would have been striking too.
This is probably asking a lot.
Still, I am happy enough this set was released and the price wasn’t bank breaking, which if they included all that other stuff I wined about, it would have driven the price up. So maybe I should put a sock in it.
If you’re a die hard Doors fan with a 5.1 set up, get this box set!
Yours in wonderful 5.1 music,
Count Robot
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