THE SOFT PARADE, The Doors' fourth album, struggles to be musically inventive. What made the first two albums so wonderfully successful is their very unique sound, and that sound encapsulated the growing, revolutionary thought processes that were spreading throughout America's youth at the time of the 1960s. The Doors were both original and very much of their time, although those first two records never feel dated. Then The Doors released WAITING FOR THE SUN, which has several good songs, but only approaches the quality of the first two records in isolated moments. After the wake of SGT PEPPER and all the psychedelic music that was coming out at the time, The Doors decided to do their own version of SGT PEPPER. By this, I mean they decided to totally reinvent their sound and style and popular music in general, giving the world a radical look how high rock and roll can really climb on the artistic ladder. Unfortunately, The Doors were never as consistently good as The Beatles, and instead of turning in an amazing LP, we end up with the weakest set of songs The Doors ever put to tape.

To understand the state of THE SOFT PARADE, it helps to look at the album before that, WAITING OF THE SUN. The Doors seem to operate in twos, with their first two records brilliant, their middle two rather mediocre, their last two good blues albums, and then there's the two (out of print) records The Doors made after Morrison's death (OTHER VOICES and FULL CIRCLE). WAITING FOR THE SUN was little more than a holding action, product put out because they had to, although there are some great songs on it. At least on THE SOFT PARADE they were trying to do something different, even though it ends up being just as mediocre an album as its predecessor.

The Doors talk about the `third album syndrome' effecting WAITING FOR THE SUN. They had handpicked their best material for their debut, then the rest went onto STRANGE DAYS. At the third album, they were in a quandry, because all their best material had already been issued. The Doors found it difficult to write compelling, commercial songs, and so turned in their rather lackluster third album. What really hurt WAITING FOR THE SUN was the decision to cut "Celebration of the Lizard," which would have been a very long opus taking up the majority of the second side of the song. So when it came time to record THE SOFT PARADE, The Doors wanted to strike out in a different direction.

While not wholly a failure, THE SOFT PARADE turns out to be, along with WAITING FOR THE SUN, The Doors' weakest album. By this time, Morrison was so out of control Kreiger wrote half the tracks on the album, and it shows. (Also, Morrison didn't want to be credited with calling people to get their guns on the first track). Because the third album didn't have a real tangible identity as far as sound goes, The Doors wisely decided to reinvent themselves and broaden their musical horizons.
While we must admire them for this ambition, the end results are very mixed. Taking over eight months to record, the album proved a difficult record to make. In the end, Morrison described the album the band trying to do something new but that it got bogged down. How true.

Trading in their psychedelic sound they so successfully displayed on their first two records, we get a big band sound instead. The reason they turned from this sound was by the third album the well was clearly running dry. On several of the songs this new sound works, especially the first three tracks. If the rest of the songwriting had been as strong as it was on the first three, then THE SOFT PARADE would stand proudly among The Doors' best work. Unfortunately, this is not the case. THE SOFT PARADE, quite simply, boasts the weakest set of the original six albums. "Do It," "Easy Ride," and "Running Blue," simply don't gel, though "Running Blue" is a very funny song. The title track I really like for about the first four minutes. I find the last (and longest) musical section gets rather monotonous as the song [goes on for over eight minutes] [ploughs onward,] lurches toward its closing eight minute running time. And where is "Who Scared You?" Had "Do It" been deleted and that included in the running order, the album would be much stronger. "Shaman's Blues" is a masterpiece, and "Wild Child" harkens back to that dark, careening undercurrent of their first two albums. Very good song. "Wishful Sinful" is nice as well.

By this point in their career, The Doors were rather falling apart artistically, no thanks to Morrison's increasingly difficult behaviour. After turning in two rather lackluster LPs after two great albums, The Doors seemed headed on a downward spiral. Fortunately, The Doors went into the blues after this album, producing two good albums (even though they couldn't touch the first two's quality) before Morrison died.

Overall, I admire The Doors for their ambition in trying to come up with a highly artistic, progressive record. I just wish they had done a better job at it.

The "Soft Parade" (1969), while not the Doors best work, is a rather underrated and misunderstood album.

When this album came out, critics and fans alike blasted The Doors for selling out. In addition, many fans objected to the orchestration and strings.

To address these criticisms, indeed, this is, by far, The Doors most pop/commercial album. When this album first came out in 1969, in the wake of such masterpieces as "The Doors," (1967) and "Strange Days," (1967), it is understandable why a fan might be bothered by the pop direction the band decided to take. However, in 2005, with the passage of time, if you look at the Doors entire catalogue through hindsight, you will see that this was merely a phase in the evolution of the band's sound. They went from playing acid rock (The Doors, Strange Days) to more commercial, safe rock (Waiting for the Sun, 1968, The Soft Parade) to blues rock (Morrison Hotel, 1970, LA Woman, 1971). If you look at "The Soft Parade" though that perspective, you will hopefully not be bothered with the overly commercial aspect of the album

As for the string/orchestration, I feel, for the most part, that the songs are enhanced, not hindered by their inclusion. The string/orchestration does not work on all the songs, but for the most part, it suits the album well.

Some of The Doors finest songs are on "The Soft Parade." Morrison gives one of his finest vocal performances on "Tell all the People." "Touch Me" is one of the best pop songs from the 1960s. "Wishful Sinful" is simply beautiful and could have been one of their biggest hits, had it had been released as the first single. "Sherman's Blues" is epic, beautiful. The title track, "The Soft Parade" is probably the albums, and one of the Doors, most underrated songs. It's an epic, in a similar vein as "The End," "When the Music's Over," and "LA Woman." But "The Soft Parade" is more off-beat, left-of-center. It's a really cool song that's not given the credit it's due. The rest of the CD is quite strong. The only song that I'm not crazy about is "Do it," although I'll give the Doors credit for trying.

In one respect, I see "The Soft Parade" as the end of an era. It was the last album in which Jim Morrison looked, and sounded young, vibrant. Although the Doors would go on to release some of the best music of their career with "Morrison Hotel" and "LA Woman," the Lizard King's voice was a ghost of what it had been.

Although "The Soft Parade" is not the best album by the Doors, it's still a fine album and has a lot to offer a Doors fan.

This fourth album by The Doors, "The Soft Parade," is probably their most ambitious album (though not necessarily their best). For this one they brought in a full orchestra to add strings and horns to their already definitive sound. The highlight of this one is the title cut, "The Soft Parade," a four-part offering that begins with an almost wistful feeling and escalates into blood-pumping, straight out rousing rock, played over Jim Morrison's cryptic and enigmatic lyrics (Catacombs/ nursery bones/ winter women growing stones/ carrying babies to the river). Also included is the poetic "Wishful Sinful," a song somehow benignly disturbing when you consider the darkness of the message that emerges from such a lilting melody: "Wishful, sinful/ wicked blue/ water covers you/ wishful, sinful/ wicked you/ can't escape the blue." There's a promise of freedom (but at a cost) in the anthem-like "Tell All The People (Can't you see me growing/ get your guns/ the time has come/ to follow me down)." The most well known cut from this album is "Touch Me," with lyrics by Robby Krieger and an interpretation by Morrison that is open to speculation. More equivocal lyrics accentuate "Shaman's Blues (Did you stop to consider/ how it will feel/ cold grinding grizzly bear jaws/ hot on your heels), during which another Morrison persona emerges, one apparently close to his heart and in being with his connection to the earth. A call to the youth of the world to step forward and take charge of their destiny is the subtle message of "Do It," while the eternal quest for freedom of mind and soul come to the fore in "Wild Child," which ends with the cryptic "You remember when we were in Africa?" which helps to fuel the myth that Morrison "pulled a Rimbaud" and actually disappeared into the Dark Continent in 1971. Rounding out "The Soft Parade" are "Easy Ride," and "Runnin' Blue." Listening now to this album from the distance of years, Morrison's insights and attitudes seem every bit as powerful now as they did then. When all is said and done, this was a guy who had a lot to say, and he is much more than the voice of a generation gone by; the songs here are further proof that The Doors were, and are, a force to be reckoned with, and their impact on society and a world diminishing in size and resources daily is still being felt. There are those who would dismiss rock n' roll out-of-hand, and it's time, perhaps, for them to listen to The Doors; for the words and music here can put a whole new spin on things. After all, it's all a matter of perspective. And great music, which is what this album provides.

"The Soft Parade" (1969) remains The Doors' weakest studio recording, yet the overall album is not without merit. "Shaman's Blues" and "Wild Child" pave the way for the blues-oriented sound of the far-superior "Morrison Hotel" (1970) and "L.A. Woman" (1971). These aforementioned tracks, along with the hit single "Touch Me" and the underrated "Wishful Sinful," are the highlights of a rather schizophrenic album. "Tell All the People" and "Runnin' Blue" sound like ersatz Blood, Sweat and Tears, while the ambitious title song suffers from a decided lack of focus (the 1969 live version on PBS has a lot more vocal and instrumental punch). Despite its flaws, "The Soft Parade" would prove a step in the right direction for Jim Morrison and company, resulting in some of their finest work.

I loved The Doors to death back in the 60's. I was also from L.A., and I didn't ever go to San Francisco, "the flower power town". The Jefferson Airplane were singing about peace, love, and a white rabbit. I was one of those hippies who wasn't really a "smile on your brother, try to love one another" kind of hippie. Then one day in 1967 my also liberal friend, Dan, comes to my parents' house with an album and said to me, "Hey, man, listen to this song. It's from an L.A. band. They're a psychedelic band, but they hate flower power. Listen to this one song. It's so creepy and cool." He put on the record, rolled a joint, and sat back. The song was "The End". After it was done, my mind was blown. The instrumentalists were incredibly gifted, and the Lizard King's vocals and lyrics were powerful and disturbing. The same thing happened with "Strange Days" and "Waiting for the Sun": my mind was blown beyond the damage of marijuana. I always realized that it would be a long time before a band would be as challenging and ahead of their time as The Doors. I was also impressed by "Morrison Hotel" and their departure from psychedelics to pure rock 'n' roll, and how well they did it. One day in--I think it was--1969, Dan comes to the house with "The Soft Parade". He says, "I got the new Doors album. I think it's their sh**iest record yet. It's kind of jazzy on some stuff, but even that stuff sucks really badly." I asked him to just put it on, and I couldn't have agreed more. THIS WAS HORRIBLE! The next year we heard "L.A. Woman". To this day I still think that that's the greatest Doors album ever released. PERIOD. Jimi and Janis died later that year. We loved both a lot, but it was Jim's death the next year that got us to quit drugs. Anyway, The Doors really blew it with "The Soft Parade."