This CD was obviously a labor of love for George Winston. He has over the years freely acknowledged the influence of The Doors' music--especially on his 1980 album Autumn. In the liner notes to Night Divides the Day, Winston writes how he played "Love Me Two Times" and "Light My Fire" in the first band he played in back in high school. This is music that made a lasting impression on Winston and his approach to music.

Having listened to this tribute several times now, I still have mixed feelings. The playing, of course, is impeccable. And on songs like the opening "Spanish Caravan," "The Crystal Ship" and "My Wild Love," Winston manages to make the songs his own. On others songs like "Love Her Madly" and especially the nearly 10-minute "Light My Fire," I'm left with the nagging question: What's new here? I "hear" Winston's piano, but my brain is playing the Doors' version in my head at the some time. The familiarity of the original versions makes it difficult to always appreciate Winston's technique.

Among his die-hard fans (and I own all of Winston's recordings), I know there are those who will fall in love with this tribute. Heck, even Ray Manzarek declares on the sticker on the cover: "I love this CD! George has captured The Doors' essence and added his own unique voice." There is an energy and ferocity to Winston's playing here and there is much to enjoy. If you appreciate the music of The Doors half as much as Winston, this CD will not disappoint. RECOMMENDED

What would you get, I wonder, if you took the Doors- one of the greatest of all rock and roll bands- and toook away Morrison's rich baritone, the dark lyrics, Kreiger's sitar-like droning guitar lines, and arranged it all for a skating rink? This is what you'd get.

Because as great as the Doors music was, the songs were just not terribly complex melodically. "Light My Fire" is basically a two-chord song with a couple of very short themes that repeat, and unless you're Mozart there's just not a lot to improvise on. And Winston, for all his charm, is not Mozart.

What Winston has produced is 45 minutes of noodling of the sort done by thousands of amateur pianists. There's nothing discordant or annoying about it, but at the same time there's nothing terribly interesting, either. It's just background music of the sort that made the phrase "New Age Music" the butt of a thousand musicians' jokes.

George Winston has provided one of the most melodic and enrapturing homages to The Doors with "Night Divides The Day," a beautifully done album that conveys the musical intricacies of the band. Like "Riders On The Storm: The Doors Concerto," "Night Divides The Day" works for Doors fans who truly love and appreciate the MUSIC and for those fans of classical tastes. The opening, "Spanish Caravan," is a great experience of what good piano playing is. Winston masterfully adapts the melody to his keys, creating a great collage of notes and sound. "The Crystal Ship" is one of the more beautiful tracks on the album, emotional, hypnotic and completely enrapturing. One of the most fun tracks on the CD is "People Are Strange," it sounds like a perfect piano copy of the original but with Winston adding special flavors to it that give it a nice jazz feel. "Love Street" is a neat delight, really nice and sweet would be the best word to describe it. What you really get out of the album is an appreciation for just how classical-based The Doors' music was and how wonderfully melodic, a sense you sorta lose when listening to versions performed by bands like Aerosmith and Creed, which simply bring out the rock aspects The Doors influenced. A lot of people forget they were a band that were probably more avant-garde than most rock bands ever have been. Jim Morrison obviously influenced more in musicians than just the desire to act like madmen on stage or wear black leather pants. And yet eventhough we think of Morrison during this great album, these classical tributes bring out a true appreciation for the other musicians, especially keyboardist Ray Manzarek, we realize how intricate the playing of Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore really was. "Light My Fire" is wonderfully executed and plays like a roller-coaster, culminating in a beautiful rendition of a part from "The End." "Love Me Two Times" is a mixed bag, it works as a great, hard-thumping blues-like tune, but the feeling of the original is really lost. "My Wild Love" is as atmospheric as the original and conveys a threatening mood. One thing that should be appreciated is that Winston doesn't stick to just hits, in fact, tunes like "Hello I Love You" and "Strange Days" are missing. He does a great job with songs mostly Doors fans are familiar with like "Summer's Almost Gone," which can be beautiful and haunting. "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind" is very emotional, sometimes sounding like a melody you would hear in some kind of strange dream. "Riders On The Storm" is epic, heavy filled with some excellent craftsmanship. "Bird Of Prey" is one of the more simple songs, like the original, but it's an enjoyable listen. Winston has done a great thing here, it should be cherished by those who were really touched by Doors music when they first heard one of their albums. Winston himself is a professed Doors fanatic and the booklet in the CD case expresses this with him confessing that the band's first album is what inspired him to take up the keys. "Night Divides The Day" is real music for those who have real ears.

I love George Winston and I love the Doors, so this album should be heaven to me - but alas I have wasted my money. I may be a bit of a techno geek, but you see I don't own a CD player anymore. All of my music gets loaded onto a computer and is served up to whatever room in the house that I want it listen to it. This CD has been "protected" so that computers cannot read it. All you get is the screen saver. I didn't buy a screen saver, I bought music and I am being denied access to it.

I own all things George Winston and have the highest possible opinion about him and his works. So, suffice it to say, I was quite excited upon hearing of this release that I not only bought this one here from Amazon, but also the Japan only version featuring a bonus song. There are those songs that make the CD worth owning, and playing and replaying until eventually just hitting the repeat button on the remote, such as: Spanish Caravan, The Crystal Ship, Light My Fire (I love the muted ending), My Wild Love (The best one in my opinion - the one with the most George Winston containing elements of them all), and Riders on the Storm. If you are a George Winston fan and have some extra money to throw around, I recommend picking up a copy of the Japanese release for the extra song, You're Lost Little Girl. It's a really nice song, though it does seem to end rather abruptly.

This CD is just a delight to hear and play for others that are Doors fans or just know a bit of the Doors music. All in all, it is one fine CD. Recommended!