1967 brought about the debut release by the highly influential but, on reflection, rather over-rated Los Angeles-based The Doors. Keyboard player Ray Manzarek was the unique element in the four-piece troupe and when his blues rock teamed up with Jim Morrison's howl it could sometimes be a joy to behold. 'Light My Fire' is an obvious choice for a standout but the ghostly feel of 'The Crystal Ship' and the delightfully playful version of Weill-Brecht's 'Alabama Song' shows that they could deviate from the rather doomy, portentous formula they normally concentrated on. Morrison's vigoruous vocal is wonderfully adept at capturing the sombre rock moods on 'Soul Kitchen' and 'End Of The Night' but the rather pompous 'The End' is an over-long and only intermittently exciting tale of incest and murder. For many people this will be the only Doors album they will ever need.