The Doors Albums Ranked

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Morrison and Manzarek, acquaintances from the UCLA Graduate School of Film, conceived the group at a 1965 meeting on a Southern California beach. After Morrison recited one of his poems, "Moonlight Drive," Manzarek — who had studied classical piano as a child and played in Rick and the Ravens, a UCLA blues band — suggested they collaborate on songs. Manzarek's brothers, Rick and Jim, served as guitarists until Manzarek met John Densmore, who brought in Robby Krieger; both had been members of the Psychedelic Rangers. Morrison christened the band the Doors, from William Blake via Aldous Huxley's book on mescaline, The Doors of Perception.
Written by Rolling Stone.

 In this list, we ranked only the six classic albums until 1971.

6. 'L.A. Woman' (1971)


Upon release, the album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and reached number 28 on the UK Albums Charts. An additional single in support of the album, "Riders on the Storm", also achieved chart success on Billboard and in the UK. Critics Richie Unterberger and David Quantick have both called L.A. Woman one of the Doors' best albums, citing Morrison's unwavering enthusiasm in his vocal performance, and the band's stripped-down return to their blues rock roots.

Ranking the songs:

  1. 'Riders On The Storm'
  2. 'Love Her Madly'
  3. 'Crawling King Snake'
  4. 'L.A. Woman'
  5. 'The WASP'
  6. 'The Changeling 
  7. 'Been Down So Long'
  8. 'Hyacinth House'
  9. 'L'America'
  10. 'Cars Hiss By My Window'
Final rating: 8.6

5. 'Strange Days' (1967)


Critics still rank the album highly; in 2003, Strange Days ranked at No. 407 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2007, Rolling Stone included it on their list "The 40 Essential Albums of 1967". In 2007, on the occasion of the release of the 40th anniversary edition of the album, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine argued that "while The Doors had more frequent, obvious peaks, the quirky Strange Days is a more ambitious, unified work. There are fewer filler tracks and each song carries as much weight as the one before and after it" and called it "a document of a sometimes beautiful, sometimes scary, and often twisted era of fear and idealism."

Ranking the songs:

  1. 'People Are Strange'
  2. 'My Eyes Have Seen You'
  3. 'When The Music's Over'
  4. 'I Can't See Your Face In My Mind'
  5. 'Moonlight Drive'
  6. 'You're Lost Little Girl'
  7. 'Love Me Two Times'
  8. 'Unhappy Girl'
  9. 'Strange Days'
  10. 'Horse Latitudes'
Final rating: 8.6

4. 'The Soft Parade' (1969)


The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, but it failed to retain audiences in the UK and other European countries that Waiting for the Sun had previously succeeded in engaging. Three preceding singles, "Touch Me", "Wishful Sinful", and "Tell All the People", were included on The Soft Parade, with the former becoming another Top 10 hit for the Doors. Another single, "Runnin' Blue", also followed the album's distribution. Upon release, The Soft Parade was denounced by both music critics and the band's underground music scene followers who viewed the album as the Doors' trending into popular music.

Ranking the songs:

  1. 'Runnin' Blue'
  2. 'Touch Me'
  3. 'Tell All The People'
  4. 'Wishful Sinful'
  5. 'Shaman's Blues'
  6. 'Wild Child'
  7. 'Easy Ride'
  8. 'Do It'
  9. 'The Soft Parade'
Final rating: 8.7

3. 'Waiting For The Sun' (1968)


Waiting for the Sun includes the band's second chart topper, "Hello, I Love You." One of the last remaining songs from Morrison's 1965 batch of tunes, it had been demoed by the group for Aura Records in 1965 before Krieger had been a member, as had "Summer's Almost Gone." In the liner notes to the Doors Box Set, Robby Krieger denied the allegations that the song's musical structure was stolen from Ray Davies, where a riff similar to it is featured in The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night". Instead, he said the song's vibe was taken from Cream's song "Sunshine of Your Love". According to the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, courts in the UK determined in favor of Davies and any royalties for the song are paid to him.

Ranking the songs:

  1. 'Hello, I Love You'
  2. 'Yes, The River Knows'
  3. 'Wintertime Love'
  4. 'The Unknown Soldier'
  5. 'Summer's Almost Gone'
  6. 'Not To Touch The Earth'
  7. 'We Could Be So Good Together'
  8. 'Love Street'
  9. 'Spanish Caravan' 
  10. 'Five To One'
  11. 'My Wild Love'
Final rating: 9.0

2. 'Morrison Hotel' (1970)


Upon its release, Morrison Hotel was seen by many as a comeback for the Doors following the critical failure of The Soft Parade. Although the accompanying "You Make Me Real"/"Roadhouse Blues" single only peaked at No. 50 as a double A-side in May 1970 despite strong FM radio play of the latter song, the album was immediately certified gold by RIAA in February 1970 (the band's fifth consecutive album certification, a record among American hard rock bands of the era) before reaching No. 4 on the Billboard album chart in March during a 27-week stay. Additionally, it became the band's highest-charting studio album in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 12.

Ranking the songs:

  1. 'You Make Me Real'
  2. 'Queen Of The Highway'
  3. 'Indian Summer'
  4. 'Waiting For The Sun'
  5. 'Blue Sunday'
  6. 'Ship Of Fools'
  7. 'Peace Frog'
  8. 'Land Ho!'
  9. 'The Spy'
  10. 'Maggie McGill'
  11. 'Roadhouse Blues'
Final rating: 9.5

1. 'The Doors' (1967)


The Doors' final lineup was formed in mid-1965 after Ray Manzarek's two brothers left and Robby Krieger joined. Krieger had only been playing the electric guitar for six months when he was invited to become a member of the band. The group also featured jazz-influenced drummer John Densmore and the charismatic, and later iconic Jim Morrison on vocals. The band was initially signed to Columbia Records under a six-month contract but agreed to a release after the record company failed to secure a producer for the album. After being released from the label, the Doors played club venues, including the London Fog and Whisky a Go Go, until they were signed to Elektra Records by Jac Holzman.

'The Doors' was central to the progression of psychedelic rock, and has been critically acclaimed. In 2012, it was ranked number 42 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest albums of all time.

The original album has sold 20 million copies, and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame; "Light My Fire" was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It has been reissued several times on CD, including a 2007 remaster and a 2017 "50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition."

In 2015, the Library of Congress selected The Doors for inclusion in the National Recording Registry based on its cultural, artistic or historical significance.

Ranking the songs:

  1. 'The Crystal Ship'
  2. 'The End'
  3. 'Light My Fire'
  4. 'Twentieth Century Fox'
  5. 'Break On Through (To The Other Side)'
  6. 'Soul Kitchen'
  7. 'Take As It Comes'
  8. 'Back Door Man'
  9. 'Alabama Song'
  10. 'I Looked At You'
  11. 'End Of The Night'
Final rating: 9.7

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