The Doors: Jim Morrison (vocals), Robbie Krieger (guitar), Ray Manzarek (keyboards), John Densmore (drums).

Additional personnel: Leroy Vinegar (acoustic bass), Douglas Lubahn, Kerry Magness (bass).

Originally released on Elektra (74024).

All songs written by The Doors.

The Doors: Robby Krieger (guitar); John Densmore, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison .

Personnel: Jim Morrison (vocals); Robbie Krieger (guitar); Ray Manzarek (keyboards); Leroy Vinnegar (acoustic bass); Douglas Lubahn (electric bass); John Densmore (drums).

Audio Mixer: Bruce Botnick.

Audio Remixer: Bruce Botnick.

Liner Note Authors: Paul Williams ; Bruce Botnick; Paul Williams .

Introduction by: Bruce Botnick.

Photographers: Guy Webster; Anthony Stern; Frank Lisciandro; Chris Walter; Andrew Maclear; Paul Ferrara; Barry Plummer; Jan Persson.

The Doors' 1967 albums had raised expectations so high that their third effort was greeted as a major disappointment. With a few exceptions, the material was much mellower, and while this yielded some fine melodic ballad rock in "Love Street," "Wintertime Love," "Summer's Almost Gone," and "Yes, the River Knows," there was no denying that the songwriting was not as impressive as it had been on the first two records. On the other hand, there were first-rate tunes such as the spooky "The Unknown Soldier," with antiwar lyrics as uncompromisingly forceful as anything the band did, and the compulsively riff-driven "Hello, I Love You," which nonetheless bore an uncomfortably close resemblance to the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night." The flamenco guitar of "Spanish Caravan," the all-out weirdness of "Not to Touch the Earth" (which was a snippet of a legendary abandoned opus, "The Celebration of the Lizard"), and the menacing closer "Five to One" were also interesting. In fact, time's been fairly kind to the record, which is quite enjoyable and diverse, just not as powerful a full-length statement as the group's best albums. ~ Richie Unterberger

The Doors' third album showed the band in transition, even as "Hello, I Love You" became the Doors' second number-1 hit.

The band's songs set Morrison's poetic and often bizarre lyrical imagery against the spiraling keyboards of Manzarek and Krieger's bluesy guitar. Their chart success, however, alienated them from their original audience, who no longer considered them "underground" enough, while their concert audiences increasingly consisted of teenage girls, drawn by Morrison's sexual performing style. "Hello, I Love You" pushed them firmly into the rock mainstream.

The Doors' 1967 albums had raised expectations so high that their third effort was greeted as a major disappointment. With a few exceptions, the material was much mellower, and while this yielded some fine melodic ballad rock in "Love Street," "Wintertime Love," "Summer's Almost Gone," and "Yes, the River Knows," there was no denying that the songwriting was not as impressive as it had been on the first two records. On the other hand, there were first-rate tunes such as the spooky "The Unknown Soldier," with antiwar lyrics as uncompromisingly forceful as anything the band did, and the compulsively riff-driven "Hello, I Love You," which nonetheless bore an uncomfortably close resemblance to the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night." The flamenco guitar of "Spanish Caravan," the all-out weirdness of "Not to Touch the Earth" (which was a snippet of a legendary abandoned opus, "The Celebration of the Lizard"), and the menacing closer "Five to One" were also interesting. In fact, time's been fairly kind to the record, which is quite enjoyable and diverse, just not as powerful a full-length statement as the group's best albums. [Rhino's 2007 edition included bonus tracks.] ~ Richie Unterberger

Q (11/00, p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A mixture of hefty pop singles, bullfrog rockers and nonsense poetry..."

Down Beat (p.69) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[With] soft-shoe la la's, waltz-time pop, flamenco-infused exoticism and chain-gang vocals."