lambchops's Full Review: Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors
In the past I’ve talked about a few albums containing classic tracks remade by contemporary bands. Unlike many strict fans, I find myself very open to these tracks. I feel that these bands could very well have very valid interpretations of songs…even if they are already classics. Stoned Immaculate contains seventeen tracks originally recorded by rock royalty The Doors.
There’s no question that tribute albums often pale in comparison to the stellar originals. Stoned Immaculate cannot be lumped into that category. In fact, I would say that it sits close atop a heap of reject albums. With help from former members of The Doors, classic rock and blues artists, and contemporary rock artists, this album proves very entertaining and very well produced. Even beat poet/writer William S. Burroughs lends his talents to a recitation of Jim Morrison’s poetry/lyrics.
With all of that said, fans of The Doors and those interested in tribute albums and purely good rock and roll should be very interested in Stoned Immaculate. What? Never heard of it? With the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, Perry Farrell, Creed, and Days of the New offering their talents the album seems a can’t miss buy.
I hate to sound like a broken record (you know what I mean if you’ve read many of my opinions), but Break On Through from Stone Temple Pilots with help from The Doors’ Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek is the most outstanding track here. STP has made an occasional habit of masterfully covering the likes of The Beatles (Revolution) and Led Zeppelin (Dancing Days). They even have been known to sing a bit of Def Leppard (Pour Some Sugar On Me) in concert. Once again, Scott Weiland, Dean DeLeo, Eric Kretz, and Robert DeLeo shine. Weiland sounds as though he’s possessed by Morrison’s spirit. The Doors should be proud of this funked up version of Break On Through.
Whether or not you like Creed and self absorbed lead Scott Stapp, Riders on the Storm is a simply amazing effort. Stapp sings in an understated and controlled manner. His voice is smooth (more so than Morrison ever was), leaving the rest of Creed to pick up the slack and inject the remade track with some emotion and energy. The resulting product is one of the best on the album.
Days of the New makes a great impression with the reinterpreted version of L.A. Woman. Rather than attempting to sound like The Doors, Travis Meeks brings his own influences and talents to the classic rock track. The same can be said for his reinterpretation of the epic The End. Understated and magical (much like the original), the track winds itself around rock and roll and eastern influences. Once again, this album and these songs prove their worth.
So far as Aerosmith goes, I’m more of a fan of their 1970’s/1980’s music. Their newer tracks all sound alike. I find them to be boring and lackluster. But their remake of Love Me Two Times (one of my favorite Doors tracks, actually) pays great homage to both Aerosmith and The Doors. Steven Tyler sounds nothing like Morrison, but their lives have at times paralleled one another. The track is fast and frenetic. Once again, I am impressed by the innate talent of the bands offering their talents to pay tribute to The Doors.
I really am a sucker for The Cult. Many of their themes are similar to that The Doors were known for. The version of Wild Child is decent. Although Ian Astbury’s vocals have been better. Astbury’s solo work on Touch Me actually interests me a bit more. He usually clear vocals are unsure and wavering much like Morrison’s sounded in the original.
There are also a few under appreciated gems here. For example, Bo Diddley does a fine job at making Love Her Madly a retro blues track. Rather than trying to be Morrison (why would Diddley want to do that anyway), he makes this track his own. Also of note is the William Burroughs recitation of Is Everybody In? I’m not generally a fan of spoken word, and this track is no exception. It is important to note that it shows just how appreciated The Doors were and continue to be.
Overall, this is a better than average album. I despise Smash Mouth, so I won’t even speak about their rendition of Peace Frog. I find other tracks from Oleander and Train to be sub par in comparison to those already mentioned. But, as a whole this is an outstanding album. It does in no way exploit the memory of Morrison or The Doors. Maybe if the rest of the band hadn’t helped with many of the tracks that argument would be allowed to exist.
I recommend Stoned Immaculate to all fans of The Doors. I also recommend it to anybody who happens to enjoy any of the contributing artists. This is a great buy, a great album, and a great asset to any rock and roll collection. Because of the very thought of including crappy pseudo surf-punk-rock band Smash Mouth, this album is getting marked down. With that said, I give Stoned Immaculate 4/5 stars.
Track Listing:
1. Break On Through - Stone Temple Pilots/Robby Krieger/Ray Manzarek
2. Riders On The Storm - Creed
3. Light My Fire - Train
4. Peace Frog - Smash Mouth
5. L.A. Woman - Days Of The New
6. Love Me Two Times - Aerosmith
7. Under Waterfall - The Doors
8. Wild Child - The Cult/Ray Manzarek
9. Roadhouse Rap - Jim Morrison
10. Roadhouse Blues - John Lee Hooker/Jim Morrison
11. Is Everybody In? - William Burroughs
12. Hello, I Love You - Oleander
13. Touch Me - Ian Astbury
14. Children Of The Night - Perry Farrell/Exene
15. Love Her Madly - Bo Diddley
16. Cosmic Movie, The - The Doors
17. The End - Days Of The New
* If you like this album, I suggest you also check out the all star tribute to Led Zeppelin entitled Encomium. It features the talents of Stone Temple Pilots, Blind Melon, Tori Amos, Duran Duran and many more.
Without a doubt, The Doors are one of the most influential bands of all time. The remaining members of The Doors join a crop of today s artists on thi...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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