Ranking The Doors*

Okay, so for the most part I'll write about sports, but I also happen to be a music fan - especially of the mid to late '60s rock scene. Here's a rundown of my favorite band of all-time - The Doors. I may do something similar for The Beatles (post-Rubber Soul) and Bob Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited and prior). For the record, if I don't get around to doing those lists, the top songs on those lists would be "Eleanor Rigby" and "Like A Rolling Stone" (though to avoid cliche I'll mention "Visions of Johanna" is a top 5 song) respectively.

*Every song from their six studio albums – The Doors, Strange Days, The Soft Parade, Waiting for the Sun, Morrison Hotel, L.A. Woman


1.) The End (The Doors)
2.) When The Music's Over (Strange Days)
3.) Break On Through (To the Other Side) (The Doors)
4.) Five to One (Waiting for the Sun)
5.) Peace Frog (Morrison Hotel)
6.) Light My Fire (The Doors)
7.) L.A. Woman (L.A. Woman)
8.) Soul Kitchen (The Doors)
9.) Not To Touch the Earth (Waiting for the Sun)
10.) The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat) (L.A. Woman)
11.) The Unknown Soldier (Waiting for the Sun)
12.) Riders on the Storm (L.A. Woman)
13.) Twentieth Century Fox (The Doors)
14.) Ship of Fools (Morrison Hotel)
15.) Waiting for the Sun (Morrison Hotel)
16.) Spanish Caravan (Waiting for the Sun)
17.) Roadhouse Blues (Morrison Hotel)
18.) Love Her Madly (L.A. Woman)
19.) Hello, I Love You (Waiting for the Sun)
20.) Touch Me (The Soft Parade)
21.) Back Door Man (The Doors)
22.) Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) (The Doors)
23.) The Crystal Ship (The Doors)
24.) Love Me Two Times (Strange Days)
25.) People Are Strange (Strange Days)
26.) Love Street (Waiting for the Sun)
27.) We Could Be So Good Together (Waiting for the Sun)
28.) Been Down So Long (L.A. Woman)
29.) Moonlight Drive (Strange Days)
30.) The Changeling (L.A. Woman)
31.) L'America (L.A. Woman)
32.) Hyacinth House (L.A. Woman)
33.) Summer's Almost Gone (Waiting for the Sun)
34.) Wintertime Love (Waiting for the Sun)
35.) Wild Child (The Soft Parade)
36.) Yes, the River Knows (Waiting for the Sun)
37.) End of the Night (The Doors)
38.) I Looked At You (The Doors)
39.) Queen of the Highway (Morrison Hotel)
40.) The Spy (Morrison Hotel)
41.) Indian Summer (Morrison Hotel)
42.) Take It As It Comes (The Doors)
43.) My Wild Love (Waiting for the Sun)
44.) Land Ho! (Morrison Hotel)
45.) Cars Hiss By My Window (L.A. Woman)
46.) Crawling King Snake (L.A. Woman)
47.) You Make Me Real (Morrison Hotel)
48.) Strange Days (Strange Days)
49.) Maggie M'Gill (Morrison Hotel)
50.) Wishful Sinful (The Soft Parade)
51.) Do It (The Soft Parade)
52.) All the People (The Soft Parade)
53.) My Eyes Have Seen You (Strange Days)
54.) You're Lost Little Girl (Strange Days)
55.) Shaman's Blues (The Soft Parade)
56.) Blue Sunday (Morrison Hotel)
57.) I Can't See Your Face In My Mind (Strange Days)
58.) The Soft Parade (The Soft Parade)
59.) Unhappy Girl (Strange Days)
60.) Runnin' Blue (The Soft Parade)
61.) Horse Latitudes (Strange Days)
62.) Easy Ride (The Soft Parade)

BREAK DOWN BY CD

The Doors

1. (1.) The End
2. (3.) Break On Through (To the Other Side)
3. (6.) Light My Fire
4. (8.) Soul Kitchen
5. (13.) Twentieth Century Fox
6. (21.) Back Door Man
7. (22.) Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
8. (23.) The Crystal Ship
9. (37.) End of the Night
10. (38.) I Looked At You
11. (42.) Take It As It Comes

Top 10 Songs: 4
Bottom 10 Songs: 0
Median Song: Back Door Man (No. 21)
Total (All Songs Added): 214
Average Position: 19.45

Strange Days

1. (2.) When the Music's Over
2. (24.) Love Me Two Times
3. (25.) People Are Strange
4. (29.) Moonlight Drive
5. (48.) Strange Days
6. (53.) My Eyes Have Seen You
7. (54.) You're Lost Little Girl
8. (57.) I Can't See Your Face In My Mind
9. (59.) Unhappy Girl
10. (61.) Horse Latitudes

Top 10 Songs: 1
Bottom 10 Songs: 5
Median Song: Strange Days/My Eyes Have Seen You (No. 48/No. 53)
Total (All Songs Added): 412
Average Position: 41.2

The Soft Parade

1. (20.) Touch Me
2. (35.) Wild Child
3. (50.) Wishful Sinful
4. (51.) Do It
5. (52.) All the People
6. (55.) Shaman's Blues
7. (58.) The Soft Parade
8. (60.) Runnin' Blue
9. (62.) Easy Ride

Top 10 Songs: 0
Bottom 10 Songs: 4
Median Song: All the People (No. 52)
Total (All Songs Added): 443
Average Position: 49.2

Waiting for the Sun

1. (4.) Five to One
2. (9.) Not to Touch the Earth
3. (11.) The Unknown Soldier
4. (16.) Spanish Caravan
5. (19.) Hello, I Love You
6. (26.) Love Street
7. (27.) We Could Be So Good Together
8. (33.) Summer's Almost Gone
9. (34.) Wintertime Love
10. (36.) Yes, the River Knows
11. (43.) My Wild Love

Top 10 Songs: 2
Bottom 10 Songs: 0
Median Song: Love Street (No. 26)
Total (All Songs Added): 258
Average Position: 23.45

Morrison Hotel

1. (5.) Peace Frog
2. (14.) Ship of Fools
3. (15.) Waiting for the Sun
4. (17.) Roadhouse Blues
5. (39.) Queen of the Highway
6. (40.) The Spy
7. (41.) Indian Summer
8. (44.) Land Ho!
9. (47.) You Make Me Real
10. (49.) Maggie M'Gill
11. (56.) Blue Sunday

Top 10 Songs: 1
Bottom 10 Songs: 1
Median Song: The Spy (No. 40)
Total (All Songs Added): 367
Average Position: 33.36

L.A. Woman

1. (7.) L.A. Woman
2. (10.) The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
3. (12.) Riders on the Storm
4. (18.) Love Her Madly
5. (28.) Been Down So Long
6. (30.) The Changeling
7. (31.) L'America
8. (32.) Hyacinth House
9. (45.) Cars Hiss By My Window
10. (46.) Crawling King Snake

Top 10 Songs: 2
Bottom 10 Songs: 0
Median Song: Been Down So Long/The Changeling (No. 28/No. 30)
Total (All Songs Added): 259
Average Position: 25.9

BEST ALBUMS (By Average)

1. The Doors
2. Waiting for the Sun
3. L.A. Woman
4. Morrison Hotel
5. Strange Days
6. The Soft Parade


I don't think there are a ton of surprises on this list. Obviously it is a matter of personal taste with these things, but no great surprise with The Soft Parade being the worst album. I'm fairly certain even The Doors themselves would agree with that - if they'd stop suing each other long enough to comment anyway. As a note, I put "The End" first mostly because of its totality of artistic impression. It's obviously not a song you are going to listen to for fun, but it's an amazing piece of art from start to finish. I like "When the Music's Over" for much the same reason, and though I like the writing of "When the Music's Over" better than "The End," I chose the latter because it was a more important work and, I think, more enduring. "Break on Through" comes in at No. 3 because, in addition to being amazingly energetic, it must have been one of the most impressive and jolting debut songs ever on an album. Imagine a first time listener putting The Doors on the turntable back in 1967 and being blown away by that song. "Five to One" closes out the top 5 because it is a call to wake up better than any song ever written- you can feel Jim Morrison jumping out of the speakers. Not to mention it contains some of the best lines ever written - "Five to one, baby, one in five, no one here gets, out alive" makes the hair raise on my arms every time I hear it.