The Soft Parade – THE DOORS****

Tell All The People/Touch Me/Shaman’s Blues/Do It/Easy Ride/Wild Child/Runnin’ Blue/Wishful Sinful/The Soft Parade

The fourth album, The Soft Parade, from the innovative rock group The Doors ensured they remained one of the dominant forces in popular music at the end of the decade. It includes the US No. 3 hit single Touch Me. (US:6)

“The psychedelic elements are somewhat toned down, and it's definitely their most upbeat album. Tell All The People and Touch Me are just superb openers: incredibly catchy, triumphal, with absolutely beautiful arrangements, and some of the finest singing Morrison ever did.”

“This fourth album by The Doors, The Soft Parade, is probably their most ambitious. For this one they brought in a full orchestra to add strings and horns to their already definitive sound.”

“Starting with the simple, but highly effective Tell All The People, this little pop ditty as well as the chirpy Touch Me belie the feeling that you think this will be a straightforward pop record. However, as we travel further through the tracks, we get Morrison's inner demons exposed in 'bluesy' subconscious vocal rages, combined with jamming session style random solos. Morrison's tenor style is extraordinary and apart from a few weak tracks midway, this is still a top quality release.”

“The Soft Parade is a very different and very cool release from The Doors. The band were at the very height of their experimentalism here, dabbling in horn sections, string sections, and even bluegrass on some songs. But it really works, and makes for a fantastic album. There are some incredibly rich and appealing songs here.”

“Trading in their psychedelic sound they so successfully displayed on their first two records, we get a big band sound here instead. On several of the songs this new sound works, especially the first three tracks. If the rest of the songwriting had been as strong then The Soft Parade would stand proudly among The Doors' best work. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It begins to sound as if they have sold out, trading in their underground credentials for commercial acceptability, with pretty weak results. They seem to be looking for a Blood Sweat and Tears type sound, with all the brass and orchestration.”