The Doors’ three middle albums each exemplify one aspect of the band, to the detriment of the other two; it’s not until LA Woman that they explore everything and arrive where they started, more mature for the meandering.

• Waiting For the Sun is their “pop” album. Listenable, polished radio stuff. Vapid.
• Soft Parade is their “progressive” album, where they try to make something more than mere pop music. Pretentious.
• Morrison Hotel is their “blues” album, where they dig for “roots” that aren’t really theirs. Embarrassing.

When the Doors are at their best, they are bluesy, poppy, and progressive without thinking about any of it. Their sound comes from who they are: a classical pianist, a jazz drummer, a flamenco guitarst, and a poet.

Of the three middle albums, I find Waiting for the Sun most tolerable. Although it’s shallow, it’s shallow in an organic way; they just were lazy. They fell into a pattern. The next two albums, they consciously tried to react against that and be more “real”. Which meant they were kind of fake.

The final album, they didn’t give a shit anymore. They just went about making something good. So that’s what they got.