#48 The Doors by The Doors

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

48

2011 Album Rank

37

Total Points

1120

Year Released

1967

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

2

Weeks at #1

N/A

RIAA Sales Certification

4,000,000 (Multi Platinum)

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The Doors Album Details

Released on January 4, 1967, The Doors is one of the most striking and fully-formed debut albums in rock history. Fusing blues, jazz, classical motifs, and psychedelic rock with dark, poetic lyricism, the record announced The Doors as a band unlike any other of their time. At its center was Jim Morrison, whose baritone voice, literary obsessions, and shamanic persona made him a countercultural icon. The album balances radio-ready hits with apocalyptic intensity and freeform experimentation.

The record opens with Break On Through (To the Other Side) and closes with the haunting, 11-minute epic The End. In between are era-defining tracks like Light My Fire and Crystal Ship, each featuring Ray Manzarek's swirling organ, Robby Krieger's flamenco-tinged guitar, and John Densmore's jazz-influenced drumming. The album pushed boundaries both musically and lyrically, touching on themes of death, sex, freedom, and transcendence. It became a blueprint for psychedelic rock and laid the groundwork for the band's mythic legacy.

Interesting Facts about The Doors

• The band was signed to Elektra Records after label founder Jac Holzman saw them perform at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. He was particularly struck by The End, which closed their set.
• The album was recorded in just six days at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. Most of the tracks were recorded live in the studio, with minimal overdubbing.
• Light My Fire was written largely by guitarist Robby Krieger, though each member contributed to the arrangement. The seven-minute album version features an extended organ and guitar solo that became iconic.
• The single version of Light My Fire was edited down to under three minutes for radio, removing most of the instrumental section. The full version eventually became one of the most requested album tracks of the era.
• The End began as a breakup song but evolved into a sprawling, Oedipal psychodrama during live performances. Morrison's whispered "Father... I want to kill you..." line caused Elektra to briefly consider not releasing the album.
• The band had no bass guitarist during recording; Ray Manzarek played most of the bass lines on a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass with his left hand.
• Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) is a cover of a song from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's 1927 play Mahagonny. The Doors rearranged it into a sinister cabaret-style march that fit their surreal aesthetic.
• The Crystal Ship was reportedly written after Morrison's breakup with his girlfriend Mary Werbelow. Its lyrical ambiguity has invited many interpretations, including references to drug use or dreams.
• The original lyric for Break On Through included the phrase "she gets high," but Elektra edited it out for the album version. The band would restore the original line in live performances and later reissues.
• The Doors peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard chart in 1967. The only album keeping it from the top spot was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 for its cultural and historical significance.

The Doors Track List

1. Break on Through (To the Other Side)
2. Soul Kitchen
3. The Crystal Ship
4. Twentieth Century Fox
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
6. Light My Fire - Reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
7. Back Door Man
8. I Looked at You
9. End of the Night
10. Take It As It Comes
11. The End

• Next Album: #47. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
• Previous Album: #49. Exodus Bob Marley