STRANGE DAYS

Strange Days sounds exactly like its cover looks: mysterious, theatrical, colourful and slightly unsettling.

Released only months after The Doors' debut, this doesn't feel like a band trying to reinvent itself. Instead, it feels like them walking further into the strange world they'd already created. The organs are creepier, the production feels richer and the psychedelic side of the band is given much more room.

And when this album is good, it's really good.

“People Are Strange” might be the perfect Doors song. It's short, instantly recognizable and somehow manages to make loneliness sound almost playful. “Love Me Two Times” has one of the album's best grooves, while “Moonlight Drive”has that unmistakable late-night Doors atmosphere.

But the song that really defines the record for me is “When the Music's Over.”

Eleven minutes should feel excessive, yet most of the time it doesn't. Morrison becomes increasingly unhinged while Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore build this enormous psychedelic performance around him. By the end, it feels less like listening to a song and more like watching the band perform some kind of ritual.

That's also where Strange Days becomes interesting compared with their debut.

The first Doors album probably has the bigger individual moments. Strange Days has the stronger atmosphere. It feels remarkably consistent — almost like you're spending 35 minutes inside the same strange dream.

The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers is a classic rock album that showcases the band's raw energy. The cassette version allows collectors to experience the iconic sound of tracks like "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses." This album is essential for any serious music collector.

That consistency can also be its weakness.

There are songs like “My Eyes Have Seen You” and “I Can't See Your Face in My Mind” that I enjoy while the album is playing but rarely feel the need to return to individually. And “Horse Latitudes” works as disturbing spoken-word theatre, but I'm not exactly putting it on a playlist.

So I wouldn't call Strange Days a masterpiece from beginning to end.

But I would call it one of those albums where the whole is better than some of its individual songs.

It's dark without becoming depressing, psychedelic without completely losing its melodies, and theatrical without becoming ridiculous. More than anything, it captures something that very few bands have ever sounded like before or since.

Over fifty years later, it still sounds weird.

And that's probably the greatest compliment you can give an album called Strange Days.

Favorite tracks: People Are Strange, When the Music's Over, Love Me Two Times, Moonlight Drive, Strange Days

Final verdict: 8.7/10

Not quite as consistently brilliant as The Doors' debut, but arguably even better at creating a world of its own. A dark, hypnotic and beautifully weird record that captures exactly what made The Doors different.