 AMG EXPERT REVIEW: As the title says, The Complete Studio Recordings contains all of the Doors' studio recordings in one convenient box set. All six of the band's studio albums have been given 24-bit remasters, and the lyrics for all the albums are included for the first time. Also, a couple of minor edits on The Doors have been fixed — Jim Morrison's vocals at the end of "The End" are brought up in the mix, and his exclamation of "she gets high!" on "Break on Through" has been restored. The box set includes a seventh disc comprised of nothing but rarities, including some live cuts. Most of these rarities were debuted on The Doors Box Set, but there is one previously unreleased outtake, "Woman is a Devil," which isn't great but isn't bad, and it will certainly be worth the time of collectors. Then again, this whole set is basically for collectors only, since it's lavish and expensive. But, it may be worth it, since the booklet is nice and the sound is very, very good. However, hardcore fans who want the rarities and the remastered sound but don't want to spend the money — or want the discs available in jewel boxes instead of the sturdy cardboard sleeves designed to look like little records (complete with replicas of the inner paper sleeves) — are advised to wait, since the individual albums, plus the Essential Rarities disc, will be released separately sometime in 2000. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine |
