Waiting for the Sun

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For other uses, see Waiting for the Sun (disambiguation).
Waiting for the Sun
Waiting for the Sun cover
Studio album by The Doors
Released July 11, 1968
Recorded Dec. 1967–May 1968
Genre Acid rock, blues-rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock
Length 32:59
Label Elektra
Producer Paul Rothchild
Professional reviews
The Doors chronology
Strange Days
(1967)		 Waiting for the Sun
(1968)		 The Soft Parade
(1969)

Waiting for the Sun is The Doors' third album. It was released in 1968 and became the band's first number one album and spawned their second number one single "Hello, I Love You". With the exception of two songs, the material for this album was written after the band's initial songs from the formation of the group had been recorded for their debut and second album, Strange Days". The highlight of this album was supposed to be the lengthy theatric piece "Celebration of the Lizard", but in the end only the "Not to Touch the Earth" section was used. Critics have argued that the Doors suffered from "the third album syndrome," meaning that by the time they had to make this album, their creativity was very limited.

Contents

[edit] Structure

The track "Celebration of the Lizard" was intended to take up an entire album side, but the group was never able to get it right (they would revisit it later in its full-length form on their 1970 album Absolutely Live). Many fans have suggested once "Celebration of the Lizard" was shelved, 2 of the Doors earliest tracks were resurrected and rerecorded for use to fill in the void, such tracks being "Hello I Love You" and "Summer's Almost Gone". These two tracks had been recorded in an earlier arrangement for The Doors original 1965 demo.

"Celebration of the Lizard" and two early takes of "Not to Touch the Earth" were included as bonus tracks on the 40th anniversary expanded edition release of this album.

Though a strong album lyrically, musically it has often been criticized for its softer, mellow sound, a departure from the edgier, more ambitious sound that the band had become well-known (and notorious) for. Nonetheless, the album contains some rarely disputed classics, most notably the menacing "Five to One", the controversial anti-war anthem "The Unknown Soldier", and the evocative "Not to Touch the Earth".

Curiously enough, the title track "Waiting for the Sun" was left off this album, but would be included on the 1970 album Morrison Hotel.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by The Doors (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison).

  1. "Hello, I Love You" – 2:16
  2. "Love Street" – 2:53
  3. "Not to Touch the Earth" – 3:56
  4. "Summer's Almost Gone" – 3:22
  5. "Wintertime Love" – 1:54
  6. "The Unknown Soldier" – 3:25
  7. "Spanish Caravan" – 3:03
  8. "My Wild Love" – 3:01
  9. "We Could Be So Good Together" – 2:26
  10. "Yes, the River Knows" – 2:36
  11. "Five to One" – 4:26

[edit] 2006 CD re-issue bonus tracks

  1. "Albinoni's Adagio in G minor" – 4:32
  2. "Not to Touch the Earth" (dialogue) – 0:38
  3. "Not to Touch the Earth" (take 1) – 4:05
  4. "Not to Touch the Earth" (take 2) – 4:18
  5. "Celebration of The Lizard" (an experiment/work in progress) – 17:09

[edit] Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1968 Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) 1

[edit] Personnel

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Wheels of Fire by Cream		 Billboard 200 number-one album
September 7 - September 27, 1968
October 5 - October 11, 1968		 Succeeded by
Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits by The Rascals
v • d • e
The Doors
Jim Morrison · Robby Krieger · Ray Manzarek · John Densmore
Studio albums
Compilations
Live albums
Box sets