Editing The Doors (album) (section)

== Reception and legacy ==
{{music ratings
| title = Retrospective reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Unterberger">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-doors-mw0000650088 |title=''The Doors'' – Review |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |author-link=Richie Unterberger|website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=December 20, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222153703/http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-doors-mw0000650088 |archive-date=December 22, 2014 }}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[American Songwriter]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Doors: ''The Doors'' — 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition |date=April 6, 2017 |url=https://thedoors.com/reviews/american-songwriter-loves-the-doors-50th-anniversary-deluxe-edition |magazine=[[American Songwriter]] |via=Thedoors.com |access-date=January 12, 2023}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|year=2011|page=2006|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|edition=5th}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
| rev4Score = 9/10<ref>{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin C.|author-link=Martin C. Strong|year=2004|chapter=The Doors|title=The Great Rock Discography|publisher=Canongate U.S.|isbn=1841956155|edition=7th}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Far Out Magazine|Far Out]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Tim |last=Coffman |date=June 6, 2023 |title=''The Doors'' – The Doors |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-doors-the-doors-album-review/ |magazine=[[Far Out Magazine|Far Out]] |access-date=December 10, 2023}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev6Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Graf>|editor-first1=Gary|editor-last2=Durchholz|editor-first2=Daniel |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|isbn=1-57859-061-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/358 358]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/358}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Record Collector]]''
| rev7Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Daryl |last=Easlea |date=March 27, 2017|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/doors-50th-anniversary-deluxe-edition |title=''The Doors'' 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |access-date=April 12, 2025}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Puterbaugh" />
| rev9      = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev9Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-doors/albumguide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106033635/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-doors/albumguide |title=The Doors: Album Guide |magazine=[[Rolling Stone|rollingstone.com]] |archive-date=January 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 31, 2015}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Slant Magazine]]''
| rev10Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/the-doors-the-doors/1089 |title=The Doors: ''The Doors'' <nowiki>| Album Review</nowiki> |last=Cinquemani |first=Sal |date=April 18, 2007 |magazine=[[Slant Magazine]] |access-date=December 20, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811000830/http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/the-doors-the-doors/1089 |archive-date=August 11, 2012 }}</ref>
| rev11 = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
| rev11Score = B−<ref name="Christgau">{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=December 20, 1976 |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide to 1967 |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |page=69 |location=New York |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6N9LAAAAIBAJ&pg=6134,4535773 |access-date=June 22, 2013}}</ref>
}}
===Early reception===
In a contemporary review for ''[[Crawdaddy!]]'' magazine, founder and critic [[Paul Williams (Crawdaddy)|Paul Williams]] hailed ''The Doors'' as "an album of magnitude" and described the band as creators of "modern music", with which "contemporary 'jazz' and 'classical' composers must try to measure up". Williams added: "The birth of the group is in this album, and it's as good as anything in rock. The awesome fact about the Doors is that they will improve."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thedoors.com/news/doors-review-crawdaddy-1184 |last=Williams |first=Paul |date=May 5, 1967 |title=The Doors Review – Crawdaddy! |via=thedoors.com |access-date=August 31, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910111602/https://www.thedoors.com/news/doors-review-crawdaddy-1184 |archive-date=September 10, 2015 }}</ref> ''[[Record Mirror]]'' was similarly positive to the record: "[''The Doors''] for Elektra is wild, rough and although it's subtle in places, the overall sound is torrid. They're blues-based and get quite an effective sound."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=''The Doors'' – Review |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |orig-year=1967 |date=April 22, 2020 |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Svi4VHyJd/ |via=Instagram}}</ref> According to Densmore, [[the Beatles]] had reportedly bought ten copies of the album,{{sfn|Densmore|1990|p=128}} and [[Paul McCartney]] has claimed that following the album's release, he wanted his band to capture the Doors' musical style as one of the "alter egos" of the group for their upcoming [[concept album]] ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.{{refn|group=nb|Paul McCartney didn't refer specifically to the eponymous-debut album,{{sfn|Greene|2016|p=19}} but only ''The Doors'' was officially released during the period of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''{{'}}s making.<ref>{{cite web |first=Ed |last=Masley |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/08/13/interview-john-densmore-doors-unhinged/13976781/ |title=''Sgt. Pepper'' and Beyond: A Look Back at 20 Great Albums Released in 1967 |date=May 30, 2017 |website=Azcentral |access-date=May 13, 2021}}</ref>}}

[[Robert Christgau]] was less enthusiastic in his column for ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'', recommending the album but with reservations; he approved of Manzarek's organ playing and Morrison's "flexible though sometimes faint" singing while highlighting the presence of a "great original hard rock" in "[[Break On Through (To the Other Side)|Break on Through]]" and clever songs such as "Twentieth Century Fox", but was critical of more "esoteric" material such as the "long, obscure dirge" "[[The End (The Doors song)|The End]]".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=June 1967|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/columns.php|title=Columns|magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|access-date=April 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428110900/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/columns.php|archive-date=April 28, 2016}}</ref> He also found Morrison's lyrics often self-indulgent, particularly lines like "our love becomes a funeral pyre", which he said spoiled "[[Light My Fire]]", and "the nebulousness that passes for depth among so many lovers of rock poetry" on "The End".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Cheetah|date=December 1967|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/lyrics-che.php|title=Rock Lyrics Are Poetry (Maybe)|last=Christgau|first=Robert|access-date=April 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412032721/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/lyrics-che.php|archive-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>

===Retrospective reception===
''The Doors'' has since been ranked by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 1993, ''[[New Musical Express]]'' writers cited ''The Doors'' the 25th greatest album of all time,<ref name="NME1">{{cite web |date=October 2, 1993 |title=New Musical Express Writers Top 100 Albums |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_writers.htm#100_93 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228100140/https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_writers.htm |archive-date=February 28, 2009 |access-date=April 23, 2023 |work=[[New Musical Express]]}}</ref> while in 1998, it was named the 70th in a "Music of the Millennium" poll conducted in the UK by [[HMV]], [[Channel 4]], ''[[The Guardian]]'' and [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/50266.stm |title=The Music of the Millennium |date=January 24, 1998 |newspaper=[[BBC]] |access-date=August 6, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617212743/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/50266.stm |archive-date=June 17, 2012}}</ref> In 2003, Parke Puterbaugh of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' called the record "the L.A. foursome's most successful marriage of rock poetics with classically tempered hard rock{{snd}}a stoned, immaculate classic."<ref name="Puterbaugh">{{cite magazine|last=Puterbaugh |first=Parke |date=April 8, 2003 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-doors-20030408 |title=The Doors by the Doors |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |location=New York City|access-date=April 23, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807113218/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-doors-20030408 |archive-date=August 7, 2011 }}</ref> Sean Egan of [[BBC Music]] opines, "The eponymous debut of the Doors took popular music into areas previously thought impossible: the incitement to expand one's consciousness of opener 'Break on Through' was just the beginning of its incendiary agenda."<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xnwx BBC Music review] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321151340/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xnwx |date=March 21, 2016}}</ref> [[AllMusic]] critic [[Richie Unterberger]], lauded ''The Doors'' as a "tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock history", concluding in his review that "The End" was "a haunting cap to an album whose nonstop melodicism and dynamic tension would never be equaled by the group again, let alone bettered."<ref name="Unterberger"/>

''The Doors'' has been numerously cited as the group's finest record.<ref name="Gallucci/Michael"/><ref name="Unterberger"/><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Michael |last=Nelson |date=July 29, 2015 |url=http://www.stereogum.com/1819986/the-doors-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/attachment/thedoors/ |title=The Doors Albums From Worst To Best |magazine=[[Stereogum]] |access-date=June 15, 2022}}</ref> In 2000, the album was voted number 46 in [[Colin Larkin]]'s ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]''.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]|author=Colin Larkin|author-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=56}}</ref> ''The Doors'' was ranked No. 42 on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]".<ref>{{cite magazine
|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Doors – ''The Doors'' |magazine=Rolling Stone
|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/the-doors-the-doors-167011
|url-status=dead
|access-date=December 24, 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716162758/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/the-doors-the-doors-167011/
|archive-date=July 16, 2019
}}</ref> When the list was revised in 2020, the album was repositioned at No. 86.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time- |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=September 22, 2020 |access-date=September 24, 2020}}</ref> Two of the album's songs, "Light My Fire" and "The End", were also present on ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s 2004 list "[[The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]".<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407 |title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=December 9, 2004 |access-date=August 10, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine readers ranked the album at No. 75 on its list of the "100 Greatest Albums Ever",<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.listsofbests.com/list/13644-q-readers-best-albums-ever-2006-readers-poll |year=2006 |title=Q Magazine's Q Readers Best Albums Ever (2006 Readers Poll) Archived by Lists of Bests |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |access-date=July 24, 2022}}</ref> while [[NME (magazine)|''NME'' magazine]] at No. 226 on their respective list [[NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|"500 Greatest Albums of All Time"]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-300-201/324403|website=NME.com|date=October 24, 2013 |access-date=February 7, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208000758/http://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-300-201/324403|archive-date=February 8, 2015}}</ref> In 2007, ''Rolling Stone'' included it on their list of The 40 Essential Albums of 1967.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/15327933/the_40_essential_albums_of_1967/photo/1/large |title=The 40 Essential Albums of 1967|year=2007 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708233604/http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/15327933/the_40_essential_albums_of_1967/photo/1/large |archive-date=July 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref> More recently in 2020, online media magazine ''[[Loudwire]]'' placed ''The Doors'' one of the "25 Legendary Rock Albums With No Weak Songs".<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Loudewire Staff |date=May 11, 2020 |title=25 Legendary Rock Albums |url=https://loudwire.com/legendary-rock-albums-no-weak-songs/ |magazine=[[Loudwire]] |access-date=August 20, 2022}}</ref> In a list published the next year in February, ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' cited it as the fourth-top [[psychedelic rock]] album of all time.<ref name="Gallucci">{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Gallucci |date=February 23, 2021 |title=Top 25 Psychedelic Rock Albums |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/psychedelic-rock-albums/ |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |access-date=March 28, 2021}}</ref>