The Doors: Jim Morrison (vocals); Robbie Krieger (guitar); Ray Manzarek (piano, organ); John Densmore (drums).

Additional personnel: Marc Benno (guitar); Jerry Scheff (bass).

Recorded at The Doors Workshop, Los Angeles, California.

Each CD cover has been crafted by hand to recreate the original see-through cover art.

This is a DVD-Audio disc and can only be read by a DVD-Audio compatible DVD player.

The final album with Jim Morrison in the lineup is by far their most blues-oriented, and the singer's poetic ardor is undiminished, though his voice sounds increasingly worn and craggy on some numbers. Actually, some of the straight blues items sound kind of turgid, but that's more than made up for by several cuts that rate among their finest and most disturbing work. The seven-minute title track was a car-cruising classic that celebrated both the glamour and seediness of Los Angeles; the other long cut, the brooding, jazzy "Riders on the Storm," was the group at its most melodic and ominous. It and the far bouncier "Love Her Madly" were hit singles, and "The Changeling" and "L'America" count as some of their better little-heeded album tracks. An uneven but worthy finale from the original quartet. [In 2000 the album was re-released in the DVD Audio format with a 5.1 Surround remix.] ~ Richie Unterberger

Elektra reissued the Doors' last two albums with Jim Morrison, Morrison Hotel and L.A. Woman, as a single cassette in the early '80s. For casual listeners, this may not be a bad way to purchase these records, but the packaging and sound on the tape are subpar. Most fans, even casual ones, will be better served by the original vinyl editions or subsequent CD reissues. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The final album with Jim Morrison in the lineup is by far their most blues-oriented, and the singer's poetic ardor is undiminished, though his voice sounds increasingly worn and craggy on some numbers. Actually, some of the straight blues items sound kind of turgid, but that's more than made up for by several cuts that rate among their finest and most disturbing work. The seven-minute title track was a car-cruising classic that celebrated both the glamour and seediness of Los Angeles; the other long cut, the brooding, jazzy "Riders on the Storm," was the group at its most melodic and ominous. It and the far bouncier "Love Her Madly" were hit singles, and "The Changeling" and "L'America" count as some of their better little-heeded album tracks. An uneven but worthy finale from the original quartet. ~ Richie Unterberger

The final Doors album to feature vocalist Jim Morrison reaffirmed the quartet's grasp of blues-rock. Beset by personal and professional problems, they retreated to a rehearsal room, cast pressures aside, and recorded a handful of their most memorable compositions. The overall sound of the record is relatively stripped down, but the musicianship is uniformly excellent, with empathetic interplay between guitarist Robbie Krieger and keyboard player Ray Manzarek. Jim Morrison's voice, though somewhat ragged and weather-worn, adds its fiercely unmistakable resonance.

The spooky, low-key "Cars Hiss By My Window" and an edgy cover of John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake" are straight, no-nonsense blues, but the album's highlights, including the jangling radio hit "Love Her Madly" and the breezy, chugging title track, which rides on a thrumming bass line and Krieger's fluid licks, mix bluesy bluster with the Doors' swirling, poetic magic. Morrison's death within weeks of the album's completion cast a pall over its content, especially the eerie rain and the funereal electric piano of "Riders On The Storm," the album's indisputable standout, and one of the most compelling, evocative songs in the band's catalogue. Though not the Doors' finest record, L.A. WOMAN was a fitting swan song for one of the most unique and important bands of the '60s.

DVD Features:

Region 0

Audio:

MLP 6-Channel - 96 kHz - 24 bit

Rolling Stone (5/27/71, p.49) - "...In terms of what they're after here the Doors as a band never falter and there isn't one bummer cut on the entire album--obviously a first for them..."

Q (11/00, p.124) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The Doors going back to their biker bar band roots....with a title track that inadvertently invented Billy Idol..."

Down Beat (p.69) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Morrison stars with his raw-angered vocals. Covers of John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon complement the hits..."

NME (Magazine) (9/18/93, p.19) - Ranked #41 in NME's list of The Greatest Albums Of The '70s.