The Doors- The Doors (1967)

I don't know why, but there seemed to be a phase, a couple of years ago, to diss the Doors as overrated. It felt forced at the time and still does; none of their later albums (most of which are very good indeed) come close to matching this incendiary debut, but it hits you just as hard at the start of 2020 as it did in the start of 1967.

Yes, I know Jim Morrison was a misogynistic wanker who would quite rightly be in huge #MeToo trouble now if he'd lived. His poetry was often arrogant, self-centred and cringeworthily bad. He was a child of considerable privilege- his dad was the American admiral in the 1964 Tonkin incident, randomly enough- but there's no doubt about the effectveness of his voice, much as it may be easy to dislike the man.

And the band, despite being so iconic of its age, simply doesn't sound very '60s at all. For a band which belongs with Californian psychedelia, its sound evokes the '80s British Goth and post-punk bands so strongly influenced by The Doors more than any of their peers. And that prescient sound is present throughout this album.

That's in spite of "The End" evoking Vietnam and Apocalypse Now so very strongly. The album also contains the justly famous "Break on Through" and "Light My Fire", but the best song on it is undoubtedly "The Crystal Ship." A superlative album crammed with classic songs which still feel fresh even today, and have inspired so much.