The Soft Parade is the title of the Doors‘ fourth studio album released through Elektra Records in July, 1969. This studio album marked an important transition in the band’s history as their overall sound tilted more towards an orchestral one, departing as such from their previous blues-based instrumental essence. At that time, the lead singer and poet of the band, Jim Douglas Morrison, faced a challenging time in his personal life which, in musical regards, enabled guitarist Robby Krieger to share more of his contributions as a songwriter. Unfortunately, this studio album was erroneously perceived by the critics at the time of its release and even some devoted fans perceived the sound of the band moving more towards pop music (which wasn’t actually the case). Commercially, the album did not fare bad, but it did not achieve the same impact within Europe as the previous LP of the group, more specifically Waiting for the Sun (a very touching record) which was released in 1968. Nonetheless, it was certified platinum in the United States by the R.I.A.A. (Recording Industry Association of America).
Subsequently, the perception of some music critics and music historians changed regarding the album, but it is still, unfortunately, perceived as the least appealing creation of the band with poet Jim Morrison as a lead singer.
Fragment of a 1969 advert of the band for their fourth studio album entitled The Soft Parade which was released in the summer of 1969. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Stylistically, the sound of the album is actually a mixture of several sub-genres, namely psychedelic rock, jazz rock (or jazz fusion), art rock, blues rock, and also experimental. It also represents a notable poetic evolution in the band’s catalogue as Jim Morrison’s introspective, romantic, and surrealist lyrics give the constituent songs various layers of mystery, fantasy, perception, emotion, and even humour.
The Soft Parade produced 4 singles, namely: Touch Me (a very touching and romantic song whose essence is increased by an orchestra), Wishful Sinful (a catchy play on words), Tell All The People (a wonderful song on freedom and a very dear song of mine by them) as well as Runnin’ Blue (Morrison’s tribute to late Otis Redding, essentially). The LP was produced by Paul A. Rotchild.
Below you can listen to several of my most favourite songs from The Soft Parade, an underrated studio album by the Doors, in my humble opinion at least.
Moral of the song: you cannot petition the Lord with prayer!
Documentation sources and external links:
- The album’s page on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- The Doors on www.britannica.com (Encyclopædia Britannica online)
On a personal note, I must confess that this was actually my most favourite Doors record back when I was in 9th grade (which was a long while back ago anyway, but I’m not that old, biologically at least). I used to listen to it on repeat for days on end, even weeks. I am very grateful I was able to do so. That’s what I’m currently doing as well, fast forward many years after I finished high school. And I strongly think you should give it a try as well, just in case you haven’t already. 😉
You’ll find a brand new poetic universe worth exploring and immersing yourself into (and not only).