The Doors of 1970 were a decidedly harder-edged blues band than the psychedelic rangers of their early days. These were recordings made for possible inclusion on their one official live album, Absolutely Live. The tapes have been left as natural as possible, with the audience noise and stage banter playing a key part in the experience. After the nearly seven minutes of setting up, the band crashes through an excellent version of "Roadhouse Blues," a song that has always sounded better in concert than in the studio. Standard classics such as "Break on Through (To the Other Side)," "When the Music's Over," "Light My Fire," and "Soul Kitchen" are stretched out. Blues tunes and early rock 'n' roll numbers like "Mystery Train," "Carol," and "Rock Me Baby" (here with an early incarnation of "Been Down So Long" that wouldn't appear until 1971's L.A. Woman) show off the band's garage rock beginnings. But the real treats here are "Universal Mind" (which never appeared on an official Doors studio album), the relatively obscure "Ship of Fools," and the powerful blues-based "Maggie McGill." 

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