Standouts: LOVE Spahn Ranch's cover of "Strange Days". Athan Maroulis's gorgeous shot-of-codeine-syrup-on-the-rocks vocals pay just the perfect homage to Morrison's famous croon, but the tribal electrotweaker drums & thick synth backdrop make the song all their own. Love the Newlydeads-- they turn "Hello I Love You" into a sloppy batcave-rock number that should've been on the 'Return Of the Living Dead' soundtrack. And while I'm really not fond of techno, Alien Sex Fiend's gleeful trashing of "Five To One" just brings a warm glow to my heart.

I love the Doors originals and I love these modern interpretations. Cover songs that sound too close to the original are usually anticlimactic (viz. Echo & The Bunnymen's "People Are Strange" a billion years ago, technically flawless but hardly Bunnified at all). And I agree with the others here-- if you're a Doors purist, don't go buying ANY tribute albums, because tribute albums DO sound necessarily different from the original artist's sound. This is the idea: take the old influence and build something out of it. Long live Jim and vive le goth.


An insult to Jim Morrison's legacy   May 20, 2000
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

First, let me say I rated this "one star" because "0-stars" is not available. I perceive this "recording" as an insult to Jim Morrison's unique and exceptional poetry, and also to the beautiful musical subtlety and structural elements of the Doors' compositions. I personally believe fans of the Doors will find no use in this CD. "Goth" artists just aren't the proper group to remix these masterpieces. Judge for yourself, however.


THIS IS A VAPID, EMPTY ALBUM   June 14, 2000
 2 out of 6 found this review helpful

THIS A VERY SORRY TRIBUTE NOT ONLY MORRISON, BUT TO THOSE WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES MUSICIANS WOLRD WIDE. LOOK AT THIS ALBUM ONCE ON THIS WEB SITE, AND JUST MOVE ON, AND DEVOTE NO MENTAL ENERGY THAN THAT. IT'S THAT BAD


Best tribute to an overrated band ever.   August 3, 2001
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

There I said it. I think people take this band too seriously and their fanatical ejaculations only serve to put things into perspective. The Doors are just an okay band.

That said "Darken My Fire" is a great assembly of various goth/darkwave and industrial acts paying homage to the Doors. The problem as I see it is that most people expect tribute songs to sound EXACTLY like the originals. If you're a purist you shouldn't be buying tribute albums anyway. Period. If you can bring yourself to swallow your pride for just a moment (and I doubt you can) you'd see that these artists are paying respect to the Doors. They're covering the songs in THEIR style and whether or not you like that style is irrelevant.

Now that I've addressed the stuffy opinions of the fanatics I can concentrate on the CD in question. I felt it was above par for a tribute on Cleopatra records lately. They've put out a few that should have been fantastic but didn't quite live up to their potential. "Darken My Fire" did not fall into this category. The bands here do an exceptional job putting their unique spin on the mediocre material. A few that stick out in my mind are The Mission U.K.'s "Love Me Two Times", Mephisto Walz's "Peace Frog" EHC's "Light My Fire", Eerie Von's "The Spy" and Rosetta Stone's version of "The End". The track I was most looking forward to besides the EHC's hinting at the infernal implications of "Light My Fire" was Nosferatu with their offering of "People Are Strange". In the past Nosferatu have been well known for their conveying of themes such as disenchantment and alienation. Here they are covering the very anthem of alienation and it just didn't jell.

It is evident that in order to enjoy "Darken My Fire" you have to not harbor a hero-worship of the source material. If you're a die hard Doors fan read the reviews and don't buy this CD. The last thing this tribute needs is the bitter rantings of a 60's throw-back or modern day hippie wannabe to quash its potential. If this doesn't sound like you, this might be something you'll want to check out


An ok tribute album   April 11, 2004
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

I have never really been crazy about The Doors. To me, some of their songs have a tendency to be too long. Secondly, I am not a classic rock fan. I bought "Darken My Fire" because I loved the two Madonna tribute albums and the Tori Amos tribute album that Cleopatra Records released a few years ago so I thought "Darken My Fire" would be something of interest. In general I think Cleopatra Records has gone overboard with the tribute albums and really needs to take a break from churning out more tribute albums. "Darken My Fire" is interesting to say the very least however I wouldn't rank it as good as the two Madonna tribute albums or even comes close to the Tori Amos tribute album. It just lacked the magic that I felt that the other tribute albums for Madonna and Tori Amos had. There were a lot of hits and misses. I loved The Mission Uk's interpretation of "Love Me Two Times". It was very dark and sinister. I also liked Nosferatu's "People Are Strange" (my favorite song by The Doors), and Mephisto Waltz's "Peace Frog". I didn't like The Newlydeads' "Hello, I Love You". Although I never liked the song to begin with but at least I thought The Doors' version was ten times better which is saying a lot. I wasn't wild about Eating Crow's "L.A Woman" or The Electric Hellfire Club's "Light My Fire". I think The Doors' music is like New Order and Depeche Mode, don't cover their music because no one can out do the original versions. Thanks to tribute albums like "Darken My Fire", I consider tribute albums nowadays so unbelievably cheesy and pointless.