Originally released as part of the box set The Complete Studio Recordings, The Essential Rarities essentially gathers a bunch of odds and ends, not just previously unreleased studio cuts, but also live cuts, composites, stage chatter, alternate takes, and demos. In other words, it's a bunch of stuff that only hardcore fans need, and they've likely already purchased it as part of the box set or as bootlegs. If not, this is a good way to get a bunch of pretty good cuts, highlighted by the 1969 ou...
Originally released as part of the box set The Complete Studio Recordings, The Essential Rarities essentially gathers a bunch of odds and ends, not just previously unreleased studio cuts, but also live cuts, composites, stage chatter, alternate takes, and demos. In other words, it's a bunch of stuff that only hardcore fans need, and they've likely already purchased it as part of the box set or as bootlegs. If not, this is a good way to get a bunch of pretty good cuts, highlighted by the 1969 outtakes "Woman Is a Devil" and "Who Scared You" and the 1965 demo "Moonlight Drive." It must be said, however, that this is really just for the hardcore fans since there just isn't anything (apart from possibly those three previously mentioned tracks, yet those still are specialized items) that is noteworthy for the casual listener. As a way of tying up loose ends, The Essential Rarities is necessary for collectors, but for everybody else, it's hardly essential. [By the way, there are almost no liner notes to speak of, only four photos (not counting the cover shot) and two track listings, only one with the sources. The rest of the information details the reissue producers, but there are no liner notes to explain the origins of these cuts.]
Essential Rarities is a compilation album by The Doors, originally released as part of the boxed set The Complete Studio Recordings in 1999, but reissued in 2000 as a single CD, containing studio cuts, live cuts and demos taken from the 1997 The Doors Box Set.
All the tracks on this album have been officially released on the 1997 box set, with the exception of the bonus track "Woman Is a Devil", that was edited from the 1969 Elektra Studios "Rock Is Dead" sessions, and was not included in the box set version of the album.
Also, some songs appear in more complete form than their Box Set versions: "Roadhouse Blues" has a 35-second section that was cut from the bridge of the song, and "Who Scared You?" has an extra verse. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
