Out Now: The Doors, THE SOFT PARADE: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION

(Rhino.com exclusive with lithograph)

Even though the following fact is one which Doors fans already know off the tops of their heads, it’s our duty here at Rhino.com to remind you that this year marks the 50th anniversary of The Doors’ fourth studio album, THE SOFT PARADE, an LP which – no coincidence here – was also the band’s fourth consecutive top-10 album. It’s a record that’s notable for containing one of their most successful singles (“Touch Me”), but it’s the brass and string arrangements featured on that particular track, not to mention several others, which have also made THE SOFT PARADE one of those albums that can cause fist-fights between Doors fans. Did the brass and strings help the material? Did they hinder it? Everybody’s got their own opinion, of course, but in commemoration of the LP hitting the half-century mark, both sides can finally come together.

THE SOFT PARADE: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION is a 3-CD / 1-LP set that includes the original studio album – plus the non-LP B-side “Who Scared You” – in newly remastered form, courtesy of Bruce Botnick, the band’s longtime mixer and engineer. That’s on the first disc. The second disc, however, features five “Doors Only” versions of songs from the album – “Tell All The People,” “Touch Me,” “Wishful Sinful,” “Runnin’ Blue,” and “Who Scared You” – which have been shorn of their brass and strings, and there are additional versions of three of those tracks – “Touch Me,” “Wishful Sinful,” and “Runnin’ Blue” – which also have new guitar parts courtesy of none other than Robby Krieger. That second disc also offers three tracks rescued from studio rehearsal tapes, each of which includes new bass work from Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots, who teamed with Krieger and John Densmore to perform at the 2016 Ray Manzarek tribute concert. The third disc features additional studio outtakes, including the much-bootlegged, hour-long jam, “Rock Is Dead,” which appears here in its entire, surviving form for the first time ever. Oh, and the LP is a 180-gram vinyl version of the original album. But you probably figured that.

If you’re a super-duper Doors fan, you’ll want to hurry over to Rhino.com, however, because it’s only there that you can secure the limited-edition (as in only 500 copies) version which also includes a hand-numbered 36x18 lithograph of the interior vinyl gatefold artwork of the album.

Here’s the full track of the set:

Disc One
1.    “Tell All The People”
2.    “Touch Me”
3.    “Shaman’s Blues”
4.    “Do It”
5.    “Easy Ride”
6.    “Wild Child”
7.    “Runnin’ Blue”
8.    “Wishful Sinful”
9.    “The Soft Parade”
Bonus Track
10.    “Who Scared You” – B-side

Disc Two
1.    “Tell All The People” (Doors only mix)*
2.    “Touch Me” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*
3.    “Runnin’ Blue” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*
4.    “Wishful Sinful” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*
5.    “Who Scared You” (Doors only mix)*
6.     “Roadhouse Blues” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*
7.    “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*
8.    “I’m Your Doctor” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*
9.    “Touch Me” (Doors only mix)*
10.    “Runnin’ Blue” (Doors only mix) *
11.    “Wishful Sinful” (Doors only mix)*

Disc Three
1.    “I Am Troubled”
2.    “Seminary School” (aka “Petition The Lord With Prayer”) *
3.    “Rock Is Dead” – Complete Version *
4.    “Chaos” *

* previously unreleased