The following is the discography of the American rock band the Doors. Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, the group consisted of Jim Morrison (vocals), Ray Manzarek (keyboards), John Densmore (drums), and Robby Krieger (guitar). The Doors became one of the most popular rock bands of their era. Their debut album, The Doors (1967), released by Elektra Records, charted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 and produced the group's most successful single, "Light My Fire". The album received several sales certifications including a four times multi-platinum from both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and from Music Canada (MC). The Doors' second studio album, Strange Days (1967), sold well commercially but did not reach the same level of success as the debut, and failed to produce a major hit single. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum in the United States and Canada. The Doors' third studio album Waiting for the Sun (1968), was commercially very successful, reaching No. 1 in the US and France, and produced their second No. 1 single, "Hello, I Love You". Waiting for the Sun was the first Doors album to chart in the United Kingdom, where it peaked inside the Top 20. The album was certified gold in that country by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), as well as being certified gold and platinum in several other countries.
For the fourth studio album The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors chose to incorporate string and brass instruments into a number of their songs. The band was criticized by many for this, and referred to as "pop sellouts" and having "gone soft". Despite this, The Soft Parade became the band's fourth straight Top 10 album and it produced their third most successful single, "Touch Me". The album was certified platinum in both the US and Canada. To counter the artistic criticism of their last two albums the Doors next released Morrison Hotel (1970). The blues-heavy LP was a critical and commercial success. Although only having produced one single, which did not perform well on the charts, Morrison Hotel became another Top 10 album for the band and was certified platinum in the US, Canada, and in France, by the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP). The group next released Absolutely Live (1970), a live album containing snippets of performances edited together from fourteen different concerts recorded in nine different cities in 1969 and 1970. Absolutely Live was well received and charted in the Top 10 in the US and Canada and was certified gold in both countries. L.A. Woman (1971), was the final Doors album with singer Jim Morrison, who died in Paris shortly after the album's release. The album was praised by critics and a commercial success, it landed inside the Top 10 in the US and Canada and produced two singles, "Love Her Madly" and "Riders on the Storm". Like Morrison Hotel before it, L.A. Woman relied very heavily on the blues, which was a genre of music the Doors had often incorporated into their early live sets while the house band at the London Fog, a nightclub on the Sunset Strip, in Los Angeles. L.A. Woman was certified gold and platinum in several different countries.
After the death of Morrison, the three remaining Doors members released two more studio albums before they eventually disbanded, Other Voices (1971), and Full Circle (1972). Both albums appeared on the US and Canadian albums charts, and likewise both produced charting singles, but the success was limited and the three sought solo ventures. Five years later, Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore reunited to record backing tracks over Morrison's spoken word poetry, and released The Doors' ninth and final studio album titled, An American Prayer (1978). Morrison had recorded the poetry in separate sessions in 1969 and 1970. Upon release, the album received mixed reviews, but was commercially successful and was awarded platinum status in the US by the RIAA.
The use of the Doors song "The End", from their debut album, in the popular Vietnam War film, Apocalypse Now in 1979 and the release of the first compilation album in seven years, Greatest Hits, released in the fall of 1980, created a resurgence in the Doors. Due to those two events, an entirely new audience, too young to have known of the band earlier, began listening and purchasing the band's music. The group's popularity continued to increase. In the 1980s, the band released concert films, and live and compilation albums to much commercial success. In 1991, The Doors, a feature film about the band, directed by Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone, that starred Val Kilmer as Morrison, was released, which helped to expand the Doors' popularity to another audience. When You're Strange, is a 2009 documentary about The Doors written and directed by Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Series and won a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Video. The band continues to release compilations through Rhino Records and new live material through both Rhino and their Bright Midnight Archives label.
Albums Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications US AUS AUT"Album artist 91 – The Doors". TsorT. Steve Hawtin. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011. CAN FRA"The Doors" (in French). InfoDisc. OVH. Retrieved August 22, 2011. Note: User required to search: "The Doors". To view certifications, click tab on left labeled "Les Certifications", and then search "Doors". GER"The Doors" (in German). Charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved August 22, 2011. Note: To view charting positions for singles, click "Song" and then search "The Doors". ITA"The Doors – The Doors". aCharts.us. Mark Wegener. Retrieved August 22, 2011. Note: To view charting positions for other Doors albums, click on the corresponding links below "Album Performance". NLD"The Doors" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 23, 2009. Note: To view charting positions for singles, click "Nummer" and then "Zoeken". NOR"The Doors". Norwegian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 23, 2009. SWE"The Doors". Swedish Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 23, 2011. UK"Doors". The Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry – Entertainment Retailers Association. Retrieved August 25, 2011. Note: To view charting positions for albums, click "View Albums". The Doors Released: January 4, 1967 Record label: Elektra 2 — 6 42 3 43 51 — 4 24 43 RIAA: 4× Platinum BPI: 2× Platinum BVMI: Platinum"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank" (in German). BVMI. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved August 25, 2011. Note: Search "The Doors". FIMI: Platinum IFPI AUT: Gold"Gold & Platin" (in German). IFPI Austria. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Austria. Retrieved August 26, 2011. Note: User required to search: "The Doors". IFPI SWE: Platinum MC: 4× Platinum PROMUSICAE: Gold SNEP: 3× Platinum Strange DaysReleased: September 25, 1967 Record label: Elektra3——10——————RIAA: Platinum BPI: Gold BVMI: Gold FIMI: Gold MC: Platinum"Gold Platinum Database – The Doors" . CRIA. Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved August 23, 2011. SNEP: 2× Gold Waiting for the SunReleased: July 3, 1968 Record label: Elektra1——3120————16RIAA: Platinum BPI: Gold BVMI: Gold MC: Platinum SNEP: 2× Gold The Soft ParadeReleased: July 21, 1969 Record label: Elektra6——4833—4———RIAA: Platinum ARIA: Gold BPI: Silver MC: Platinum Morrison HotelReleased: February 9, 1970 Record label: Elektra44—332——613—12RIAA: Platinum ARIA: 2× Platinum BPI: Gold FIMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Gold MC: Platinum SNEP: Platinum L.A. WomanReleased: April 19, 1971 Record label: Elektra99—114——115—28RIAA: 3× Platinum ARIA: 4× Platinum"ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". ARIA. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 11, 2004. Retrieved August 26, 2011. Note: To view all certifications for this reference, click on "Accreditations" link to the right and then click on the corresponding years in which the albums were certified. Greatest Hits – 1999, Best of The Doors – 2000, L.A. Woman – 2001. BPI: Platinum BVMI: Gold FIMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Gold MC: 3× Platinum SNEP: 2× Platinum Other VoicesReleased: October 18, 1971 Record label: Elektra31——36——————— Full CircleReleased: July 17, 1972 Record label: Elektra68——26——————— An American PrayerReleased: November 27, 1978 Record label: Elektra5480———79——27——RIAA: Platinum "—" denotes releases that did not chart or are unknown.
Notes A:Australian chart positions for studio albums are as follows: Morrison Hotel,Nimmervoll, Ed (May 30, 1970). "Top 20 Albums". Go-Set. (Waverly Press). Archived from the original on September 4, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2011. Note: All Go-Set references within this discography were compiled online by Barry McKay and published courtesy of Lachlan Nuttall at PopArchives. L.A. Woman,Nimmervoll, Ed (January 29, 1972). "Top 20 Albums". Go-Set. (Waverly Press). Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2011. An American Prayer.Hung, Steffen. "The Doors". Australian Charts Portal (originally compiled by David Kent from the Kent Music Report). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 23, 2011. Note: In Australia, albums and singles charting prior to 1974 were published by pop music newspaper Go-Set. All charts published subsequent to this date, until 1998, were the work of David Kent for the Kent Music Report. B:Canadian chart positions for studio albums are as follows: The Doors,Grealis, Walt (October 14, 1968). "Top 50 Albums". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 10 (7). . Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011. Note: All RPM references within this discography carry the same ISSN. Publication of all online RPM references within this discography are courtesy of Library and Archives Canada. Waiting for the Sun,Grealis, Walt (October 28, 1968). "Top 50 Albums". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 10 (9). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011. The Soft Parade,Grealis, Walt (April 10, 1969). "LP Chart". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 12 (7). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011. Morrison Hotel,Grealis, Walt (April 11, 1970). "RPM 100 Albums". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 13 (8). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011. L.A. Woman,Grealis, Walt (June 12, 1971). "RPM 100 Albums". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 15 (17). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011. Other Voices,Grealis, Walt (January 08, 1972). "RPM 100 Albums". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 16 (20). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011. Full Circle.Grealis, Walt (September 09, 1972) "RPM 100 Albums". RPM (RPM Music Publications Ltd). 18 (4). Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011. C:Did not appear on charts until 1991. In France, those noted as [C] first appeared on the charts in 1991, but achieved their peak status at a later date. The Doors peaked in 2002, Morrison Hotel in 2005, and L.A. Woman in 2003. D:Canadian chart position for The Doors is most likely not a peak position but rather a re-entry position as this date is 19 months after the release of the album. Due to this being the earliest date that RPM "Top Albums" charts are published online by Library and Archives Canada, all "Top Albums" charts preceding this particular one are unavailable for viewing. E:Did not appear on charts until 2005.