Strange Days (album)  

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Strange Days is the second album released by American rock band The Doors. The album was a huge commercial success, earning a gold record and reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 200. Despite this, its producer, Paul Rothchild, considered it a commercial failure, even if it was an artistic triumph: "We all thought it was the best album. Significantly, it was also the one with the weakest sales. We were confident it was going to be bigger than anything The Beatles had done. But, there was no single. The record died on us." Nonetheless, the album managed two Top 30 hits, a Top 3 placing on the US charts, and a platinum certification. Furthermore, the album certainly did nothing to derail the overall success of the Doors, as demonstrated the next year by their chart-topping follow-up Waiting for the Sun.

"Strange Days" partially consists of songs that did not make it onto their debut album, such as "Moonlight Drive", which was one of the first songs written by Jim Morrison for The Doors. The song was recorded in 1965 (demo) and 1966 (intended for their first album). In 1967 a final version was recorded and released on this album. Strange Days contains some of The Doors' most psychedelic songs. It includes songs such as "Strange Days", "People Are Strange", "Love Me Two Times" and "When the Music's Over". The latter is an epic poem that is comparable to the famous "The End".

The album was #3 in the US in 1967, and is #407 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. "People Are Strange" shot to #12 on the US chart, and "Love Me Two Times" followed it, going to #25, thus proving The Doors' staying power after the runaway success of their debut. In the UK the band had yet to score a big hit single and "Strange days" became one of two Doors studio albums not to chart, despite subsequent strong sales.

Cover

The cover photo was taken in Sniffen Court, a small residential mews in New York City. Jim Morrison refused to appear on the cover, so photographer Joel Brodsky decided to use a circus-like photograph for the cover image. However, most carnivals were out on summer tours so it was a struggle for Brodsky to find professional circus performers. The acrobats were the only ones he could find; the dwarf Lester Janus and his younger brother (not twins) Stanley Janus (who appeared on the back cover) were hired from an acting firm; the juggler was Brodsky's own assistant; the trumpet player was a taxi driver; and the strongman was a doorman at a club. On another note, the back cover depicts a robed woman standing in one of the house doorways looking down at one of the dwarf brothers. She has since been identified by People Magazine as the stylist of Joel Brodsky's wife, Zazel Lovén.[1] In addition to this, the original idea for the front cover was a reflection of the group in a mirror which the dwarves would carry. Jim Morrison stated that he did not want to be on the cover at all, so a poster of the band members was discretely shown on the right end of the sleeve.