After considerably broadening their sound on Waiting for the Sun, the Doors decided to continue pushing the envelope with their next release. Incorporating brass, strings, and even a full orchestra, The Soft Parade is easily the most challenging album in the Doors" catalog--if not the most accomplished. Though the hit "Touch Me" and other tracks ("Shaman"s Blues," "Wild Child") hearken back to the band"s edgier former self, the title track is a multipart rock suite that evokes some of the era"s worst excesses. Robby Krieger"s "Wishful Sinful" serves up some uncharacteristic melancholy, but elsewhere there"s a sense that some of the "experiments" here just might be filler. --Jerry McCulley