1967 Album Ranked Among ‘Most Underrated Classic Rock Albums of All Time' Was Released One Week After Band Was Banned
1967 was a big year for The Doors. On January 4 of that year, the Los Angeles-based rock band released their self-titled debut album featuring the breakthrough single "Light My Fire." Eight months later, the group was booked on The Ed Sullivan Show days before their second album, Strange Days, dropped.
The TV appearance did not go as planned. As recounted on the Ed Sullivan Show website, producers asked The Doors band members to change the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" for their performance of "Light My Fire."
After performing their "newest hit record," "People Are Strange," on the live TV broadcast, the band segued into "Light My Fire." But lead singer Jim Morrison chose to sing the forbidden line as originally written, infuriating Sullivan. Morrison's defiant move led to the band's permanent ban from the CBS variety show.
RELATED: 1966 Monkees Hit Featured a Producer's Scream You May Have Missed
‘Strange Days' arrives-underrated
One week after The Ed Sullivan Show fiasco, The Doors' follow-up album, Strange Days, was released on Sept. 25, 1967. The sophomore album spawned two Top 25 hits-"People Are Strange" and "Love Me Two Times"-but there was no No. 1 record such as "Light My Fire."
Decades later, Collider ranked Strange Days as one of the most underrated classic rock albums of all time, describing the record as "stunning from start to finish. "'You're Lost Little Girl' and ‘I Can't See Your Face in My Mind' are a few of the most intoxicating Doors songs you can find, but who's talking about them?" the outlet asked.
There was no pressure for back-to-back albums
The Doors' move to release two albums within eight months was not due to pressure from their record company, Elektra. In an interview with Guitar World, band member Robby Krieger recalled, "No, we were ready. We had tons of material for the first two albums; the pressure came on the third album. We ran out of stuff … It was also difficult to write while we were touring, so we started writing a lot more in the studio."
While Strange Days never found the success of other Doors albums, Morrison once said he was very proud of the album. "I'm really proud of our second record [Strange Days] because it tells a story, it's a whole effort," the singer told Downbeat magazine in 1970. "Someday it will get the recognition it deserves, you know? I don't think many people were aware of what we were doing."
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 5:32 AM.