This fall has already given us the interesting (ahem) Lou Reed-Metallica collaboration “Lulu,” but now the remaining members of gloom-jam pioneers The Doors have one-upped that mismatch with “Breakin’ A Sweat (It’s Alright),” which they recorded with white-hot dubstep producer Skrillex.
Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robbie Krieger have seemingly never known quite what to do with the legacy of The Doors after frontman Jim Morrison died in 1971, leaving behind 6 studio albums that can still be heard in dorm rooms across the country. After several post-Morrison Doors LPs and brief reunions, drummer Densmore separated from the other two. In 2002, he sued Manzarek and Kreiger for using the name The Doors of the 21st Century, which became, simply, Manzarek-Krieger. But Densmore made peace with the duo and the three are now using The Doors moniker again for the first time since the three reunited for “VH1’s Storytellers” in 2000.
And this is what they’ve come up with. A repetitive dubstep song that features some shouted vocals about breaking a sweat that even has the cojones to quote “Light My Fire.” There’s really not much to recommend here for anyone beyond the Skrillex faithful. Besides some vintage-sounding organs, it’s not immediately clear just what Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore did all day in the studio.
“Breakin’ a Sweat” was recorded for the documentary film “Re:Generation,” which teams five contemporary producers with eclectic, well-established acts. In the documentary, the other meet-ups include The Crystal Method teaming with Motown legends Martha Reeves and The Funk Brothers; DJ Premier collaborating with Nas; Mark Ronson pulling together Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty and The Dap-Kings; and Pretty Lights meeting Ralph Stanley and LeAnne Rimes. “Re:Generation” is brought to you by those legendary musical tastemakers at Hyundai.
Perhaps determined to go down in history as the king of unexpected combinations, Skrillex is also working with Korn on the nu-metal band’s upcoming album.
What do you think of the song? Grade the song at the top of the article.