Artist: The Doors

The Doors have always been a divisive band in the minds of music fans. Even a casual observer knows The Doors for, if nothing else, their enigmatic front man Jim Morrison. Since the band's beginning, Morrison's maddening personal and artistic complexities have been equally hailed and reviled. I see both Morrison and The Doors as musically innovative, flawed, poetic, exciting, excessive, intriguing, and seemingly free from artistic or corporate constraints. Morrison's father may have said it (although begrudgingly) the best: "My son had a unique genius, which he expressed without compromise."

A good choice for: the listener with an open mind.

Listen here to The Doors, their 1967 self-titled debut.
Listen here to Strange Days.
Listen here to Waiting for the Sun.
Listen here to The Soft Parade.
Listen here to Morrison Hotel.
Listen here to L.A. Woman, their 6th and final studio album, completed shortly before Morrison's death in 1971.