# Full Circle (The Doors album)
**Full Circle** is the eighth and final studio album of new material by the American rock band the Doors, released in 1972 on [Elektra Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/elektra-records) and recorded by the three surviving members after the death of frontman [Jim Morrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-morrison) in 1971.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752) It was the band's second album without Morrison, following *[Other Voices](https://www.edgepedia.org/other-voices-the-doors-album)* (1971), and the last project of original material issued under the Doors name before the group split in 1973.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-doors-mn0000114342)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 1972 on Elektra Records; AllMusic dates it July 1972, Album of the Year August 15, 1972[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752) • [3](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7771-the-doors-full-circle.php) |
| Recording | Spring 1972, a year after the *Other Voices* sessions[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) |
| Personnel | John Densmore (drums/vocals), Ray Manzarek (keyboards/bass pedals/vocals), Robbie Krieger (guitar/vocals), with Venetta Fields on vocals[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752) • [5](https://lyricalbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/WIKI-Doors.pdf) |
| Chart peak | Number 68 on the US album chart[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-doors-mn0000114342) |
| Singles | "The Mosquito" peaked at number 85 after four weeks on the American singles chart; "Get Up and Dance" failed to chart[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) |
| Aftermath | The band's least commercially successful studio album; the Doors split in 1973[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-doors-mn0000114342) |
## Background
Morrison died in 1971, shortly after the release of *L.A. Woman*, the band's final studio album with him. The three remaining members had already decided to continue, beginning work on *Other Voices* during the summer of 1971 in the expectation that Morrison might return from Paris; when he did not, the album went ahead without him.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) Its Top 40 success gave the trio confidence to record a second post-Morrison album.[6](https://www.thisisdig.com//feature/full-circle-the-doors-album/)
The three musicians returned to the studio in the spring of 1972, by then with no expectation that the deceased Morrison would ever return.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) All three shared the singing, and they produced the album themselves.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752) • [7](https://mildequator.com/recordinghistory/studioinfo.html) Some of the material had been written earlier: per one retrospective, parts of the pool of ideas had been "gathering dust in anticipation of Morrison's reappearance" before the band used them for the two post-Morrison records.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752)
## Music
The album moves in a boogie rock direction with some jazz mixed in.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) The AllMusic review by Lindsay Planer describes the record as more sporadic and less focused than *Other Voices*, opening with the "Age of Aquarius anthem" "Get Up and Dance" and including Krieger's "4 Billion Souls", a song about global survival and ecology.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752) "The Piano Bird" is described by the same reviewer as a jazz number rather than a rock song, and the band also took "Good Rockin'" by the rhythm and blues singer Roy Brown and moved it in a rock direction.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) Songwriting credits on the album include Manzarek, Krieger, Densmore, Roy Brown, and Jack Conrad.[3](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7771-the-doors-full-circle.php)
The album artwork was produced by designer Ernie Cefalu.[8](https://www.goldminemag.com/interviews/robby-krieger-comes-full-circle-about-post-morrison-album)
## Singles and commercial performance
Two singles were released, neither successful.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) "The Mosquito", with musical breaks and tempo changes described as having a jazz feel, spent four weeks on the American singles chart and reached number 85.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) The second single, "Get Up and Dance", failed to chart; its B-side, "Tree Trunk", was a non-album track rarely released on compilations and described by the reviewer as the rarest studio track in the Doors catalog.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php)
The album itself reached number 68 on the US album chart, a position AllMusic calls underwhelming even compared with the compilation *Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine*, which had reached number 55 earlier that year.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-doors-mn0000114342) It was the band's least commercially successful studio album.[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php)
## Reception and aftermath
Critical reception was lukewarm, with many reviews noting Morrison's absence as a defining factor.[9](https://www.classic-rock-covers.com/2020/03/the-doors-full-circle-released-year-1972.html) AllMusic rates the album modestly, and a Louder review gave it 4 out of 10 while calling it the better of the two post-Morrison albums "simply because it doesn't sound particularly like The Doors".[10](https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/the-doors-full-circle-other-voices) On the aggregate site Album of the Year, it holds a critic score of 43 based on four reviews.[3](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7771-the-doors-full-circle.php)
The band was on its last legs by this point and split in 1973.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-doors-mn0000114342) *Full Circle* has been described retrospectively as "a valiant, if failed, attempt to keep The Doors alive".[4](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php) Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore later reunited several times, and in 1978 they set Morrison's 1969 poetry recording to music as *An American Prayer*; the two post-Morrison albums were reissued together on a two-CD set, and Rhino reissued the album on remastered vinyl in 2015.[11](https://thedoors.com/the-band) • [12](https://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext=The+Doors+Full+Circle) • [13](https://www.discoteca-rotacao.pt/Catalogo.pdf)
## References
1. [Full Circle – The Doors, review by Lindsay Planer, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000742752)
2. [The Doors – Biography, Discography & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-doors-mn0000114342)
3. [Full Circle – The Doors, Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/7771-the-doors-full-circle.php)
4. [Music Review: The Doors – Full Circle, David Bowling, Blogcritics/Seattle Post-Intelligencer](https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/music-review-the-doors-full-circle-888873.php)
5. [The Doors encyclopedia entry (PDF), lyricalbooks.com](https://lyricalbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/WIKI-Doors.pdf)
6. ['Full Circle': How The Doors Found Closure After Jim Morrison's Death, thisisdig.com](https://www.thisisdig.com//feature/full-circle-the-doors-album/)
7. [The Doors Studio Dates & Info, mildequator.com](https://mildequator.com/recordinghistory/studioinfo.html)
8. [Robby Krieger comes 'Full Circle' about post-Morrison album, Goldmine](https://www.goldminemag.com/interviews/robby-krieger-comes-full-circle-about-post-morrison-album)
9. [The Doors – Full Circle (1972), classic-rock-covers.com](https://www.classic-rock-covers.com/2020/03/the-doors-full-circle-released-year-1972.html)
10. [The Doors: Full Circle/Other Voices, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/the-doors-full-circle-other-voices)
11. [The Band – The Doors, thedoors.com](https://thedoors.com/the-band)
12. [The Doors Full Circle vinyl sales records, popsike.com](https://www.popsike.com/php/quicksearch.php?searchtext=The+Doors+Full+Circle)
13. [Catalogo, Discoteca Rotação (Other Voices/Full Circle 2CD reissue)](https://www.discoteca-rotacao.pt/Catalogo.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Psychedelic and garage albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license