Apart from its lower commercial performance compared to
The Doors, contemporary reviews for
Strange Days were generally positive.
Rolling Stone opined that the album "has all the power and energy of the first LP, but is more subtle, more intricate and much more effective" and argued that the "whole album, individual songs and especially the final track are constructed in the five parts of tragedy. Like
Greek drama, you know when the music's over because there is
catharsis."
Gene Youngblood of
L.A. Free Press wrote a glowing review, describing the Doors' music as "more surreal than psychedelic, it is more anguish than
acid."
Robert Christgau called the album "muscular but misshapen" in a May 1968 column for
Esquire, but went on to write that the Doors had come "from nowhere to reign as America's heaviest group". Retrospective reviews to the album have been equally favorable. In 2007, on the occasion of the release of the 40th anniversary edition, Sal Cinquemani of
Slant Magazine, argued that "while
The Doors had more frequent, obvious peaks, the quirky
Strange Days is a more ambitious, unified work. There are fewer filler tracks and each song carries as much weight as the one before and after it" and called it "a document of a sometimes beautiful, sometimes scary, and often twisted era of fear and idealism." and the same magazine included it on their 2007 list "The 40 Essential Albums of 1967".
Strange Days was placed at No. 20 on
Ultimate Classic Rocks list of the "Top 25 Psychedelic Rock Albums", while
Q magazine ranked it 35th on their respective list. Some critics feel it does not quite match up to its predecessor.
The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote, "With the exceptions of hard blues, 'Love Me Two Times,' and the rock tango, 'Moonlight Drive,'
Strange Days didn't have the power of
The Doors". == Track listing ==