Having released two records that drew from a large pool of previously composed songs, the Doors started to improvise for their third album in late 1967.

Due to the shortage of original material, the group suffered what drummer John Densmore described as the "third album syndrome", meaning the difficulty of a band to have a stock of good compositions, capable of filling a third disc in a row.

The Doors started recording Waiting for the Sun in late 1967 at Sunset Sound Studios,[a] with early versions of "The Unknown Soldier" and "Spanish Caravan".

However, a recording of the "Not to Touch the Earth" segment was included and the full lyrics to "Celebration of the Lizard" were printed inside the album's gatefold sleeve.

[8][9] The removal of "Celebration of the Lizard" drove the band to resort to composing many of the album tracks in the studio and digging up older songs that they had previously decided against recording, such as "Hello, I Love You", to fill the gap of material.

Morrison's increasing alcohol consumption also caused tension and difficulties in the studio,[12] and at one point drummer John Densmore walked out of a session frustrated at his behavior.

[7] During the recording of "Five to One", Morrison was in intense state of intoxication, to a degree that the studio's assistants needed to support him to complete his vocal parts.

[15][16] Waiting for the Sun includes the band's second chart topper, "Hello, I Love You",[17] one of the last remaining songs from Morrison's 1965 batch of tunes.

Journalists Nathan Brackett and Christian Hoard speculate that "Five to One" seems to be a revolutionary anthem,[21] spouted by the "hippie/ flower child" hordes Morrison saw in growing numbers.

In a 1969 interview with Jerry Hopkins for Rolling Stone, Morrison said of the epic, "It was pieced together on different occasions out of already existing elements rather than having any generative core from which it grew.

[8] Krieger's skills with the flamenco guitar can be found on "Spanish Caravan", with Granainas intro and a reworking of the melody from the classical piece Asturias (Leyenda) composed by Isaac Albéniz.

[29][30][31] A review in Slant Magazine described the song as "categorically pre-fame Morrison," pointing out that the line "The time you wait subtracts from joy" is the kind of hippie idealism the singer had long abandoned.

[10] In the liner notes to the 1997 Doors retrospective Box Set, Manzarek praises the latter: "The piano and guitar interplay is absolutely beautiful.

"[18] While recording "My Wild Love", the band eventually gave up on the music and turned it into a work song by getting everyone in the studio to clap their hands, stamp their feet and chant in unison.

[36] Morrison wrote "Love Street" for his girlfriend Pamela Courson and like all of his other songs about or dedicated to her, there was a hesitancy or biting refusal at the end ("I guess I like it fine, so far").

[46] Analogue Productions also reissued the album on SACD and double 45 RPM vinyl, both editions were mastered by Doug Sax and Sangwook Nam at the Mastering Lab; the CD layer of the Super Audio CD contains the original stereo mix while the SACD layer contains Botnick's 2006 5.1 surround mix.

Botnick recommended some of these versions, saying, "I prefer some of these mixes as they represent all of the elements and additional background vocals and some intangible roughness, all quite attractive and refreshing.

"[60] In his retrospective review, Richie Unterberger of AllMusic wrote, "The Doors' 1967 albums had raised expectations so high that their third effort was greeted as a major disappointment.

"[4] In his review of the 2007 reissue, Sal Cinquemani of Slant praised the album, writing that "Despite the fact that Morrison was becoming a self-destructing mess, Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore were never more lucid – perhaps to compensate.

"[5] Classic Rock critic Max Bell overviewing the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, gave Waiting for the Sun a positive rating of four out of five stars.