Customer Reviews

Monkees - 20 Greatest Hits

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you don't have alot of The Monkees albums this CD is really great it has most of the hits and lots of great songs like Daydream Beliver,I'm a Beliver and (I'm not your) Stepping Stone. It also has other good songs like Tear Drop City and D.W. Washburn! Its a great CD!

As Rhino records officially owns the Monkees catalog, this package is suspect in the "bootleg-ish" sort of way. But if bootleg it is, it's one of the better bootlegs I've encountered. The "superior reflective qualities" of the "custom pressed gold disc" are convincing. (It appears to be something along the lines of genuine gold. 10 karat?) I don't know where they got the masters to "re-master" and digitally re-mix (it's labeled ADD)if Rhino didn't fork them over, but the source tapes must have been decent, and the technology used quality as well. The package compares favorably with other SBM ("super-bit-mapped") recordings I've purchased. These recordings sound life-like, warm, and vibrant, and lack the shrill metallic harshness sometimes found in CD reissues of '60's analog records. That said, this is one of the few "greatest hits" packages that actually contain just that: All the Monkees A-sides (including the BIG hits) from 1966-1970, and all of the charting B-sides as well. 18 originals in all, according to Billboard, and the "Theme from the Monkees" plus "Take A Giant Step" thrown in to make it a nice even 20. And, it focuses entirely on the classic '60's tunes. Is it the "definitive" package? No, that would be the two disc "Anthology". Is it the "ultimate single disc" release? No, that would be Arista's "Then & Now, the Best of....". But if you are looking to get the essential chart hits by the Monkees all on one disc for not a lot of $$$$, and great sound quality too, this one's for you. The liner notes give an abbreviated but fairly accurate history of the band. Skimpy on photos. The only drawback is the somewhat amatuereish art work. Overlook it, and enjoy the song selection and sound quality. This one delivers the goods. The first "Greatest Hits" package, by any artist, in years I have not regretted buying.

This CD opens with the Monkees theme song, but otherwise it seems to basically be a collection of the group's single sides from '66-'70 (with the exceptions of five B-sides), which makes it unique among all of the Monkees comps that I know of; this is one of the reasons I give it five stars. Sure, the packaging (including the liner notes) may be a bit amateurish, but this is only a minor flaw. All of the hits are here (even the rather elusive "Tapioca Tundra," which is missing from so many other collections!), as well as several good non-hits, some of which seem (at least to me) to be a bit rare. All of the songs (except for "A Little Bit Me") are in stereo, and the sound quality is great. The songs are only slightly out of chronological order. The "Theme" was actually not the first Monkees song released, but I suppose it is only logical that a comp should begin with it, as most if not all of them do. The single sides are mostly in order of release and original "side placement," except for "Listen To The Band" and "Someday Man," which should technically be in reverse order because the former song was originally the B-side and the latter the A-side (in the U.S., anyway; the chart positions given with this CD are for the U.S. releases), and "Take A Giant Step," which closes the CD but should really come after "Last Train To Clarksville," as it was the B-side of that song. (I don't really know why "Giant Step" was placed at the end of the CD.) This is an excellent collection, although instead of being titled 20 Greatest Hits, it should really be called The Singles 1966-1970, or something like that. By the way, the missing B-sides are: "Goin' Down," which backed "Daydream Believer"; "As We Go Along," which backed "Porpoise Song"; "A Man Without A Dream," which backed "Tear Drop City"; "Mommy And Daddy," which backed "Good Clean Fun"; and "I Love You Better," which backed "Oh My My."