Customer Reviews

Monkees (Dlx)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a fan of the Monkees since they first appeared in 1966, when I was nine. The TV show and records profoundly affected me, initiating a lifelong love of music for which I am forever grateful. I have owned all of their recordings in every conceivable format, including all three of the previous CD versions of this album (the original Japanese issue, the US Arista and the previous Rhino).

I am a picky connoisseur. I am also a grouch. I was prepared to hate this so-called "deluxe" issue, ready to dismiss it as a cynical attempt to get hard-core fans (like me) to shell out AGAIN for the music we love. And I am a recording engineer who knows a thing or two about mastering.

Nevertheless, I am delighted to report that is not only the finest edition of this record ever released, it is one of the best reissues of a '60s pop album EVER issued.

Disc 1 has the original LP in stereo with nine bonus tracks. Side 2 has the LP's monaural mix plus eight MORE bonus tracks. The double-gatefold package is very impressive, the extensive liner notes (by Andrew Sandoval, who probably knows more about this group than anybody) are excellent, and the production credits are as complete as it's possible to recreate after forty years. There are also plenty of tasty photos, many of which I've never seen before.

Only seven of the seventeen bonus tracks have never been issued before. Most of the others appeared on either the previous Rhino version of this album, or on one of the three volumes of MISSING LINKS rarities released in the 90s (all now out of print). If you don't already have any of these discs, these tracks will be of great interest.

However, the real reason you want to get this edition is the sound. This album has never sounded as good as this, not EVER. Every track is clean and quiet, with low distortion and a degree of natural expressiveness I haven't heard in forty years of intent listening. I am not exaggerating. I do not work for Rhino. This is a genuinely impressive restoration job!

Curious as to what was being done, I extracted the waveforms into my computer and examined them. Amazingly, unlike almost every other remastering job being done these days, there has been no attempt to make this music sound as "loud" as possible. The entire dynamic range of the source tapes appears to be completely preserved! The waveform display clearly shows how some songs (like "I Wanna Be Free", or the central bridge of "Last Train To Clarksville") are ALLOWED to sound softer than the other tracks. This is almost un-heard of in today's world of iPod-friendly mixes with savagely squashed dynamic range. Congratulations and thanks to Dan Hersch, Andrew Sandoval and Bill Inglot at Digiprep for finally, FINALLY getting it right.

The same high standards apply to the companion edition of MORE OF THE MONKEES.

If you're a Monkees fan, you owe it to yourself to purchase these fine editions at once. Please support Rhino/Warner so they will be encouraged to continue issuing the remainder of the Monkees catalog in this truly deluxe format.

Let's hope somebody at Apple is paying attention.

NOTE: The mono mix of the album is a minor feature. Instead, it would be a lot more interesting to include the backing tracks of each song, without the vocals. This would allow us to study the arrangements in detail. And what a boon to karaoke enthusiasts!

If you are younger than me - and you probably ARE younger than me - then I'm afraid that you'll miss the relevance of the Monkees. In 1966, they were a phenomenon. They were also controversial. I was eight years old at the time, and I loved the band, the television show, the music, all of it. Along with the Beatles, they were a true obsession of mine. Older teenagers, though, cast doubt on my faith and fan-dom. They considered the Monkees to be pawns, a manufactured product who didn't (or couldn't) even play their own instruments. While I vaguely recognized some of their criticisms to be true, it didn't matter in the least to me. Besides, their arguments missed the most fundamental point; the music is good. Really good. While the older kids talked about Jefferson Airplane or the Rolling Stones, I reveled in the Monkees. It was fairly obvious that Davy Jones was not a whiz-bang musician, but the other guys appeared capable of playing, and they all sang great. Mike Nesmith even wrote some of their best songs, so at least he must be playing.
If you were to judge the band by this first album, then we would both be right. Studio musicians perform virtually every song here - including guitar work by Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork. What is revelatory is how a band - an admittedly manufactured band - would develop a strong rapport that made good material even better. "Last Train to Clarksville" is a good song, but the Monkees make it a great song. "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day" and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" are special because the Monkees bring a youthful energy that enlivens them. There are a few gaffs and laughable bits, like Davey's swoon-inducing "I Wanna Be Free" and "I'll Be True to You," but the balance of the record is incredibly strong. "Saturday's Child" still sounds great. Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" is one of the most beautiful songs of the decade, and the Monkees version utilizes imaginative Eastern tonalities that make it simultaneously unique and definitive. After this, the best tracks belong to Mike Nesmith. "Papa Gene's Blues" and "Sweet Young Thing" are the work of a fully developed and extraordinarily talented songwriter, so why didn't the naysayers acknowledge this?
This `special edition' release features the full stereo mix on one disk and the original mono mix on the other, with bonus material fleshing out both disks. The difference in the mixes isn't particularly revelatory, but the bonus tracks certainly are. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog (backing track)" rocks harder than the album version, while songs like "All the King's Horses," "I Don't Think You Know Me" and "Propinquity" should have made the album, if only space had allowed. This material is forty years old, and it has been endlessly maligned, but it has withstood the barrage of insults AND the test of time. So many people missed the point, but after forty years, maybe the Monkees will finally get some respect. A- Tom Ryan

This CD is simply the last word on these recordings. Terrific sound, great bonus tracks and wonderful packaging! Well worth the time and money to pick up. The bonus tracks are espeically nice. All four Monkees on backgound vocals for "Papa Gene's Blues" and "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" are worth the price alone.

If you're a fan of the Monkees or great pop music do yourself a favor and pick up this - and "More of the Monkees" - deluxe edition. You won't be disappointed. Easily one of the best reissues of older material I've seen. A major thank you to Rhino and Andrew Sandoval for putting this together!

Throw all your old versions away, here is the keeper. A two disc beauty that pulls together all the period out-takes as well as the stereo and mono versions of the first album, packaged with new liner notes and studio photos. I generally would tend to frown on re-packaging an album that has ALREADY had the re-issue treatment (done quite well in 1994, I might add), but if its done like this, I'm the first to open the wallet. That said, this album was never one of my favorites (heres to hoping that Headquarters and Pices get the same treatment), but the plethora of out-takes from the early Mike Nesmith helmed sessions give you a taste that the Monkees were involved in even these early sessions a bit more than we may have expected. Since this is a limited edition, I would suggest that you get this before its too late.

Here is where all began. With a dramatic quick drum roll history is made, the greatest and most profitable merger between art and commerce and between two mediums. Yes, Elvis had his films and records and so did the Beatles but neither had their own weekly TV show. Witness the birth of the Faux Four. For something that was put together in assembly line fashion most of the songs are top notch and have a "mostly" cohesive sound throughout the album.

I was always partial to the Boyce & Hart productions because they had the right amount of grit and a more Kinks / Stones feel than say the Goffin & King stuff. Mike Nesmith also had the brass to stand firm and have 2 of his songs on the album and the record is better off for it.

For the first time in a long while the mono version is available along with the stereo version. I preferred the mono because I feel that it's the best way to hear it. The bonus tracks are very welcomed and there are some great performances here. Be forewarned that these discs come in a cardboard digipk.

So in summation:
-mono and stereo versions
-bonus tracks a plenty
-great re-mastering job
-informative liner notes
-go get it.

Plenty of people dismissed The Monkees as nothing more than Pre-Fab Four fakes, but this, their first album, is much better than could ever have been expected. Sure, it's pre-teen geared pop, but what pop! "Last Train to Clarksville," "Take a Giant Step," "Saturday's Child" have stood the test of time. And then there are Mike Nesmith's compositions, "Papa Gene's Blues" and "Sweet Young Thing," which probably didn't create country rock, but certainly brought the infant genre to the masses. And this reissue has plenty of bonus tracks to further your listening experience. The perfect 1960s pop package.

A decent 2-CD,41 track collection of the made-for-television band(some say they were an insult to the Beatles)the Monkee's best cuts.Instead of the usual ho-hum hits,I wanted to list some of the lesser-known deep album cuts that I've always liked,such as "Saturday Child"(one of my personal favorites),"Papa Gene Blues","Sweet Young Thing"(didn't Chocolate Watchband cover this tune?),"All The King's Horses" and the catchy "Gonna Buy Me A Dog".This release also seems to have it's share of re-edits and alternative version of songs.A nice compilation,but in all fairness,I'd have to say this one is pretty for aimed toward the completists and die-hard fans.

The Monkees created good music with catchy tunes and lyrics. Occasionally throughout their musical career The Monkees achieved a musical excellence the reached a level of greatness. You can hear elements of that greatness in this reissue, which includes both the stereo and original mono versions of the album, along with a bunch of bonus tracks. Some of the bonus tracks were released previously, but about a half dozen or so are new. If you have yet to get this album, this version is the version to have.

On the Monkees 1966 debut CD we get to hear Tommy Boyce and Bobby lead a team of writers and musicians to back a group of guys to create good music; perhaps not great music, but certainly good. I think that because The Monkees were the first created group, and they were created for a comedy show targeted for a young audience, they caught a lot of undeserved heat. There was a lot of talent in this group, most especially that of Michael Nesmith, who has been called "the greatest musician you've never heard" because he has created excellent, non-commercial music for many years after the demise of the Monkees.

The original CD began with the theme from The Monkees' TV show; catchy and memorable, and actually pretty good for pop music of the mid-60s. The David Gates' penned "Saturday's Child" is pretty standard pop fare, and had a Beatles flavor to it. The guitars and drum style are lifted right from The Beatle's playbook. "I Wanna Be Free" is a slower and more mellow song, uncharacteristic of the typical manic Monkees' song. Well matched to Davey Jones' voice, this mellow song was an indication of the musical range this group would eventually achieve. "Tomorrow's Gonna Be another Day" jumps back into standard Monkees pop; a catchy beat, catchy lyrics and pretty solid bubblegum.

Michael Nesmith penned and sang "Papa Gene's Blues." The lyrics are catchy and have an interesting combination of Latin instrumentation with a twist of country flavor that make this one of the standout songs on this CD. This song was used during one of The Monkees episodes, but clearly did not fit The Monkees' bubblegum image well enough to be released as a single.

The next song was one of those penned by musical greats, in this case Carole King and Gerry Goffin. This semi-psychedelic song features oboe, harpsichord, and glockenspiel in addition to standard rock instruments. The lyrics describe looking at the world from a different perspective, a topic that would be much for thoroughly explored in the following two years as psychedelic rock reached its height of popularity.

"The Last Train to Clarksville" is a catchy pop song that was one of The Monkees' earliest hits. The beat and lyrics appealed to its pop-rock audience and rocketed The Monkees to prominence, and critical disacclaim by those who wanted to see rock music treated as a legitimate form of music.

The next song, "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day" is another routine pop song. The following song, "Let's Dance On," has an opening rock riff that just seems to be an immediate descendant of The Beatles. Even the lyrics target the music and dance styles of the day. "I'll Be True to You" has Davey Jones singing in a mellow heart throb style for the teen girl audience of 1966; not one of Davey's better vocal performances.

"Sweet Young Thing" offers another Michael Nesmith song, written with Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Michael's characteristic country flavor shows through strongly, and he offers another strong vocal performance. This song is another strong song from this CD, and an indication of the excellence of the song-writing team.

"Gonna Buy Me a Dog" is a comedy song with an informal style worthy of some of the leading artists of the time. The lack of polish improves the appeal of an otherwise gimmick song, and gives a touch of experimental edge to this pop album.

There are seventeen bonus tracks on this release. Some of the tracks fall in the category of "why bother," but some demonstrate the things the Monkees experimented with. The Monkees were not a cookie-cutter group as the bonus tracks reveal.

I rarely make a comment on sound quality because my stereo is far from state-of-the-art. However, reviewer Ludix did a phenomenal job of analyzing the sound, and his recommendation of the sound on this release appears definitive to me. So if you want to know more about how this CD sounds, please read his review.

The Monkees were an oddity in the music world. They were created, true. However, the songwriters and musicians that backed The Monkees, along with the talent of The Monkees themselves, caused the group to be musical success. Any album that can remain 78 weeks on the Billboard Album chart is an album to have, especially when it remained at #1 for 13 weeks. As I noted in this review, some of the songs were as good as or better than many of the pop songs of the day. Much of what they started singing was bubblegum, but they stood by each other and yearned to reach for artistic recognition.

Enjoy!

These songs sound just as fresh, vibrant and wonderful as they did when I was seven years old. Classic tracks such as "Sweet Young Thing", "Let's Dance On", "Saturday's Child" and, of course, `Last Train to Clarksville" are true pop classics that deserve more respect and umbrage than the Monkees detractor's jibes - for not being an "organic" band. The fact remains, though, that David Jones, Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz's vocals combined with Mike and Peter Tork's (the fourth Monkee), Glen Campbell, Louie Shelton and James Burton (Rick Nelson and Elvis Presley's lead guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member) musicianship produced timely music that is much better than the "organic" music of its day. To be blunt, many of the "real bands" complete catalogues don't contain as much great music as the great gems on just the group's first two albums("The Monkees' and "More of the Monkees.)" In addition, Rhino entertainment and Andrew Sandoval have done a great job in remastering and chronicling the album's history (in the liner notes). While many of the bonus tracks were already available in the Monkees "Missing Links" series (three CD's), it's great to have them in one place, with improved sound quality to boot. When you hear some of the bonus songs such as "Of You", "All the Kings Horses" and "I Don't Think You Know Me At All" (two versions), you'll be amazed that they weren't included on "The Monkees" or "More of the Monkees.". Lastly, there are seven previously unreleased songs such as the alternate version of "The Kind of Girl I Could Love," that are truly magnificent. In summary, even if you have the early Arista, Arista/BMG (Japanese import) or Rhino (1994) versions of this album, but it anyway! If you're unfamiliar with these albums or The Monkees, but love beautifully crafted pop classics, then take a chance. You won't be sorry. Also......your purchase of "The Monkees" and "More of the Monkees" deluxe edtions will help ensure that Rhino releases the remaining Monkee albums in the deluxe format. Andrew Sandoval has told me that Rhino does plan to release "Headquaters" and "Pisces,Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD" in 2007.

This deluxe edition is a first class reissue of the debut album. Everything from packaging and liner notes to track inclusion and sound quality is first rate, making this the definitive CD edition.

That having been said, I would recommend this more to a devoted Monkeemaniac. If you are a casual Monkees fan, seek out the previous single-disc remaster from Rhino. Both are good in terms of quality, but the deluxe edition is targeted to Monkee devotees.