Monkees - Best of the Monkees
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Free Music Notes for Best of the Monkees
Free Music Review: Superior Monkees Compilation
Hit: 4 Stars
The Monkees may have been a synthetic band, but they succeeded where most manufactured successes fail. Rhino Records recently compiled the Monkees' hits and better material into a 25 track CD running over 70 minutes long. While doubters might complain that the CD is 65 minutes too long, the CD's contents say otherwise. All the Monkees' hits in frequent rotation on oldies radio are here, along with some of the better cuts from each of the albums the Monkees recorded in tandem with their TV show. Sure, everyone remembers "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "I'm a Believer", but this CD also includes overlooked minor hits and album-only gems like "Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow" and "Girl That I Knew Somewhere."
It's a pleasure to hear any mid 60s pop not only remastered but attractively packaged, and this is exactly what Rhino did for the collection. I enjoyed listening to much of this CD on headphones, a rare experience for me as I usually find most mid 60s pop records sound awful when isolated under phones. It's an amazingly crisp CD, and if you're a Monkees fan you're going to enjoy it.
As an added bonus, Rhino tossed in an additional karaoke disc with the vocals on five Monkees hits removed for you to add your own. I don't plan on torturing the neighbors with my Davy Jones impersonation anytime soon, but listening to the songs without the vocals is a valuable lesson for any budding music producer, and its nice to get such a goodie for no extra charge (and without being tacked on as 'bonus tracks' at the end of the regular CD).
My only minor quibble is with the song selection. I hated "Auntie Grizelda" when I was a kid and hate it even more now. "Going Down" is an annoying pseudo-hip jam with jazz pretentions. I'd rather have "Circle Sky" or "Cuddly Toy" tossed into the mix than either of those two songs.
Free Music Review: A Monkees Re-Introduction
Hit: 4 Stars
Rhino has proven themselves to be the upmost authority on vintage Monkee recordings and have continued to share their findings with us. "Missing Links "One", "Two," and "Three" are fine examples of the label's willingness to share. While this collection is not career spanning as the original "Greatest Hits," and nowhere near as comprehensive as "Music Box," this set highlights the absolute best of the Monkees during their heyday as a group, there are a few tracks here from the sans Peter Tork era. This set re-releases well known tracks in their best remastered sound to date to keep the popularity of the Monkees current. The karoke tracks complete with graphics are a blast and seperates this collection from the rest. The number of songs are generous and are in original album length except "Porpoise Song," presented in it's better known single version. Overall this cd presents the Monkees during their glory days, and what days they were.Free Music Review: Memories of guilty pleasures
Hit: 4 Stars
When I was in my teens it would have been a death wish in most conversations to admit I liked the Monkeys. Thankfully those days are long gone and now I can speak freely about things I really did enjoy. I was my younger sisters who "bought" the Monkey's albums and I would spirit them off to my room to play them and sing along. This collection offers the big chart records and lesser titles like Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow that reached a pinnacle of what made for good Pop music. It also demonstrates that by luck of the draw, the network put together four talented musicians who could change speeds and style and write their own stuff. Perhaps this isn't The Beatles, The Stones, The Eagles, etc, but thanks to top notch production values and studio work it is some of the best of popular music during the mid to late 60s. And it also features the studio style of recording without multiple effects and overdubs that slowly robbed the character of music in later years. Enjoy!Free Music Review: All in all, a very good collection...
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm still more partial to the 1995 Greatest Hits collection (also on Rhino, released amidst their album-by-album reissue of their entire original catalog, crawling with bonus tracks on every disc)...this one stops at "Listen to the Band". The other collection has five fewer tracks but in my humble opinion provides a better overview including their two best singles from their 80s comeback: "That Was Then, This Is Now" from 1986's "Then & Now - The Best of The Monkees" and 1987's should've-been-huge "Heart & Soul" from the trio's "Pool It" album. Both fine songs that deserved to be included here...all in all, both are fine collections.Free Music Review: Okay, I admit it!
Hit: 4 Stars
I like The Monkees. Berate me if you must but the people who look down at Monkees fans are usually the same people who roll up all their car windows so no one can hear them sing aloud to Barry Manilow's "Mandy".
People often complain about there being too many collections of Monkees songs being released. Well, people are right. However, this is definately the best and much better than The Greatest Hits collection. One reason being more tracks available on TBOTM. The other being the Karaoke versions on the second disc. I really didn't think I'd like them but surprisingly I do.