Monkees - Headquarters (Deluxe Edition, 2 CD)
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Free Music Notes for Headquarters (Deluxe Edition, 2 CD)
Free Music Review: Great Music from a Classic Group
Hit: 5 Stars
I am fifty and male, and loved the Monkees since I was a kid. I love they way they tweek these old albums from time to time. If you are a Monkees fan, I highly recommend it.Free Music Review: Monkee Shines
Hit: 5 Stars
The remastered sound jumps out at you. A must buy for any fans of the year 1967.Free Music Review: The Monkees become a BAND and the result is one of their finest efforts
Hit: 4 Stars
Revolutions can be caused by funny things such as not allowing a TV rock group to perform on their own album of songs. One of The Monkees finest albums gets a deluxe reissue. Some audiophiles will quibble with the mastering choices that Bill Inglot made for this set but the music itself is terrific. We get both the stereo and mono mixes for the first time on CD as well as some new remixes (some of the bonus material was never mixed for stereo). I'm happy to see the single version of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" a terrific Nesmith song that was on the b-side of "A Little Bit of Me, A Little Bit of You" (a Neil Diamond song that's a very good song but can't compare to Nesmith's tune).
The sound quality is pretty good although this is a bit brighter than I remember it. It also sounds like Bill Inglot was fiddling with the EQ and compressed this a bit as the midrange doesn't sound quite as good here to me as on the previous edition. Still, overall, it's pretty good. If you don't like it adjust your sound accordingly afterall no one has the same set of ears). Andrew Sandoval does a terrific job with the liner notes including personnel for each and every song and incorporates some of the material from the previous booklet in the other release as well.
Nesmith checks in with a pair of his best songs "You Might Just Be The One" and "You Told Me" (I like "Sunny Girlfriend" as well)while Dolenz and Tork contribute to terrific songs of their own --"Randy Scouse Git" and "For Pete's Sake" (which would become the show's closing theme)respectively. Chip Douglas (Douglas Farthing Hatlelid formerly of The Turtles who arranged "Happy Together")contributes fluid, melodic bass lines ( along with Tork who plays the wonderful bass part on "You May Just Be the One" and John Londonas does future The Lovin' Spoonful member Jerry Yester).
Arguably The Monkees finest hour as a group, "Headquarters" is one of their finest most consistent releases. I'm curious though since Nesmith, Tork and Dolenz actually wrote "No Time" why the credits haven't been corrected to reflect this (at the time they had a limitation on how many originals they could do and they wanted to thank their engineer so gave him credit for the song so he could collect the royalties). It's a fine Chuck Berry inspired rocker that I've always liked. For the record the band perform admirably--Mickey turns out to be a competant drummer in the Ringo mode focusing more on feel than technique. Mike was always a terrific rhythm guitarist and singer. Tork the musical polymath of the group (he could read, notate music for arrangements, play keyboards, banjo, bass, guitar and just about any other instrument you cared to name)contributes some terrific playing. Davy checks in with some of his most soulful singing and his songs lack the Broadway embelishments that marred some of his later contributions. I would also recommend their album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd(Deluxe Edition, 2CD)] or[[ASIN:B0000063F8 Anthologyin additon to this terrific reissue. The latter CD has their most popular hits, singles and some of their best album tracks.
For me of the reissues, this was one of the finest in its original incarnation. I have some minor issues with the mastering but overall am pleased with the result.
Free Music Review: A pleasant discovery and diversion
Hit: 4 Stars
I remember this album being released but since I was at the age where all I cared about were the 45 RPM "hit" singles and this album did not spawn any, I can not recall hearing any of the songs on it(though the track "For Pete's Sake" was used as the tv show's closing credits theme). Note that if you are too young to know what the term RPM stands for, you probably won't care about the Monkees and can stop reading this review now. So for me, getting this album as a "gag" gift was like hearing it all for the first time. And what a pleasant experience it was.
I happened to take a long walk with this playing in my ears and had a nice time as most of the tunes are catchy, energetic, and just plain fun to listen to. The songs sounded as fresh as they probably did back in 1967. "No Time," "You may just be the one" and "Randy Scouse git" are highlights that capture the message("hey,hey, we're a decent little foursome and not just tv stars") the band was attempting to convey. The "bonus" tracks add quite a bit as well. Even the joking track of "Zilch" was tolerable.
I assumed that listening to CD 1 would be a one time nostalgic run thru and "Headquarters" would go back on the shelf. Yet now I look forward to running it thru all again on CD 2. I recommend this CD as a wonderful trip down memory lane that may last a "little bit" longer than you think.
Free Music Review: Better buy than "Headquarter Sessions"
Hit: 4 Stars
After ditching Don Kirschner the Monkees started work on "Headquarters" as a real band. Well, more like a band of two actual musicians and two actors with help from Chip Douglas, Jerry Yester, and John London on bass. There is some great tracks here like "You Told Me", "Forget That Girl", "Randy Scouse Git" to some not so great: "Band 6", "Shades Of Grey". But what they lack as a cohesive unit they make up for in energy and enthusiasm.
The sound of this album has always been a problem because the group was working with novice producer Chip Douglas (fresh from playing bass in the Turtles) so there was a learning process going on as the record was being made. This is a great re-issue then say the Rhino Handmade "Headquarters Sessions" box set which to me seemed a bit of overkill, so this is a pretty good compromise because you get the mono and stereo versions as well as wealth of bonus tracks as well. The re-mastering vastly improved the sound but this will always be a trebly album. Enjoy.