Rate The Monkees albums

[Mike's Beard]

I've been on a Monkees kick as of late and now with the sad passing of Davy thought it would be worthwhile to appraise their records.

1/ The Monkees - A great collection of pop songs. The 'band' may have had pretty much no creative input, but good music is good music regardless of where it's originating from.
Rating - 4 and a half.

2/ More of The Monkees - A slightly lesser effort, only because most of the material came from the same sessions as the debut and all the best tunes had been picked for that.
Rating - 4.

3/ Headquarters - The first 'real' band effort shows that they could make music just as good as their contemporaries.
Rating - 4 and a half.

4/ Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd - Their masterpiece. Easily in the top 3 best records of 1967.
Rating 5.

5/ The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees - The hot streak continues. I have never understood why many rate this as slightly weak.
Rating - 4 and a half.

6/ Head - A five star album if for no other reason than it contains "The Porpoise Song".
Rating - 5

7/ Instant Replay - No more Pete just as he was finally making his presence felt. This record is very hit 'n' miss. Still what's good is very good, but essentially The Monkees phenomenon had ended.
Rating - 2 and a half.

8/ The Monkees Present - Actually a fair bit better than it's predecessor, although made under the same circumstances. The reality was the band was together in name only at this point, Present is basically 3 solo artists each given a third of a record under The Monkees name.
Rating - 3.

9/ Changes- And then their were two...... The contractually obligated album. Completists only.
Rating - 1

10/ Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart - Actually pretty good. A rare case of an album starting off bad then getting much better as it progresses. Mickey's vocals on "I Remember The Feeling" may be his best ever. The title of the last track is unfortunate.
Rating - 3 and a half.

11/ Pool It! - Ugh, lets just pretend this doesn't exist.

12/ Justus - I must admit to never hearing it.

[BananaLouie]

The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees - The hot streak continues. I have never understood why many rate this as slightly weak.

I've always thought this was one of their more respectable efforts, some good strong material here, most notably Mike Nesmith's four like Tapioca Tundra and Magnolia Simms not to mention Boyce and Hart's P.O. Box 9847 and two by Jones.

[EgoHanger1966]

In order of preference:

1)PACJ/More Of The Monkees (tie)
2)Instant Replay
3)The Monkees
4)Headquarters
5)BBM/Head (tie)
6)Present/Changes (tie)

[Malc]

1) PAC&J Ltd - 6 out of 5 
2) Headquarters - 4.9 out of 5
3) More Of The Monkees - 4.1 out of 5
4) Birds, Bees - 4 out of 5
5) Justus - 3.9 out of 5

kinda difficult to give them actual marks but I reckon that's my Top 5. I love all of the stuff on 'Head' but there just NOT ENOUGH ON IT ! Imagine if there were 10 tracks of that quality ! The latter few albums are just far too patchy for my liking, and (I agree) 'Pool It' should just be eradicated from memory - tho' I DID rate the 'That Was Then ...' 45. Note the inclusion of 'Justus' - it IS worth tracking down IMHO.
DJBH ?? Enjoyable but not in the same class. Same goes for Peter's 'Stranger Things Have Happened'. As much as I loved Davy his solo stuff just lacked an edge - whilst Micky's solo work promised much, but sadly delivered little. That just leaves Papa Nez ... which you either love or hate depending on era/style. I reckon the two compilations "Older Stuff" and "Newer Stuff" pretty much cover all the necessary bases there. Which just leaves the collections and live albums. The 'Headquarters Sessions' is a MUST HAVE, as is the 'Live 67' triple set. Likewise, the 3 'Missing Links' collections. As for the others (reunion live CD's, Rhino collections, box sets etc) all are essential for the dedicated ... but they won't get played that often !
RIP Mr Jones ...

[Lonely Summer]

The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees - The hot streak continues. I have never understood why many rate this as slightly weak.

I've always thought this was one of their more respectable efforts, some good strong material here, most notably Mike Nesmith's four like Tapioca Tundra and Magnolia Simms not to mention Boyce and Hart's P.O. Box 9847 and two by Jones.

I have a soft spot for this album - the first Monkees album I owned. I could probably sit down with a guitar or piano and play it song for song, it is so ingrained in my memory. PACJ is the best, HQ second....but they all have their moments. I'd probably rate Changes above Pool It at the bottom. Justus is sorta HQ2 30 years later. Not every song is an absolute winner, but there are a few gems like You and I and Regional Girl, and the playing has some fire. Glad they went out that way, rather than Pool It or a SIP-type production.

[MyGlove]

well to start off, i'm not necessarily someone who hates them for the simple fact that they didn't play on their first two albums. i don't really care, as long as the music is good. so I'm going to rate it based on that. the quality of the music itself, based on the albums i've heard.

The Monkees - 4
More Of The Monkees - 4
Headquarters - was never able to make it through all the way (listened to it on youtube, that actually makes it quite harder), but a 3 for what i heard
Pisces - 5, easily the best one
The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees - only really heard the singles from it, and those get a 5.
Head - 4 1/2, second best.

[Mike's Beard]

Anyone out there remember the abomination that was "The New Monkees"?
This makes anything from "Pool It!" seem like "Pet Sounds" by comparison!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQcsNDqcyuw

[Lonely Summer]

The music of the New Monkees was not nearly as bad as the series itself. Watched a couple episodes when it first aired, just awful!

[Paulos]

well to start off, i'm not necessarily someone who hates them for the simple fact that they didn't play on their first two albums. i don't really care, as long as the music is good. so I'm going to rate it based on that. the quality of the music itself, based on the albums i've heard.

The Monkees - 4
More Of The Monkees - 4
Headquarters - was never able to make it through all the way (listened to it on youtube, that actually makes it quite harder), but a 3 for what i heard
Pisces - 5, easily the best one
The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees - only really heard the singles from it, and those get a 5.
Head - 4 1/2, second best.

You listen to albums on youtube? You know that you could download Headquarters for free from many a file sharing site don't you? Better yet, buy it - $6 on amazon, it's great!

[guitarfool2002]

Headquarters deserves a serious attempt at a fresh listen. I'd highly recommend the album to anyone interested in 60's pop and rock music, even if just a bit of interest...I'm biased in favor of it as Headquarters is one of my favorite go-to albums whenever I just want to enjoy listening to music.

Like Smile, there is a backstory to Headquarters which adds a historical and contextual element to it, namely the fact that the Monkees took it on themselves to demand the ability to record an album under their own terms and direction, which included playing the majority of the instruments themselves and calling the shots on who and what would be added with overdubs and arrangements.

It was a daunting task, and they ran into a few practical roadblocks including the selection of material to record and the logistics of handing out parts for the band members while needing to call in extra players to flesh out the sound of the record. With a band like The Monkees, who were basically scripted into doing what they did in late 1966 and into 1967, it was one of the more ballsy and risky moves in rock/pop history to demand that the money-making machine, which gave them #1 singles, albums, sold-out concerts, and above all a hit television show, step aside (or step down in Don Kirshner's case) and let "the boys" handle the music.

This simply wasn't done in 1967, especially in the pop world that The Monkees were existing. You either played the game, or you were replaced. Somehow, The Monkees pulled off perhaps the biggest coup (or revolution from within depending on who you ask) by demanding that control over the music, which led to Headquarters and also led to the firing of Don Kirshner and his teams of New York songwriters who he seemed to value more than the guys pictured on television, on the albums, and in concerts performing the music.

Remember, like Brian Wilson, these were guys in their early 20's doing all of this...in Brian's case, making music on his own terms in the studios he wanted with the musicians he asked for, and in The Monkees' case toppling a corporate structure rife with politics, backroom deals, and inside payoffs that ruined many careers of musicians before and after who tried to do the same thing and paid a heavy price. In The Monkees' story, they cost a powerful hitmaker his job, yet for at least a year or more continued to be one of the most successful musical acts on the charts.

And Headquarters as an album? It holds up so well for what it is. I give it an extra star for the history behind it, but that can't make a good album great. It's a great "garage" album of guys hungry to prove something and given the opportunity to show what they could do - with a drummer, mind you, who had only recently learned the instrument and a producer who had never produced an album of this scope before...both "learning on the job". And then you have Mike Nesmith bringing a pedal steel guitar into teenage "pop" music for perhaps one of the first times.

The highlights? All but maybe 2 tracks are worth a listen. I could list them, but that's been done so many times.

It's a great album, a fun listen, seriously consider picking it up and giving it another chance. My highest recommendation.

[EgoHanger1966]

The problem I have with Headquarters is that I like the early versions of the re-recorded songs. Ex: "You Just May Be The One", "I'll Spend My Life With You"...better in their 1966 versions.

[Lonely Summer]

The problem I have with Headquarters is that I like the early versions of the re-recorded songs. Ex: "You Just May Be The One", "I'll Spend My Life With You"...better in their 1966 versions.

And I prefer the band versions. Micky wasn't Ringo on the drums, and Mike wasn't an earth shattering guitarist, but they made a fine album anyway. There's enthusiasm and spirit in their playing/singing.

[Music Machine]

The Monkees - 4/ 5 (There's a real youthful exuberance here and it often reminds me of the Turtles and the first two Jefferson Airplane albums. Saturday's Child is the standout track for me.)

More of the Monkees - 3.5/5 (Side two is a bit of a let down but side one is very strong thanks to the inclusion of She, Mary Mary and Steppin' Stone.)

Headquarters - 4/5 (I think this would have benefited from the inclusion of All of Your Toys but overall I really like this, especially Randy Scouse Git, the Simon and Garfunkle-ish Mr. Webster and the group version of You Just May Be the One.)

PAC&J LTD - 5/5 (The best Monkees album hands down, a Psych Pop masterpiece.)

The Birds The Bees and the Monkees - 4/5 (I especially love Nesmith's songs here. I wish the original album had dropped the sappy Davy songs in favor of War Games and Ceiling in My Room, that some Peter Tork material was included and that they used the Moog version of P.O. Box 9847 which would have been a nice callback to PAC&J LTD.)

Head - 3.5/5 (The film songs are great as is some of the mixing and editing of score and dialogue elements from the film, sort of a Monkees version of Revolution #9 but they should have beefed up the album with some more songs.)

Instant Replay - 3/5 (Sort of a Monkees version of Odds and Sods or Tattoo You. It's a pity they didn't pick out better vault material. You've got to wonder how Shorty Blackwell made it to the album while St. Mathew, Carlisle Wheeling and Someday Man didn't.)

Present - 2.5/5 (For me the strongest songs from the original album are Little Girl which reminds me of some of the gentler material from Love, Listen to the Band and Mike's Country songs. It was a real cop out not including the original version of Mommy and Daddy.)

Changes - 2.5/5 (I actually like Micky's material a lot, it's better than average early 70's Bubblegum but once again I hear the bonus material and outtakes and wonder how on earth Davy's Time and Time Again complete with a very cool Moog part didn't make the original album.)

Pool It - .5/5 (This has not held up well.)

Justus - 2.5/5 (An improvement over Pool It, I like the remake of You And I, the angry rocker Admiral Mike and Peter's jazz rock piece I Believe in You.)   


 

[Mike's Beard]

I can't decide if Shorty Blackwell is a great song or one of the worst things I have ever heard.

[guitarfool2002]

The problem I have with Headquarters is that I like the early versions of the re-recorded songs. Ex: "You Just May Be The One", "I'll Spend My Life With You"...better in their 1966 versions.

I'm the complete opposite, I think the Headquarters versions of those two specific songs are terrific. The bridge of You Just May Be The One has some of the tightest group instrumental playing and best harmony vocals on the entire album, it's thrilling to hear the voices together with the band laying down a killer, *killer* groove underneath. One of the highlights of the album for me, and I think one of the highlights for them as a band.

Apparently producer Chip Douglas remembered hearing Mike and one of his friends (John London?) play that song at a Hollywood club and remembered hearing those bridge harmonies, and suggested re-recording it with the band.

And "I'll Spend My Life With You" has a neat if not flawless pedal steel guitar part from Mike, nice acoustic rhythm guitar percussion from Micky, and a neat keyboard solo...the song is charming in a way, and I like the harmonies which I think were Chip Douglas and Micky singing together.

One of the struggles of making the album after ditching Kirshner was selecting songs to record, and on the "Sessions" set you hear them running through all sorts of "old" tunes they had either written or recorded in the pre-Monkees days. And it also led to Chip bringing Harry Nilsson into the studio to audition his songs, two of which the band worked on during the sessions but which wouldn't appear until later. They were having a hard time finding songs as a direct result of Don Kirshner's firing, because Kirshner and his machine could order a stack of 3 dozen demos be brought in to audition with a few phone calls, while the Monkees and Chip were digging into their own recent pasts for suitable songs. It's not surprising they went back to ones they had recorded previously.

And it was even more of a struggle when the slam-bang potential hit single "All Of Your Toys" got mired in corporate and legal nonsense because it was written by a friend of Chip's and he was not under contract with Screen Gems/Colgems/Columbia etc. so they nixed the release and went instead with one of Kirshner's guys Neil Diamond for the next A-side.

So the band was free but not entirely free of the record-company political system, and the choice of material was affected in some ways.

[Mike's Beard]

If I remember correctly the band could only cover songs which Screen Gems owned the publishing for.

What would your top 10 Monkee Tracks be? Here goes;

1- The Girl I Knew Somewhere
2- The Porpoise Song
3- Daily Nightly
4- Words
5- No Time
6- Do Not Ask For Love
7- Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
8- Auntie's Municipal Court
9- For Pete's Sake
10 - Daydream Believer

It was tough to narrow it down to just ten!

[MyGlove]

well to start off, i'm not necessarily someone who hates them for the simple fact that they didn't play on their first two albums. i don't really care, as long as the music is good. so I'm going to rate it based on that. the quality of the music itself, based on the albums i've heard.

The Monkees - 4
More Of The Monkees - 4
Headquarters - was never able to make it through all the way (listened to it on youtube, that actually makes it quite harder), but a 3 for what i heard
Pisces - 5, easily the best one
The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees - only really heard the singles from it, and those get a 5.
Head - 4 1/2, second best.

You listen to albums on youtube? You know that you could download Headquarters for free from many a file sharing site don't you? Better yet, buy it - $6 on amazon, it's great!

Haha you know, I would probably be bankrupt if I bought all the albums I wanted to hear once. Even at six bucks. And I'm not really into filesharing. Too paranoid haha. But i know what you mena. I do spend a lot of time on youtube anyway tho, so i just listen there. The biggest trouble with that is that its impossible to find all the songs to a Monkees album haha

[Malc]

If I remember correctly the band could only cover songs which Screen Gems owned the publishing for.

What would your top 10 Monkee Tracks be? Here goes;

1- The Girl I Knew Somewhere
2- The Porpoise Song
3- Daily Nightly
4- Words
5- No Time
6- Do Not Ask For Love
7- Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
8- Auntie's Municipal Court
9- For Pete's Sake
10 - Daydream Believer

It was tough to narrow it down to just ten!

Likewise ... just TEN ??

1) Pleasant Valley Sunday
2) Early Morning Blues & Greens
3) The Porpoise Song
4) As We Go Along
5) The Girl I Knew Somewhere
6) Don't Call On Me
7) Mommy & Daddy
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
9) Last Train To Clarksville
10) ... and yes, what the heck ... That Was Then, This Is Now !!  

[Uncomfortable Seat]

hard choices:

1. Porpoise Song
2. As We Go Along
3. Sometime In The Morning
4. What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
5. Randy Scouse Git
6. I Wanna Be Free
7. Papa Gene's Blues
8. She
9. The Girl I Knew Somewhere
10. Love Is Only Sleeping

[Lonely Summer]

The problem I have with Headquarters is that I like the early versions of the re-recorded songs. Ex: "You Just May Be The One", "I'll Spend My Life With You"...better in their 1966 versions.

I'm the complete opposite, I think the Headquarters versions of those two specific songs are terrific. The bridge of You Just May Be The One has some of the tightest group instrumental playing and best harmony vocals on the entire album, it's thrilling to hear the voices together with the band laying down a killer, *killer* groove underneath. One of the highlights of the album for me, and I think one of the highlights for them as a band.

Apparently producer Chip Douglas remembered hearing Mike and one of his friends (John London?) play that song at a Hollywood club and remembered hearing those bridge harmonies, and suggested re-recording it with the band.

And "I'll Spend My Life With You" has a neat if not flawless pedal steel guitar part from Mike, nice acoustic rhythm guitar percussion from Micky, and a neat keyboard solo...the song is charming in a way, and I like the harmonies which I think were Chip Douglas and Micky singing together.

One of the struggles of making the album after ditching Kirshner was selecting songs to record, and on the "Sessions" set you hear them running through all sorts of "old" tunes they had either written or recorded in the pre-Monkees days. And it also led to Chip bringing Harry Nilsson into the studio to audition his songs, two of which the band worked on during the sessions but which wouldn't appear until later. They were having a hard time finding songs as a direct result of Don Kirshner's firing, because Kirshner and his machine could order a stack of 3 dozen demos be brought in to audition with a few phone calls, while the Monkees and Chip were digging into their own recent pasts for suitable songs. It's not surprising they went back to ones they had recorded previously.

And it was even more of a struggle when the slam-bang potential hit single "All Of Your Toys" got mired in corporate and legal nonsense because it was written by a friend of Chip's and he was not under contract with Screen Gems/Colgems/Columbia etc. so they nixed the release and went instead with one of Kirshner's guys Neil Diamond for the next A-side.

So the band was free but not entirely free of the record-company political system, and the choice of material was affected in some ways.

"All of Your Toys" is one of my favorite Monkees tracks, don't know if it would have been as big a hit as the Kirshner stuff, but it sounds positively fab to me. The Headquarters sessions discs are a lot of fun to go through. Micky singing with his sister Coco, Everlys style, "She'll Be There" is classic; Mike trying out some of his originals like "Sunny Girlfriend"; some wild band jams that veer off into unexpected territory; and some nice informal moments, like Micky and Peter singing folk songs (with Peter on banjo). No, they didn't come together organically like other groups, but they sure worked well together.

[guitarfool2002]

The problem I have with Headquarters is that I like the early versions of the re-recorded songs. Ex: "You Just May Be The One", "I'll Spend My Life With You"...better in their 1966 versions.

I'm the complete opposite, I think the Headquarters versions of those two specific songs are terrific. The bridge of You Just May Be The One has some of the tightest group instrumental playing and best harmony vocals on the entire album, it's thrilling to hear the voices together with the band laying down a killer, *killer* groove underneath. One of the highlights of the album for me, and I think one of the highlights for them as a band.

Apparently producer Chip Douglas remembered hearing Mike and one of his friends (John London?) play that song at a Hollywood club and remembered hearing those bridge harmonies, and suggested re-recording it with the band.

And "I'll Spend My Life With You" has a neat if not flawless pedal steel guitar part from Mike, nice acoustic rhythm guitar percussion from Micky, and a neat keyboard solo...the song is charming in a way, and I like the harmonies which I think were Chip Douglas and Micky singing together.

One of the struggles of making the album after ditching Kirshner was selecting songs to record, and on the "Sessions" set you hear them running through all sorts of "old" tunes they had either written or recorded in the pre-Monkees days. And it also led to Chip bringing Harry Nilsson into the studio to audition his songs, two of which the band worked on during the sessions but which wouldn't appear until later. They were having a hard time finding songs as a direct result of Don Kirshner's firing, because Kirshner and his machine could order a stack of 3 dozen demos be brought in to audition with a few phone calls, while the Monkees and Chip were digging into their own recent pasts for suitable songs. It's not surprising they went back to ones they had recorded previously.

And it was even more of a struggle when the slam-bang potential hit single "All Of Your Toys" got mired in corporate and legal nonsense because it was written by a friend of Chip's and he was not under contract with Screen Gems/Colgems/Columbia etc. so they nixed the release and went instead with one of Kirshner's guys Neil Diamond for the next A-side.

So the band was free but not entirely free of the record-company political system, and the choice of material was affected in some ways.

"All of Your Toys" is one of my favorite Monkees tracks, don't know if it would have been as big a hit as the Kirshner stuff, but it sounds positively fab to me. The Headquarters sessions discs are a lot of fun to go through. Micky singing with his sister Coco, Everlys style, "She'll Be There" is classic; Mike trying out some of his originals like "Sunny Girlfriend"; some wild band jams that veer off into unexpected territory; and some nice informal moments, like Micky and Peter singing folk songs (with Peter on banjo). No, they didn't come together organically like other groups, but they sure worked well together.

The Headquarters Sessions set is absolutely one of my favorites. I look for that "fly on the wall" audio verite kind of material whenever possible, and having a full box loaded with that material on one of my favorite albums was awesome. I missed out on the original run but fortunately a true Monkees fan came through and lent a hand to a fellow fan.

I wish there were more releases like this, but unfortunately it would seem the only album where this would be possible was Headquarters...the version I heard is that Chip Douglas made compilation tapes of studio chatter, jokes, run-throughs, etc. for either his own personal use or just to document the whole scene, and that's how all that neat stuff survives beyond just hearing multiple takes or mixes of a particular song. If anyone can clarify that, please chime in.

I was hoping for a similar set for Pisces Aquarius but it just wasn't possible: The album was recorded in such a scattershot way during a hectic tour season, they were in multiple studios across the US wherever time could be booked between shows rather than hunkered down at RCA in Los Angeles. It's amazing the album does have a cohesive sound and production to it, because it was literally patched together where Headquarters was done mostly in the same place with the same people during the same time period.

Headquarters Sessions: Essential listening!

[Malc]

I think what perhaps I find most frustrating is the fact that we currently have these wonderful box sets of Head, BB&M and now Instant Replay - with hopefully Present to come - but the Rhino Deluxe editions of the first four are going to remain as the ones we already have ! Yes, we have the HQ Sessions to compensate, but the packaging is so good on these new boxes that it'll make the collection always seem 'incomplete' unless they repackage those early 4 as well  ... but is there anything left to add to those ? Probably not a lot ...

[guitarfool2002]

I think what perhaps I find most frustrating is the fact that we currently have these wonderful box sets of Head, BB&M and now Instant Replay - with hopefully Present to come - but the Rhino Deluxe editions of the first four are going to remain as the ones we already have ! Yes, we have the HQ Sessions to compensate, but the packaging is so good on these new boxes that it'll make the collection always seem 'incomplete' unless they repackage those early 4 as well  ... but is there anything left to add to those ? Probably not a lot ...

That is a shame, because the reality of not having the material to fill a deluxe box is probably the main issue. I remember thinking the Pisces Aquarius "Deluxe" set would be one of the prizes of my collection, until seeing the tracklist and finding out that there simply wasn't all that much of the "fly on the wall" and bonus material available from those sessions, as the sessions themselves were scattered around studios across the country and who was thinking of saving certain tapes, anyway? Or who had time to run through many songs when they needed so many to fill the next album? There just didn't seem to be a lot of extra material recorded or saved in 66-67 apart from Headquarters, and the fact that the really neat studio chatter tapes survived is amazing, again most likely from a reel made by Chip Douglas.

The Birds...Bees, Instant Replay, etc deluxe editions are pretty neat: I think at that time The Monkees were spending more time and money in the recording studio and there are so many more tapes to choose from for such a release. They were putting more effort into recording, and more effort equals more tape! Which is a great thing for us fans. That same effort wasn't there for the first four albums, minus Headquarters of course, since the sessions were all but "squeezed in" to a hectic schedule of touring, appearances, and TV filming.

[endofposts]

I have a 5 CD bootleg collection that I traded for years ago.  I have to look for it.  But what album is it?  I don't remember what was on it (haven't listened in years).  Is it Headquarters' sessions?

[Malc]

I have a 5 CD bootleg collection that I traded for years ago.  I have to look for it.  But what album is it?  I don't remember what was on it (haven't listened in years).  Is it Headquarters' sessions?

The HQ Sessions was an official release so I'm guessing it was probably the Monkees Archives 5-CD set - a collection of outtakes and suchlike across the years ...