The Monkees Record Reviews Page

This page is not meant to be a complete discography, but it is my reviews on the records I have. A complete listing of tracks is also included with additional information about the recording, creating and selling of each record.

The Monkees

This is the Monkees first album, released in the summer of 1966. It is mainly a Davy and Micky album with Mike singing only two songs. The songs include: And the CD has the following Bonus tracks:

This record was originally published with an error in the cover saying "Papa Jean's Blues" instead of "Papa Gene's Blues". The bonus song "I Can't Get Her off my Mind" was later released in a faster version with slightly different lyrics on Headquarters. An alternate version of the bonus track "I Don't Think You Know Me" was released in 1988, on Rhino's Missing Links. The bonus (Theme From) The Monkees is an early version with Micky singing along with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. This was originally meant to be just a soundtrack from the show. This is a really great album.

More of the Monkees

This was their second album and it was released in February of 1967. It was released without the group's involvement for the most part, which led to the firing of Don Kirshner as Music Director. The guys had to send someone to a store to buy a copy to see what it looked like! It was covieniently released while the guys were on tour! The tracks are:

Despite the way this album was released, it is still full of great songs. It includes Peter's first released track, "Your Auntie Grizelda", which remains a favourite of many today. This is still mostly Micky and Davy with Mike and Peter each doing one song.

Headquarters

This is my personal favourite and the third album. This is THE Monkees. They do the instruments, with the exception of some horns and strings on Shades of Gray. The songs on it are: And on the CD as bonus tracks:

Thes are all great songs. Randy Scouse Git was written by Micky and in the UK it is known as "Alternate Title" because the real title's translation is offensive there. "For Pete's Sake" was written by Peter! The producers of the show loved it and decide to use it as the closing. Mike was actually the one who named it. The bonus song "Pillow Time" is really just Micky fooling around. The song itself was written by his mother Janelle Scott. Micky re-recorded it for his kid's lullaby album "Micky Dolenz Puts You To Sleep".

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD.

For this album the Monkees went back to using studio musicians. This is a great album also! See a trend starting? Hmm. Take a look at the songs: And the CD bonuses:

These are all fab songs. The bonuses are mostly alternate versions of the same songs. The "Star Collector" bonus track is about thirty seconds longer with a wild "moog" segment.

The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees

Another awesome album! Just look at the list of songs and you'll see how great this album is! Well do it!: And the CD bonuses:

This album is one of my favourites. Micky and Davy are in excellent form and Mike....is...umm...experimenting with new sounds...or...old. Peter is perfect! His song "Lady's Baby", my favourite Monkees' song, is one of the bonus tracks. It took ten recording sessions to tape and cost the more than any of their other songs. The reason it did, was because Peter insisted upon using real baby sounds. For ten sessions they followed a baby around with a microphone! "Alvin" was written by Peter's brother Nick Thorkelson.

HEAD

When I first bought this album I thought, well that was good, not great though. I put it on my shelf and there it sat, until that is, I bought the movie! Now this is one of my favourites! It is so unique and interesting. I love how they filled in between the songs with clips from the movie. Here's what am typing about: And the CD bonus tracks:

Everything on this album is totally unique. Even the bonus tracks. "Ditty Diego War-Chant" in the bonuses, is really an early rehearsal with the tape running! "Can You Dig It" is sung by Peter, "Daddy's Song" is sung by Mike and it includes "Happy Birthday To You" from the birthday scene.

Instant Replay

No more Peter! The remaining Monkees did turn out a great album, though. Well it is true that this is a great album, and Peter never sang many lead vocals, I miss knowing he was there. Here are the songs: And the CD bonuses: My favourite songs of off this CD are out of the bonus tracks. I absolutely love "Carlisle Wheeling", "Smile", "St. Matthew" and this version of "Me Without You". The songs that were actually put on the album are good too. I like "Through The Looking Glass" and "Tear Drop City". "Tear Drop City" is a "Clarkesville" re-tread. P.S. The Monkees use "Ivory Snow" detergent!!! So do I...now.

The Monkees Present

This is the second album released after Peter left the group. This is also the last one with Mike! The Monkee machine was slowly coming to the end....or so everyone thought! Now over thirty years from their premiere they are back together, completely! (For Justus, not touring) Yay! Here are the songs off this album: And the CD bonus tracks:

This is probably my least favourite Monkee album. But I love Monkee albums way above any other band so that is still very high in my ranks. This album has many good songs like "Mommy And Daddy", "Good Clean Fun" and "Listen To The Band". It also includes in the bonuses a track of Davy reading a poem called "The Good Earth", which I love! I listened to it over and over 'til I knew it off by heart. Then I wrote it out and I think I may post it in this site somewhere once I finish this part of my site!

Changes

Only 50% of the Monkees! This album just doesn't have the Monkee "sound" to it. I'm sorry but it just isn't the same. Don't get me wrong, I do like the songs, but it doesn't sound like the Monkees. Every song on this album is about love and a girl. At least all of the earlier albums had more variety like "For Pete's Sake" and "Mommy And Daddy" as well as many others. Davy himself said he didn't like this album and refused to comment on it for the CD's liner notes! Micky said he had bad memories of the trip to New York to create it. They are pretty good songs, just not for our guys. Here are the songs: And the CD bonus tracks: I don't want anyone out there to spaz or anything, thinking I'm putting down the guys or anything on this album. It's just not that "sound" again. I do really like this album, but I think it sounds like someone else, not our guys. Oh well! Next!

POOL IT!

Yay! Peter's back! I love this album! It is so funny and great! It just seems like the guys are having a lot of fun, without a lot of the stuff that brought them down in the late 60's. Although now there's wives, kids, managers etc. Here are the songs:

What an awesome album! Peter rocks with his unique performances of "Gettin' In" and my favourite off this album "Since You Went Away"! Davy is absolutely fab with "Long Way Home", "(I'll) Love You Forever" and "Every Step of the Way"! Micky! What can I say? "Heart And Soul", "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" and all of the others! Then "She's Moving In With Rico" is great! Picture Davy, the English, Broadway/pop/rock style singer, singing this like reggae style song! It turned out really well, suprisingly! Well not too suprisingly, we are talking about Mr. Davy Jones!

*JUSTUS*

Okay! Here it is! The king of Monkee albums! I love this album so much! Now if before you were thinking, what the heck is she talking about the "sound"? This is it! Monkees! Free! Just them! Here they do it all! They wrote, produced, sang and played everything for this album. If you haven't bought this album yet, hop to it! Go now! Well finish seeing the rest of my site then go! Leaving now is just plain old rude! Here are the songs:

All 4 of them are here! I love every song of here but here are my absolute faves: "It's Not Too Late" "You And I" "Circle Sky" "Admiral Mike" and "Unlucky Stars"!!!!!! Peter is also great with "I Believe You"!!! It is great! Actually if you haven't got it, go now and then come back with it pop it in the CDrom and come back to my page! I doubt you'll be able to concentrate, though!

The Monkees: LIVE 1967

Continuing with the "Justus" "Doing all of the instruments thing" here is LIVE 1967! It has excellent between song chatter and all of the songs done just slightly different, so even if you have all of the songs, it'll be new! I'm sure it's just like being at a real concert back then, only I'm in my bedroom and I'm alone and I wasn't alive back then.....hmm maybe not. Here! You know what this is by now!:

*CD bonus tracks only! This album is really great! It's kinda weird thinking of a LIVE Monkee album, but here it is. Every song is so unique and has too much to talk about and say "Hey that song rocks", so I'll let you buy it and find out for yourself!

Missing Links 1, 2 & 3!!!!!


 This is the greatest collection of never before released songs ever! A must for all collectors! There are so many different versions and new songs, it's incredible! I have to just note that my favourite song "Lady's baby" can be found on "Missing Links 1" without the baby sound effects! Also if you thought all Davy thought about was girls, check out "War Games" on "Missing Links 1" which he wrote with Steve Pitts! On these CDs you will find a lot of the good songs the guys wrote that just never found their way onto an album. Here are the songs:

Missing Links 1

Missing Links 2

Missing Links 3

These albums are so great to listen to! If you are a Peter fan like me, these are a must! You can hear some songs he's written and since each CD has at least one song, sung by him, you can't miss!

The Monkees Greatest Hits (From Rhino)

This is Rhino's Greatest Hits CD! It is great because it includes singles and songs that aren't on any other CDs. It includes songs from the 60's to the 80's. Here are the songs: I think this is a very well picked out collection. Some of the songs may not be your favourite, but this is probably the only place you'll find them. Besides who would want every "Greatest Hits" to have the same songs? I love this album so much that when someone actually stole it from me, I went right out and bought it again! P.S. If you have any idea about the whereabouts of my CD please call Crime Stoppers at....Just Kidding! What kind of a person steals a gal's first (and only at the time), Monkee album? It's a cruel world.

The Monkees Greatest Hits (From Arista)

This is a nice collection of 60's Monkees hits. The songs are easy to find elsewhere, but this is still a nice album to have. The songs include: I hadn't noticed until I went to write "Theme From The Monkees", that I realized it says "Monkee's Theme" on the record. Strange... Oh well! I'm so glad to see "Shades of Gray" on a greatest hits album. I love that song!

More Greatest Hits of the Monkees

This is the next collection Arista put out after the last record. It continues on where the other one left off. I actually prefer this compilation over the earlier one because it has a different selection of songs, than the typical "Clarkesville", "Monkee's Theme" and "I'm a Believer". They are great songs, but they are also on almost every "Greatest Hits" package. It's nice to have some others, like: These are great songs. It's and interesting mix. I like that "For Pete's Sake" is on at the end. This in general is a pretty good compilation. One thing bothers me about it though. The cover picture is terrible! They look like they are covered in lipstick and blush! They also look fuzzy. I hate photo-editing!

Then & Now... The Best Of The Monkees

This album was put out by Arista in 1986. At the same time a similar two-record set was put out by Silver Eagle on a TV offer. My record is a single record and has the three new songs they put out on it and is called "Then & Now... The Best Of The Monkees". The other is called "The Best Of The Monkees" and is the set. They have the same cover art and such a similar name, that they are often confused, but that's the difference! Thank you to Bryan Harwell for clearing all this up for me! I love this album! It has a great mix of the old songs as well as new-when-released songs. I really like this version of the song "Kicks", but I have heard some people say they didn't. This record also has a history in the jacket of the album. I think the greatest thing is the picture on the back of the album! I have no idea what they are doing! You really have to see it to know what I mean! Too bad I don't have a scanner! :(

Barrelful Of Monkees

This is Kid Rhino's collection of Monkee songs especially for children. i think this is a pretty good idea. It gets new fans for the guys, even if they are like three, that's okay. The next generation of Monkee fans must come from somewhere! Here are the songs: I think this is an excellent collection for anyone. I already have all of these songs on other albums, so if you do, you may want to think twice. Sometimes it's nice to have just a different mix on the same CD, so you can just put it on shuffle and not change CDs a million times.

The Monkees: I'm A Believer And Other Hits

This album was put out by a division of Rhino Records called "Flashback". It is a series of CDs featuring original artists and their hit songs. There is one more CD on the Monkees. Both of them have a previously unreleased song on them. The tracks on this album are: This album is really nice. It has a good variety of songs as well as the previously unreleased "Ceiling In My Room". The album features songs from all different points in the Monkees history. It has 60's hits like "I'm a Believer" to the 80s' "Heart and Soul".

Solo Albums!

Michael Nesmith: The Prison

This is one of Mike's many solo efforts. He wrote this a few years after departing from the Monkees. It was recorded September 15-20, 1974, in Los Angeles. It is not actually an album of music, but as Mike described it, a book with a soundtrack. Here are the tracks: This is an excellent story. It really makes you think about life. If you feel stressed or just want to relax, this is a really good album to listen to. You forget about the little things. See life in the big picture.

Peter Tork: Stranger Things Have Happened

I love this album! This is Peter's only solo album currently. He does have a more recent non-Monkee related album, Two-Man Band, with James Lee Stanley. Here are the songs: This album is really wonderful! It has my favourite song in the world on it, "Higher And Higher"! I only like that song done by Peter, though. Peter adds a touch of uniqueness and just fun to all of these songs. "Giant Step" is Peter's version of the 60's, "Take A Giant Step" and "Gettin' In" is Peter re-doing the same song off of their "POOL IT!" album. The cover of this album was designed by Nick Thorkelson, Peter's brother.

David Jones

This is Davy's pre-Monkees album. It is his first solo album. It is very good. It sounds very different from any other Monkees' albums or anything after. Here are the songs: Davy recorded this album while "Pickwick", the musical he was in was in its roadshow run at the Los Angeles Music Centre. The back of the album shows six pictures of Davy. I wasn't around until the early eighties, so I will never quite understand what the styles and all the fuss was about with long hair. When I looked these pictures I thought he had the weirdest hair! To me his hair during the Monkees is what I would consider normal. Hmm... Anyway the songs on this album are all great! I really love "It Ain't Me Babe" and "What Are We Going To Do?". They are all wonderful though! I think this album is fantastic!

Davy Jones

Davy wasn't too original in naming albums! This is in a different world from his previous solo release above. It has a bigger, broadway sound with horns and a very full musical backing. Here are the songs: My favourite songs are tracks 2 to 4 on side 1, "How About Me", "Singin' To The Music" and "Rainy Jane". I find "Rainy Jane" so interesting because of the melody. They are all really good songs. I love in "Sitting In The Apple Tree" when a voice shouts, "Hey you! Get out of that apple tree!". I didn't notice it until the third or fourth time hearing it. I thought it was funny. Both of Davy's solo albums listed here are pretty hard to find, even worse here in Canada, but if you see them I'd advise you to grab them! They're worth it!

Broadway Micky

This album is funny. This is another Kid Rhino release. If you have kids you may want to get it! Here are the songs: If you have kids this would be a great CD to have. Unfortunatly, since I'm fourteen, this doesn't get much play time when my friends come over. It is a fair effort, although some of the songs bug me no matter who sings them. All in all a pretty good record for a kid.

Micky Dolenz Puts You To Sleep

Another Kid Rhino release! This one I recommend for anyone! It says right on it, "Classic Rock Mellow-dies for children of the 60's to the 90's" So there you go! No! Here you go: Most of these songs were written by well-known people. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Neil Young, Harry Nilsson and more! Micky gets help from his girls on this album to which makes it a very sweet family album.

Are you interested in buying some of these records on CD or cassette? You'll find the best selection at CDnow! Just follow the link:

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