Why? This CD prominently features selections of the Monkees' finest recorded output that the other disc omits. Songs like "You Just May Be the One" and "For Pete's Sake" from HEADQUARTERS are here, and overall this collection highlights more the music the Monkees made together as a functioning studio unit---and the quality is impressive. (Take that Don Kirshner!)

My only complaint: Rhino chose to delete the two chart hits from the '80s reunion: "That Was Then, This Is Now" and "Heart and Soul." Successful in their own right (the former being a top 20 hit), and for pure nostalgic reasons, I wish these two great pop songs had been kept in the lineup.

I personally prefer the 2-disc set THE MONKEES ANTHOLOGY over any of the 'greatest hits' packages, as it explores fully the wealth of the Monkees catalog, showing how many great songs the band truly created. More hardcore fans should seek out the 4-disc box set MUSIC BOX. And, as with any modern release from Rhino, the sound quality and packaging on all of these collections is superb.

Also included are liner notes by Monkees historian Andrew Sandoval, detailed chart positions, and a colorful collection of photos from the band's heyday. Recommended.


Give these guys more respect!   April 1, 2004
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

It seems fitting that the first time I heard a Monkees song ("Last Train to Clarksville") was on the way to the Beatles last concert in Detroit on their last tour anywhere in August, 1966.

I remember riding with my big brother on I-94, playing around with radio stations, then hearing that distinctive intro to "Clarksville" on guitar. I dug it right away. I was vaguely aware that NBC was premiering a new series on a rock group, loosely based on the Beatles, to air in the Fall. I thought to myself that if "Clarksville" was any indication of the music we could expect from this prefab group, it should be a pretty good show.

Little did I know, on that trip to see the Fab Four, that they would play their last public appearance in August, 1966. The Beatles had soured on trekking around the globe playing music that couldn't be heard. They were growing restless with their lack of independence and needed a chance to all do some individual soul searching.

I think the enormous popularity of the Monkees can be linked to the changes the Beatles were experiencing in late 1996-early 1967. The Monkees couldn't have asked for better timing. There is no way NBC or the producers of their show could've known that the Beatles were going to stop touring and go into hibernation around the time of the show's premiere. The Beatles' hibernation and their transformation into a more "mature" group of mustache-wearing soul-seekers in 1967 left a huge gap in the teenybopper music market. The Beatles weren't making music for teenyboppers anymore. They didn't look like cuddly, fresh-scrubbed teen idols anymore. The Monkees did.

Unfortunately, the Monkees teenybopper hysteria came at the time when rock started to be taken seriously by critics. Again, the Beatles set the pace with such singles as "Strawberry Fields Forever" and albums like "Sgt. Pepper." "Serious" rock critics looked upon the Monkees with disdain, even though, or maybe because, their records continued to top the charts in 1966-67.

Even though it was common practice for many rock bands in California to have session musicians play on their records, the Monkees were harshly singled out for this. You have to give the Monkees credit for publicly demonstrating their musical abilities by actually "playing" on albums such as "Headquarters" and "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd." They had the sense to know their limitations as musicians, but they played the music they wanted to play with skill and precision.

It's too bad that the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" has continued to neglect the Monkees. They never got the respect they deserved when they were popular back in the '60s, and they still haven't gotten it now that it's been almost thirty-eight years since their TV show first aired. Like it or not, the Monkees are a big chapter in the history of rock music. I credit them for single-handedly doing more to blaze the trail for the music video format they any other band of their time. Their best songs still hold up and stand the test of time. I hope that someday the "serious" critics will give the Monkees the "serious" credit they so rightfully deserve!


Barrels of Fun!   September 1, 2006
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

The Monkees should be taken more and less seriously. From the sixties they're popularity has ebbed and flowed probably more than any other band. This collection does them justice. It has all of their hits, plus all the songs that made it on their TV show. The selection and order are impeccable. Some of the songs are likable fluff; others are formidable power pop classics. They even have some social commentary that often gets under the radar. Any way you view it, there isn't one bad song, subjectively. Although objectively, some will have qualms with a few of the sentimental ballads (usually sung by Davy Jones). Admirably, the Monkees themselves hated the pretenses of having a back-up band to play their music, but they manfully, but sometimes less skillfully, took over the helm of the music and ripped the control of their music from their able, but headstrong producer Don Kirschner, who gave us appealing pop like "Sugar Sugar," as well as produced the Monkees first hits.

The very best songs are among the most appealing of the sixties. (Although it should be said that they couldn't entirely be pigeon-holed, like, say, The Association.) "I'm a Believer," "A Little Bit You, A Little Bit Me," "The Last Train to Clarksville," and "Another Pleasant Valley Sunday," should keep them on the map for years to come. Furthermore, the riveting "I'm Not Your (Stepping Stone)" has to be one of their very best songs. Before punk was invented, it's fast-forward appeal is still formidable. Adding to the variety are lesser known songs, like "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)," which is a bit dated, but one of their most pleasing. "Randy Scouse Git," "Mary Mary," "Words," and the country "Listen to the Band," should make them be known as more than a novelty band.

Social commentary is more ample than thought. Certainly, they aren't looked upon like Dylan and the Beatles are, but "...Clarksville" and "Another Pleasant Valley Sunday" are great. On the surface the former seems like a fluff-ball love song. The narrator may not return to his lover because Clarksville is a war recruiting station. (After the pleasantries, "...toffee flavored kisses and a bit of conversation...," we get the punch line, "And, I don't know if I'm ever coming home.") And, in "Another Pleasant Valley Sunday" adults not attentive missed the sarcasm regarding the opulence and ostentation of suburban life in "status symbol land". Furthermore, "Shades of Grey" is about as bottom line philosophically about the sixties as you get. Great songwriters contributed. Carol King and Jerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, and Boyce and Hart upped the quality of the words and their pop appeal. Michael Nesmith was the formidable songwriter of the group, but Peter Tork has a gem with "For Pete's Sake," which is a fine piece of flower-power and a clever title.

All together now, "Best of the Monkees" covers all of the bases, doesn't leave any diamonds in the dust, and is sequentially nearly perfect.