I am not going to read anymore of the negative opinions about the new song. This is the sound I have wanted to hear from The Monkees since the disappointing moment reading David Jones' "Pool It!" statement: "there will be no jingle jangling 12-string guitars and we are going for a contemporary '80's sound". Also, I am still not hearing any pitch correction but- again- I am hearing it via MP3. That aside, "She Makes Me Laugh" is a great tune and is exactly how I want The Monkees to sound. If anyone dislikes the song, your loss, not mine.
FWIW: "Regional Girl" was the first Monkees song ever played on our radio show, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl; in fact, we played it during our first set on our very first show, in December of 1998. My enthusiasm for Justus has dimmed over the years, but I do still like "Regional Girl" and "Dyin' Of A Broken Heart." And I gave it a rave review in Goldmine upon its release (beginning with the line, "Never mind the bollocks, here's The Monkees").
Exactly what I was thinking. I don't understand all the different terms pigeonholing music, like Britpop or Shoegazing(?!?) or TripHop. Maybe that makes me uninformed. I dunno. I just listen and decide if what I'm hearing is pleasing to me or not. Brickwalling? Autotuned? I admit I'm not an audiophile in my profile. I suppose I'm exactly the type of member that a lot of the audiophile members lament. Steve himself may wish members like me would go away. Maybe not. As long as music by The Monkees, The Beatles, The Eagles (yeah, THE Eagles ) and more of my favorites are discussed I'll be here mostly lurking but occasionally voicing my opinions. The joy of listening to music simply. I'm glad to not know more than that. Oh, and I'm really digging the new single. Silly lyrics and everything.
I am a fan of Nesmith's songwriting, but it still needed outside flavor-see PACJ-Bill Martin, Chip Douglas, B & H, Carole King...
Still wish REM was involved in the songwriting for the new LP, but I'll take the others. Stipe was once quoted that he was more influenced by the Monkees than the Beatles.
I liked the concept that the show kept on going even though it wasn't on the air. But the "zany-ness" was bland.
Peter had, and still has, a good folky voice. I don't think autotune would have made it more poppy and commercial, but it might well have stripped it of its warmth. I take the point though - Peter's voice wasn't suited to the intended Monkees sound of the time (which, I assume, is why his best work stayed in the can until the Missing Links trilogy). I tend to place Peter's voice in roughly the same field as that of Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera) - so that's pretty good company in my opinion.
FYI, if iTunes isn't your thing, Amazon's got the deluxe MP3 edition up for $11.49. Terrifying and Magdalena (Ver. 2) are the bonus tracks.
I'm happy to read positive and negative reviews--that's what makes forum discussions interesting, sometimes spirited, and worth coming back to: different perspectives to make me consider what I may not have before, whether I agree or disagree. It's all healthy. So far the 50th has been more than I hoped for, so kudos to everyone behind the scenes. Sly promotion and the humor of the original comic books are to make you mildly grin, er... laugh which sorta ties in with the idea of "She Makes Me Laugh".
Just for fun, I would love to hear the musicians who played on this album take a crack at the Pool It album. Keep The Monkees vocals and redo the music. More jangly guitar pop would help that album big time. P.S. I do like the latest single. Good light guitar pop song. Exactly what The Monkees should have done for Pool It. I do hope the rest of the album has songs with a little more bite to them. Still, a very good start.
My biggest wish for the album was to have Michael's lyrics on a song. Maybe the others including Bill could play... be an interesting way to reunite, shades of the Lovin Spoonful having their reunion as a scene during Paul Simon's One Trick Pony movie.
Ha! No, but thanks for bringing that video to my attention. My avatar was swiped from a "how would they look today" series of photos that a music site had.
I don't think Steve feels that way. He understands not everyone can dump $10,000 into a home audio system. It's just a certain attitude that creeps up from some around here.
I agree - outside song writers would have helped greatly, but then they couldn't have called it Justus.
Tell me, is the track time for You Bring Me Summer 3:00? The track time is posted on iTunes, just like She Makes Me Laugh had a track time before it was released. I'm think they are going to release You Bring Me Summer as the next track. They do this now, like the new Weezer CD had issued 5 tracks before it was officially opened/released. I have a feeling we'll get a track a week until the official release....which is fine, since I already purchased the deluxe iTunes versions, meaning I'll get the tracks as soon as they are opened into my iTunes cloud. Can't wait to hear the next one.
Here's an example of auto tune being used - this is from the last Beach Boys album - That's Why God Made the Radio. The song is "From There To Back Again". You can hear the auto tune on Al Jardine's voice clearly. And I don't know why it's there - Jardine still has a great voice. Another poster had mentioned reasons why auto tune is used for other uses than out of tune vocals. I think that's why it's added on here, I guess. But I don't hear this at all on She Makes Me Laugh - where is the auto tune?
Jardine didn't need it. It almost ruined this incredible song. My theory is it had to be auto tuned to fit into the album. In other words, the rest of the album had so much auto tune if it wasn't there he would have been noticeable.
I would have like to have seen an REM contribution. We have to wonder-- how we do know they weren't asked?
