The Monkees Good Times (1CD)-New 2016 album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by yellowballoon, Feb 4, 2016.

  1. TEDA

    TEDA Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    You know the old saying mom or dad would say...just because your friends are doing it doesn't mean you should do it.

    A lot of releases are not done this.

    Rhino and retailers know how strong the Monkee fans are and are collectors and are just leveraging that in a negative way.

    I understand not everyone is offended by this practice as it is rather common.
     
    Hutch and Grand_Ennui like this.
  2. gottafeelin

    gottafeelin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Georgia
    Actually, it's what has killed the music business, and I for one am not mourning its death...
     
  3. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan

    I don't think that's what killed the music biz come on!

    I wish there was either new forms of Rock/pop I liked better, or there was more jangly 60s pop from the old-timers. But let's face it half our rock heroes have died from old age, disease or drugs.

    You can hear those musical influences from later artists sure. But even XTC, E Costello, REM U2 ColdPlay or whoever are retiring & dying off.

    So there's a few albums of new work from McCartney, Dylan, G Nash, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, but that train is almost gone too.

    So almost by default this falls in our lap & it's really good. I don't think we'd be so up for this if John Lennon, Harrison, Pink Floyd, CSNY were cranking it out. In a sad way, this is a perfect moment for the Monkees. Only because they appear to have delivered the real goods. With a really good album. Good for them & us.

    They really should have done at least 2 Jones tracks instead of 1. That's the only obvious blunder I see. Believe me if the new WHO, McCartney, Lennon, CSNY, FWMac & Kinks albums were coming next month I'd have been focused on that instead. So thanks Monkees, I don't have a lot of new stuff to listen to so it's a nice treat. This is almost taking on the dimensions of a new Beatles or Stones album, only because they are literally, close to being the last ones standing. I wonder if they even considered that while making this.
     
    Last edited: May 4, 2016
  4. bluejeanbaby

    bluejeanbaby Forum Resident

    Location:
    NW Indiana
    @johnny moondog 909 Among others, you mention McCartney, the Who, PFloyd, N Young...add the Rolling Stones and Dylan and you've got who will be at this 3-day thing in Oct put on by the Coachella guy. 2 an evening or something like that, outrageous price if one goes the whole wknd. Talking about these people reminded me of the thread about that. I suspect there'll be people who will go because who knows who won't be here....

    Anyhow, here's the Monkees, going pretty strong with the new singles, album, and tour! A summer to look forward to for the fans.
     
  5. fitzysbuna

    fitzysbuna Senior Member

    Location:
    Australia
    I enjoyed the second new song but felt it sounded too much like the beach boys than the monkees.
     
    sandmountainslim1 likes this.
  6. Matt A

    Matt A Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Which part? Be specific.

    Back on topic- these first two songs are absolutely stunning. Part of me wishes there had been no pre-release hype and that they would have just dropped these with no warning. Would have tossed much of the music world on its head.
     
  7. fitzysbuna

    fitzysbuna Senior Member

    Location:
    Australia
    no specific part just the vibe of it.
     
  8. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    As much as I like the instrumentation/playing on the "JUSTUS" version of "Circle Sky", I'm with you in that I did not care for the "vocal effect" or whatever it's called...
     
  9. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    I'll probably hold out until I see exactly how much more expensive the Japanese version will be: That'll probably be my deciding factor...
     
  10. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    Agreed: I'm really hoping they come to their senses and just sell an all inclusive edition (and in my case, I'd definitely want it on CD... I don't do downloads and right now I don't have a record player set up...)



    Definitely agree with this too...
     
    Midwest Rocker and monkeetrade like this.
  11. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    No, it sounds exactly like Micky Dolenz singing an XTC song, which it more or less is.
     
    somnar and MagneticNorthpaw like this.
  12. TimM

    TimM Senior Member

    I like both of the new songs, but I don't think any release by the Monkees in 2016 is going to toss much of the music world on its head. This is just a treat for those of us who have loved the group for all these years. I'm 60 years old and was there from the beginning so this is a lot of fun, but these are not incredible songs that are going to go racing up the charts, there just a couple of cool new pop songs by a group of old guys that most of the music world will pay no attention to.
     
    Grand_Ennui and MarkTheShark like this.
  13. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    My guess for the 50th anniversary fest appearance is the Monkees get added to the Beatles Stones Dylan Who Floyd Neil fest in October.
     
  14. bubba-ho-tep

    bubba-ho-tep Resident Ne'er-Do-Well

    Location:
    San Tan Valley, AZ
    My issue with the two songs released so far is that the lyrical material seems more geared to be sung by someone in his late teens or early 20's as opposed to someone in his 70s with years of experience behind him. I'm only in my 40's and would cringe at having to sing some of those lyrics. So far, Good Times seems to be ignoring the fact that there were some really good albums released after More of the Monkees whose sound could have been easily updated for the 21st century with less "twee" lyrics.

    Hopefully, the remainder of the album is a little more than an inch deep. Cautiously optimistic at this point....
     
  15. graystoke

    graystoke Forum Resident

    Yes and that's why I'm struggling with it. Too many Andyisms for me. If it was a solo Andy release then I'd love it. It's jarring for me hearing Micky sing on it as a Monkees song. I don't hear Carol King when I listen to Pleasant Valley Sunday. I hear The Monkees. What I was expecting when I found out Andy had written a song for them was an unabashed Monkees pop song. Instead he has given them a song that has too much of himself in its DNA. It's like Thom Yorke giving them a song and the track ends up sounding like Micky singing a Radiohead song.
     
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  16. Deano6

    Deano6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plymouth, NC, USA
    Barnes and Nobles has the vinyl listed on the website for $26.99. Unfortunately, as of right now, there is no preorder link. Maybe soon.

    Good Times (Monkees) »
     
  17. Humbuster

    Humbuster Staff Emeritus

    Old folks, like me, enjoy summer too!
     
    ssmith3046 likes this.
  18. marmalade

    marmalade Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bridgeport CT

    Interesting thought, the lineup seems overcrowded already but anything's possible.. at least the Monkees w Nez would be performing with their peers..

    My idea would have the Monkees share a bill with Dead &Co. Buffalo Springfield (w Stills and Neil).. and possibily a new jangle country psyche band..
     
  19. MarkTheShark

    MarkTheShark Senior Member

    I am not involved in "the industry" but as a "layman" I would think all these variations would cut into any kind of tallying of sales, chart placement, etc. I'm thinking of how B-sides of singles sometimes charted in the 1960s and ended up "competing" with the A-side. But the releasing of multiple versions keeps happening, so I must be wrong, there must be a different business model in place which accounts for all of this. Right?

    I've read this comparison before, but they are kind of like the Three Stooges in that sense. (Although the Three Stooges were a vaudeville and motion picture comedy team, and the Monkees are, well, whatever they are.) By the late 1950s when the Three Stooges had their big comeback as children's TV stars via the showing of their old movies, Abbott and Costello had split up, Laurel and Hardy had retired (and Oliver Hardy had passed away), the Marx Bros. were retired as a team, etc. The only thing missing is having them hire a diminuitive British guy and call him "Davy Joe.":hide:

    I'm with you on this! (Though musically I think they're delivering the goods, if not lyrically.)
     
    905 likes this.
  20. Beatlesque Pop

    Beatlesque Pop Forum Resident

    Location:
    Spain
    I love the new track "You bring the summer" although I can´t help being reminded of "Carrie Anne" the Hollies song when I listen to this new song. They have certain similarities.
     
    Michelle66 likes this.
  21. Mike Visco

    Mike Visco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Newark, NJ
    LOL...after one season with "Stinky"Joe Besser...[/
     
  22. Michelle66

    Michelle66 Senior Member

    Yes, I hear it too. (But I had forgotten the name of the Hollies' song. Thanks for jogging my memory.)
     
    pablo fanques and Beatlesque Pop like this.
  23. Mwa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! And so my point comes to the fore: Those were Nez driven tunes, even when he didn't write or produce them. HQ-Presesnts and all of the unreleased material of those years were Nez's influence on producing the others, writing for the others or encouraging to them write for themselves (even it was probably mainly royalties that got Jones interested, and experimenting for fun while making use of studio time he'd otherwise not have for Dolenz.) and, of course Tork & Nez's push to have them play as a unit.
    But that stuff just wasn't/isn't commercial. In retrospect I think it could've been commercial if not for the press grudge, but we'll never know.

    Regardless the "pop" era is what most people remember in passing about the band, not what ended up on Missing Links. And that's how the new album is being packaged and the vein they're tapping into, complete with lack of band photos so that people can juxtapose the new songs to the young version of the band-and I must say it is easy to do since Dolenz's distinctive voice has hardly changed. I can live with this since the tunes are pretty nice so far and The Monkees are getting some critical due and major press, which I feel they deserve. And the kids'll love it.

    If it were up to me, however, this'd be a country rock album, backed by Sam & the Goodtimers with Tork's banjo front and center and Chris Scruggs on steel. Commercialism be damned! :D
     
  24. I hate that song. I like The Hollies, but that song is annoying syrup in song form. :hurl:
     
  25. MagneticNorthpaw

    MagneticNorthpaw Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Exactly. Justus was the product of months of renewing relationships, jamming, rehearsing, and recording/mixing. They proved what they wanted to prove and invested a significant amount of time doing so. Good Times!, like PAC&J, was recorded quickly, with the start of a tour breathing down its neck. Given Nez's statement about the work ahead on his book, he also had commitments quickly approaching. Adam Schlesinger has become the new Chip Douglas in a sense, working quickly with select outside musicians to arrange and record the album, all while playing bass on it. If the Monkees had been left to their own devices, best case scenario it would have taken months. And I think this awareness - FINALLY - has been apparent in the various pre-release soundbites and Nez posts.

    All that said, I think Micky was quoted on a Zilch podcast in mid-to-late 2015 that he had been listening to unfinished Sixties-era tracks, so there must have been a fair amount of pre-production and coming to terms with the directions. Clearly, they all were more involved than the handful of sessions photos that have come to light so far would indicate. And I have to imagine that both John Hughes and Andrew Sandoval provided some "a-ha" moments in the process.
     
    marmalade, Mike Visco and Hutch like this.

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