Why all the hate for the Monkees' Justus?

Here it is:

Mike's thoughts on The Monkees and his career in 1978 »

 

Ahhh....BLITZ magazine!! Thank you, Mr. Shark!!

 

Great interview! I had never read it before. Thanks! Looks like his vision in 1978 came to fruition in 1996.

 

This is one album or theirs that I haven't gotten yet. Now I'm anxious to pick it up.

 

I'm going to guess it was because it sucked.

 

I could be wrong but this seems to imply that you haven't heard it. Give it a listen before you form an opinion. You definitely may or may not like it.

 

You could be wrong and you are. Huge fan here.

 

This thread had me go back to Justus and listen to it on headphones. Just a great listen.

 

Cool! (Huge fan of Justus or just of the Monkees?)

 

I'm a long time fan who bought Justus when it was released. I thought it was terrible then and I think it is terrible now. I certainly respect the fact that there are many (or at least some) people on this forum who disagree with me.

 

And I for one am glad "Justus" was recorded... Wish it had done better chart-wise/sales-wise, but neither one of those detracts from my enjoyment of the album...

 

He's saying he's a huge fan of the Monkees in general, but thinks Justus sucks.

 

The Monkees.

 

Re-listened again. And while I'll never love it as a whole - poor execution of the "Circle Sky" remake, "Unlucky Stars" a good hook for a song if tepid, "Admiral Mike" nuff said, "It's My Life" see "Unlucky Stars" - I'm glad they attempted it. Worth it to hear Peter playing bass and Nez playing lead. His leads on "Never Enough," "Oh What A Night," "You & I," "Dying Of A Broken Heart," and "It's Not Too Late" are very tastefully done.

Totally think the fortunes of this album - at least to the fanbase - would be day-and-night different if you took off "Admiral Mike" and added one or two Nez songs with a hint of country.

Oh well - they tried.

 

Best quote from that article is from the interviewer:

"I honestly regard the Monkees' on-stage performance of 'Circle sky' in the Head film as the greatest live performance ever made by any rock band at any time. You can feel the intensity by the way Micky attacks his drums and by the way you and Pete build on each other's licks; you with the bar chords on lead and Pete with his characteristic sliding bass riffs."

Kind of reminds me of some of the comments in the Monkees threads around here...only on steroids...

 

Peter's dissonant jazzy piano licks near the end of "I Believe You" are subtle and a little bit creepy, but very effective.

 

What strikes me about Justus is that you clearly hear Monkees putting their soul into it, like Michael Jackson and Bad, while Good Times is simply a good album and Pool It is a good EPs worth of tunes.

 

I love Justus. I like the harmonies in Circle Sky, makes for a fuller sound. It's my preferred version. Remember, Davy and Micky are only average song writers, but what they contributed to the album sound great. I don't think there is a dud on the album. And for the record, I love "I believe you". I mean Tork sings "escape velocity " What's not to love?

Off subject, I have only started listening to Changes and Pool It, and I quite enjoy them.

 

Bought it back in the day - just thought it was so so. I listened to it last night, felt about the same. I also did not like the sound of the CD and still much prefer the original Circle Sky, especially the live version.

 

The interviewer does come off "over the top." I haven't re-read the whole thing, but didn't he insist HEAD was better than "Magical Mystery Tour?"

 

Well...HEAD *is* better than "Magical Mystery Tour." To be brutally honest just about anything is better than "MMT."

And I say that as a Beatles fanatic as well as a past member in a Beatles' tribute band.

 

This album was the opportunity for the Monkees to did what they did years later with Good Times. I think if back then they had relesead an album full of power pop gems like Good Times they would have revitalized their career and would have been releasing more albums and doing more tours the four of them.

It is a pity that instead they decided to record another Headquarters which had no magic whatsoever. Perhaps Chip Douglas could have injected more stamina to the songs they recorded for Justus.

 

Yeah, not really even a contest. HEAD is a highly regarded art movie. Not a masterpiece by any measure, but a cool, innovative, late 60's film.
My two cents on Justus, as a Monkees audio fan, is you can extract enough good tracks to make a pretty good 5 or 6 track highlight reel. Some of the tracks fall flat, but there's also some good moments. My highlight comp would include:
Circle Sky
You And I
Oh, What A Night
Regional Girl
It's Not Too Late

 

The songs just aren't there, though '70's leftover "You and I" is rather nice, and for an act known for humor and fun, there's a mood of joylessness throughout. It's like catching up with the wacky class clown from high school 30 years later and all he does is talk about his divorce and prostate.

I do give high marks to the playing, particularly Tork and Dolenz.

 

I'm not sure about 1996. 1986, yes.