A Man Without A Dream: 5/5 FINALLY we have gotten to this track! This song is right up there with being my absolute favorite Monkees song ever (it just barely misses the top spot). IMHO, probably the best vocal Davy ever laid down as a Monkee. Very mature and gorgeously arranged. And the fact that it's in his natural register makes it all the better. I get why "commercially" the flip side was used as the single, but to me this track is vastly superior and then some. Honestly, I could go on and on about how much I love this track lol. I would give it 100/5 if I could.
4/5 for A Man Without a Dream. The songs on this album are mostly good, again they didn't have the pressure of the TV show (and of course it's benefit to them) so they could do material that wouldn't be on TV.
Great tune, great arrangement courtesy of Bones Howe, great vocal (right in Davy's wheelhouse and he did not disappoint), the Wrecking Crew in full effect, and the fact that it sounds like late '68/early '69, which is hard to describe other than this song is absolutely of its time. A very solid 4/5.
A Man Without A Dream - I don't dislike it. It's okay but its somewhat ordinary. Having said that, it does have a strong melody and Davy does a good job of it. 3/5
"A Man Without a Dream", now this is a tough one to rate! When I'm listening to it I feel it rates about a 4/5 but then it sticks in my head all day and I think it's a 5/5, thus I'm giving it 5/5. I don't know if that makes sense but that's how I feel about the track.
A Man Without a Dream- Not your Monkees from 1966-1967 track for sure. A very introspective type of song performed beautifully. David (too mature for Monkee Davy) sings this as great as he can. Fits his vocal register and he really puts his all into it. The 1969 David Jones really came into his own as a singer. The production by Bones Howe was perfect. Nothing I can fault on this one 5/5.
5/5 easily. A perfectly arranged and produced track. I found it interesting, I was just looking at my UK Instant Replay, and all tracks are credited as 1969, but this is 1968, and Tear Drop City is 1966! Not even subtle!
A Man Without a Dream Songwriters: Goffin/King Another track I like as an album cut. I never seek it out, but when playing IR, it just works well for this album. And yes, like the others say here, it does sound more like a late 60s-early 70s song with the brass. Too bad it seemed overlooked then and now. Then again in thinking about it, almost everything from the Monkees' musical output (from 69-70) was largely ignored over the years (last 3 studio albums from the original run). 3/5
This is what I was going to type, so I'll just quote and wholeheartedly agree. 5/5. One added note: this is the only new recording on the album, same time as the equally brilliant Someday Man.
This song is an interesting foreshadowing of what was to come, particularly on Changes (and without giving away too much, I’ll just say that I really like that particular Monkees sound/era—I think it suited Davy and Micky quite well). A Man Without a Dream I don’t consider this one of my favorite Davy songs, but it’s solid. (And amazingly—though just barely—it reaches the 3-minute mark. A rare treat for Monkees fans!) Some clever lyrics and very good production, but (for me) no great hook. 3/5.
"Man Without A Dream" Another Davy song I love and another of my favorites on this album. I can't say anything bad about it. 5/5
Not true. If you look at the label on side 2, Teardrop City is listed as 1966 and A Man Without A Dream as 1968. (The rest are 1969) To the task in hand, A Man Without A Dream is a good Davy performance and song. It’s not a track I’ve actively seemed out over the years but it’s definitely thumbs up! A Man Without A Dream - 4/5
Super solid 5/5 for A Man Without A Dream. A gorgeous song with fun horns and a perfect velvet-voiced lead by Davy.
"Man Without a Dream" is a 3 for me. As a fan however, it is great to see this many people into IR and especially the Davy tracks. They are good tunes, no doubt, but I have to rate based on my somewhat loosely established criteria. So a 4, I would have to either seek out sometimes or pick that album side because of a few of those 4's being on it (normally to go with the 5's). This song would not reach that. I do see why those who gravitate to Davy tunes would like this LP and to me the next as well. 3 of his 4 tunes on Present are fine songs. As mentioned before, lots of Davy's low scores did not see original release for a reason. Or in cases like WWMFEO and TGILBM producers must have figured more brass or violins made Davy's songs better but a song that sounds like the 4 guys playing and Davy singing are best for me. So right now will go on YouTube and listen to both alternate versions of the songs just mentioned.
I quite like 'A Man Without a Dream', but I don't understand why. The lyrics are banal - although the titular phrase is quite likable - and that series of four notes on the trumpet is irritating in its repetition. But the song seems better suited to Davy's vocal range than most and, for want of a more concrete word, the production is refreshingly 'airy' (no, I don't really know what I mean). I shouldn't like it, but I do.
Sorry, I clearly didn’t phrase my post right at all - I meant exactly what you said. I know more than those 2 tracks are pre 1969 too.
Gerry Goffin's lyrics are brilliant and reflect exactly where his head was at as his marriage to Carole King collapsed.
A Man Without a Dream One of David's best vocals on record. He had a fine baritone voice and songs like this fit it well. May have just a wee bit too much horns (especially right before the last verse, some mixes had them way too loud), but the song itself is one of my favorites on the album. 5/5
