From the official Davy Jones site, a bit of ‘Steppin’ Stone’ and ‘It’s Not Too Late’ performed live in 1998.
Maybe I'm just a poopy head but I don't think too much of "It's Not Too Late". To me it's a mediocre song to end a mediocre album. 2/5
I agree with the addition of "Written In My Heart", which gives me goosebumps. It even sounds like he had an inclination of what was to come.
I love ‘Written In My Heart’. I got confirmation that this is the last song Davy Jones recorded, and as of yet, has not been officially released. I would have liked if it could have been included on ‘Good Times!’ with additional vocals and instrumentation by the other three Monkees. A second Davy track on the album would have been most welcomed I believe.
I've always thought Rhino should put out a 20-track CD of Davy's best. License some of the stuff he did that he put out on his own and pull from his Colpix/Bell/MGM singles and albums. If you sequenced the 20-best tracks in a cohesive way, it would make a nice collection.
His M-G-M singles ought to be collected onto something. It would have been cool to have them as extras with the Micky Dolenz M-G-M singles collection, simply because (1) there were only four tracks, (2) they had been released together with Micky's M-G-M stuff on a Japanese compilation album in the early 1980s, and (3) where else were they gonna go -- but I gather the negotiations to license Micky's M-G-M singles were tricky enough to begin with, and they really don't belong as part of a Micky Dolenz set. They might have worked with the Davy Jones Live In Japan release, if there had been enough room. Sorry for rambling with this stuff, I'd just like to see it all available.
I agree! Would be cool. My thought is for a tight, best of collection. Davy Jones probably has a casual fan, underserved audience. Of course, people don't buy cds anymore, so.....
It’s Not Too Late is 3/5 It’s a pretty good track, lyrics are a little so so in places so not rating higher
Today we will discuss the album Justus. While I can’t say that this album was an unqualified success, and it’s not one that I would play to try to convert someone to The Monkees’ cause, I’m glad that they attempted it once. It gives a snapshot of who they were at that time – particularly Davy, Micky and Peter – and shows that they were able to create without any outside assistance. Davy did a fine job with his compositions, Micky and Peter did OK and it’s only a shame that Mike had only composed one new song. Despite its faults, it’s a big improvement on Pool It! and I can occasionally enjoy listening to it from start to finish. 3/5.
I like Justus for what it is, The Monkees presenting themselves their way without compromise. It’s not an album I revisit that often because it is basically an angry album mostly due to Micky and Mike’s songs. But I give Micky a lot of credit for being so honest. The songs Davy and Peter contributed I really enjoy, Davy for keeping it light and Peter for being experimental. The only real disappointment for me is Nesmith which surprises me since I’m a ‘Nez Head’. There was no need to redo ‘Circle Sky’ even if it does rock out and has all four Monkees playing on it. I’m ok with ‘Admiral Mike’ because he was making a statement he felt strongly about. I always felt that ‘Justus’ needed a Nesmith ballad to balance things out. I’m so glad ‘Good Times’ covered that omission nicely. ‘Justus’ is not a perfect album, but I like it for what it is. The fact that it’s the last Monkees album that Davy Jones was actively involved in notches it up a bit got me. 4/5
I haven't commented on Justus because I don't know it very well, despite owning it since it came out. I kind of forget it exists sometimes, which is also becoming true of Christmas Party. It's easily my least played album, I've probably played Davy's Colpix album more often...
Justus. Well, I can say that it's better than Pool It! and probably Changes although I'm not sure about that one. Still, it was better than I remembered and actually had a clue songs I really liked. Only a few big missteps so I won't be so hard on it. Plus, it was very nice to see Davy come out on top on the majority of an album. My vote is a high 3/5.
Justus is a pretty good album, but it isn't a great album. The production seems rather abrasive to my ears with a tendency to be overly forensic (if that makes sense). For me there are two outstanding tracks - 'Never Enough' and 'It's Not Too Late' - which are both within shouting distance of some of The Monkees' classics of 1967. One of the album's flaws is that it seems a bit unbalanced. We only have one lead vocal from Michael, and it seriously lacks the richness of which he is capable - and 'Circle Sky' is also a song that had previously been done much better. 'You and I' had also previously been done much better. I know a lot of people won't agree with me on that, but the Justus version of 'You and I' makes me very uncomfortable. Once again, Davy inflicts his 'Basil Brush' vocals on us, as he does on most of his leads on this album. Davy is an essential part of The Monkees - I would never deny that - but he isn't the best singer, nor is his diction and shifting accent especially pleasing (for me). I personally feel that some of his better vocals are confined to the period of the first four albums. Since that time he has 'developed' his style until it reaches peak Basil Brush on Pool It and Justus. Moving on, Peter's vocal contributions on this album seem about right - no worse than you might expect, and probably quite a bit better. Peter, along with Micky, seems fairly represented here. While Micky's voice on Justus is a little bit reedy in places, on the whole I think he is the one who leaves the best impression. As for the songs, well, there are the two outstanding tracks (as I've already mentioned), which is possibly all you need at that level on one album. And there is certainly a good handful of other tracks that are perfectly respectable - e.g. 'Regional Girl', 'Dyin' of a Broken Heart', 'Unlucky Stars' - which contribute to the net result of a pretty good album. There clearly wasn't any need for any outside writers, and The Monkees accredit themselves well as the sole musicians. An outside producer, however, might have directed them towards a more satisfying sound overall. Anyway, after Pool It, Justus comes over as pure gold! But we know we've got better to come...
"Justus", the album- I know I gave a lot of the songs a rating of "3", but overall, I give them album itself a solid 4/5. I like most of the songs, I like their playing, and I like that it's really the four of them doing it on their own...
Justus - 3/5 I admit I didn't care for this album when I first bought it. I played it a few times and put it away. I just couldn't get into it until quite sometime later. After I bought the Justus video, I watched it and then started getting into the Justus songs from that. I still only want to listen to about half the tracks. I'm glad we can look back and see that they got together to create an album. Sure, it would have been better if someone like Chip Douglas was there to guide them or even for a few others to contribute songs for the project. Even so, it is interesting that they went in this direction in the mid-90s. It is a definite step above Pool It overall, and I do like the cover design. Nicely done as a group photos covered partially by the Monkees' guitar logo.
It’s the album some of us hoped they’d make with just the 4 of them with no outside help. As someone once said “the tragedy of your time my young friends is you may get exactly what you want” JUSTUS 2/5
I love Justus. It sounds just like the time it was made. I play this record just as much as any Monkees album maybe with the exception of Pisces. I have to save a 5 for the next album so this gets a 4/5.
