Rate and Review the songs of The Monkees Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Turk Thrust, Mar 31, 2019.

  1. RobRoyF

    RobRoyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southland
    Wisteria - 3/5
    Overall this one is pretty good. The highlights for me are during the guitar riffs.
     
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  2. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    I think Mike's videoranch.com website may still have it for sale, so you can always buy it there. Plus, if you buy it from them, Papa Nez will sign it for you.
     
  3. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    The ratings for Wisteria:

    1-0
    2-1
    3-7
    4-1
    5-1
     
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  4. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Today's song is Life Becoming:



    A relief to hear a Mike vocal, and I think this song marks not only the end of the album but also kind of the end of an era. Mike has not exactly been prolific in the years since...

    A fine incantation that starts out deceptively simply, and then builds into something bigger and more powerful.

    4/5.
     
  5. FredV

    FredV Senior Member

    Life Becoming - A beautiful song that starts slow before building to a majestic ending. Nice to hear Nesmith singing on this one, the lyrics resembling ‘I Know What I Know’ in tone. A great album closer. 5/5.
     
  6. NudieSuitNezHead

    NudieSuitNezHead No Michael, "teriyaki" is NOT 13 letters...

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    You've twisted my arm!!
     
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  7. super sally

    super sally Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mint Hill, NC USA
  8. RobRoyF

    RobRoyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southland
    Life Becoming - 4/5
    Nicely arrangement and the vocal is a plus. It's my favorite track on the album. The bells towards to end make me think about a farewell or long goodbye.
     
  9. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    Life Becoming

    This does start very slowly with just the acoustic guitar. It takes a fair while to build from its simplistic first half.

    It's a decent song, but while it does build, I don't find it as excellent or superb as some others do. It's nice, but when YT auto-played a track from The Prison, and I preferred that.

    I'm pleased that others really enjoy this track. And, I enjoyed it. Just not quite as much as other people did. It gets bonus points from me for being a vocal song. Has he recorded (m)any more after this?

    3.5/5
     
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  10. JJR

    JJR Forum Resident

    Location:
    delaware
    While the vocals were a nice finishing touch, this song does remind me a lot of I Know What I Know. Both have simplistic and repetitive lyrics and not the deepest at that. By contrast the Prison lyrics were so important and meaningful. Overall still this is a mid 3 as is the last one that was so long it took me several tries to finish as my schedule interrupted the lengthy track. More analysis tomorrow.
     
  11. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    In terms of solo songs, I guess around 8 or 9 maybe. A few on Rays and a few scattered around over the past decade or so.
     
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  12. DaveJ

    DaveJ Senior Member

    Location:
    Manchester, UK
    An elegant ending to the second part of the trilogy. It's not ROCK but...

    Life Becoming - 5/5
     
  13. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    "Life Becoming" -- 3/5

    This is a really pleasant listen, though I personally would stop short of praising it as being brilliant. Nice to hear his vocal to close out the album.
     
  14. D-rock

    D-rock Senior Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    While I love this song and think the music is gorgeous, even more so during the climatic section with the bells, I too agree, lyrically it's disappointing.

    Still going for a 5

    Life Becoming 5/5

    Always wondered how'd this sound live...
     
  15. JuanTCB

    JuanTCB Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Very tastefully done and nice to hear the singer but will grade it like the bulk of the rest of the album as it keeps up the theme and vibe seamlessly. Which was probably the intention!

    3.5/5
     
  16. NudieSuitNezHead

    NudieSuitNezHead No Michael, "teriyaki" is NOT 13 letters...

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Life Becoming - 5/5 - I love it when Mike sings in his lower register. This song has beautiful, introspective lyrics. Mike knows how to write poetic lyrics that make you think. This is a really gorgeous piece of music.
     
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  17. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    The ratings for Life Becoming:

    1-0
    2-0
    3-4
    4-2
    5-5
     
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  18. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Today we will discuss the album The Garden.

    I've been a little mean with some of my ratings for the individual songs, but I think the album works better as a whole.

    It is a little over-reaching and arguably pretentious, but if there is any mistake that Mike should make it is to be overly ambitious.

    I would have preferred a few more vocals here and there, but the musicianship mostly makes up for that. It's just a shame that this group of people didn't work together for longer. Mike would have been around 51 when this was released, and it's a shame that his musical output has been so sporadic in the years since.

    A high 3.5/5.
     
  19. NudieSuitNezHead

    NudieSuitNezHead No Michael, "teriyaki" is NOT 13 letters...

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    The Garden - 5/5 - I agree that it's a shame that Mike didn't put out more music, especially since he's never really cared about commercial success; he makes music because he enjoys making it. Like I've mentioned before, this is not something I would reach for had Mike not made it. What have I been missing out on for all these years?!?!?!? This album is much greater than the sum of its parts. I'm going to try reading the book along with listening to the album once I receive it in the mail. I still prefer Mike singing and playing his acoustic guitar, but that's hard to beat ;)
     
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  20. FredV

    FredV Senior Member

    The Garden - It was an album that was highly anticipated when a sequel to The Prison was first announced. While I too wished there were more vocals on it, the musicianship is nothing less than superb. Nez surrounded himself with a fantastic group of musicians and the end results make for a wonderful listening experience.

    Even without the book as part of the concept, the music is an entity unto itself and can be enjoyed on its own terms.

    Along with The Prison and later The Ocean, The Garden is the closest that Nez has ventured into David Gilmour/Richard Wright/Pink Floyd music cycle territory.

    Musically, this is perhaps Michael Nesmith’s best artistic work. 5/5.
     
  21. JJR

    JJR Forum Resident

    Location:
    delaware
    I enjoyed listening to the tracks only some I have heard sporadically up until now. While instrumentally this may be a terrific, since it lacks vocals nearly entirely, I don’t see me ever embracing it like The Prison. Although my next attempt may be with reading the book, which may make it better than The Prison in that aspect as reading and grasping it all with lots more lyrics, like The Prison, probably tougher to do. Too much going on at the same time.
     
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  22. super sally

    super sally Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mint Hill, NC USA
    The Garden is a 5/5 for me

    I think it succeeds and sometimes exceeds what it seemed to be trying to do.

    It's different but is still a companion to the Prison.

    I may be a bit biased because it really affected me at the time of it's release.

    I really like that his kids take part on the last cut.

    I had high hopes at the time that he would start putting out more albums. Guess it wasn't meant to be!
     
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  23. JuanTCB

    JuanTCB Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    The Garden is really well done for what it is; it's just that what it is isn't really what I'm into.

    3/5
     
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  24. MagneticNorthpaw

    MagneticNorthpaw Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Life Becoming - 4/5

    I have never heard The Garden in its entirety. The concept of a nearly completely instrumental Michael Nesmith album in that vein is not appealing to me. When one of Nez's great strengths is his voice, it's a shame to bench it for a whole album. This song builds very nicely, from the delicate and crystal-clear acoustic guitar to the orchestral grandeur at the end, but I think it's maybe a minute or so too long. It makes a nice bookend for Life, The Unsuspecting Captive. And it never hurts to get the talented Nez Kids involved.

    I can certainly see this as a predecessor to I Know What I Know - in theme, lyrical structure and melodic approach.
     
  25. TEDA

    TEDA Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    The Garden is 3/5

    Been doing my best to at least follow along with the songs if not rate them, but it’s just sounds so anonymous to me and I can muster any enthusiasm other than to say it’s well produced enough to earn a 3
     
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