Rate and Review the songs of The Monkees Thread

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

  1. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    Yeah, I had the cassette (I knew two different people who had the picture disc, but I had no turntable at that age). I don’t recall any issues with the tape. Played it quite a bit, back in the day.

    Great little collection, ultimately made redundant once Rhino opened the vaults and put out the Missing Links collections, not to mention the various box sets, etc.
     
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  2. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    For me, “signature Nez” is his early 70s stuff. FNB, certainly, but also the albums that followed with Red.

    I agree this is a pretty good song though. Just can’t quite get on with “Electronica Nez” though. I know he’d been dabbling in this stuff for a while.

    Makes me curious to know what The Ocean sounds like now. I’d guess I’m not missing much.
     
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  3. JuanTCB

    JuanTCB Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I really like the vocal and the sentiment but the produciton here is just a crime. It's awful - maybe the worst offender yet. It's like he's trying to recreate Red with layers of electronig burbling. How can you create any sense of atmosphere or drama when the song is overstuffed like this?

    The pretty excellent vocal saves it. 3/5.
     
  4. super sally

    super sally Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mint Hill, NC USA
    I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again… I think later period Michael Nesmith wasn’t always successful at translating what was in his head and heart on tape. (Not many are, right?) that sound collage he got from red can’t be matched with the synths here. Just my opinion.

    that said — What we get is still pretty good to my ears. 4/5 for heart
     
  5. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    "Follows The Heart" -- 2.5/5

    Agreed that this sounds better than it probably is, under the circumstances. This would not be something I would consider to be a highlight if it was on any other Nesmith album, but here it's one of the 3 or 4 best songs. The production sours it quite a bit for me, unfortunately, and I don't feel this is a great vocal performance from him.
     
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  6. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    Not massively better, no -- a lot of that is the source tapes. Stuff like "Love To Love" and "Steam Engine" in particular were from poor sounding sources. But the cassette was a slight improvement.
     
  7. RobRoyF

    RobRoyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southland
    Follows The Heart - 4/5
    This is probably my favorite track on Rays. It has a beautiful melody and pleasant Nez vocal. It sorta reminds me of a synth version of the Beatles' Good Night on the white album. I wish the arrangement used more "real" instruments instead of keyboards. It seems a bit overproduced and busy in the instrumental area.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
  8. RobRoyF

    RobRoyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southland
    I only had the picture disc which was really cool. I liked the selection of songs as well since at the time I only knew some of them. I never bought it on cassette since part of the charm was having the picture disc.

    I bought a lot of cassettes way back in that era, but most of my Monkees collection was LPs at the time. Same with my Beatles purchases in the mid 80s. Before the CD releases, it was mostly LPs or 45s.
     
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  9. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    The ratings for Follows the Heart:

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

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Today we will discuss the album Rays.

    Unfortunately this is an album that I just can't listen to from start to finish. There are far too many instrumentals, several of which have negligible merit, and even some of the songs with vocals feel a little half-finished. There are only three songs (There It Is, Follows the Heart and the title track) that have any real substance for me, and you have to wait far too long to get to them.

    Mike also seemed to be slightly obsessed with being modern at this time (with Videoranch as well) and while that had worked fine during the birth of music video, everything sounds dated here. As I think another poster said earlier in the thread, you get the sense of an uncle trying to sound cool.

    I have made little playlists of 6 songs from time to time, and it works quite well as a mini-album in that form.

    2.5/5.
     
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  11. FredV

    FredV Senior Member

    Rays - I hadn’t revisited this album until this rating period. The first time I played it I found it interesting with Nez being so experimental, but I didn’t feel like coming back to it.

    Re-listening to it now I found it to be a little bit better than what I remembered. It does remind me of Paul McCartney’s experimental recordings as The Fireman and Twin Freaks, even a little of George Harrison’s Electronic Sound, only much more listenable.

    There are some good musical ideas floating around on this album and at least one more Nesmith classic with the title track. I may come back to this one again in the future. 4/5.
     
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  12. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    Rays -- 2/5

    Sorry, Nez. This album seems to be something he did to scratch a very specific artistic itch...which for some reason he felt necessary to share with the world. This does not sound like something that would appeal to the vast majority of his fanbase, and I have never been able to warm up to it on the whole. A few songs -- "Rays" and "There It Is" in particular, have enough going for them that I can honestly say I like them. Most of the rest could be expunged from all existence and I wouldn't care.

    I remember being irked at Michael throwing this out there initially as a super-limited, ridiculously expensive CD...I think only 100 copies, if memory serves -- which I didn't buy -- and after a while, started to get really bummed out about having "missed out". When he ultimately issued the standard edition of Rays, and I heard this music for the first time, I felt like I'd dodged a bit of a financial bullet.
     
  13. RobRoyF

    RobRoyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southland
    Rays - 2.5/5
    I was wavering between a 2.5 to 3 for this album. I'm still ambivalent about this effort. I think it is one of Nez' weakest efforts. And the thing is I really like instrumentals, but this one had too many and not enough vocal numbers in my opinion.

    I do remember when this album came out as I was getting back in my Monkee fandom around that time. I held out buying the exclusive set because I just didn't have enough $$. Later I bought it as a regular CD, but was quickly disappointed after a few listens.

    Even now I rarely listen to it. I might get into this album a bit more as I age (I suspect). I know I like it more now than just 15 years ago or so. And with that in mind, I might change my mind later on with my individual ratings - who knows? Part of life is change.
     
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  14. D-rock

    D-rock Senior Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Rays 4/5

    Considering this is the last Nesmith album (The Ocean is not an album), I find it very enjoyable. I do prefer to listen to Symphony of Rays more so. I revisit this album less than the others but "Friedrider", "Rays" & "Follows the Heart" make it on to most my Nez playlists.
     
  15. JJR

    JJR Forum Resident

    Location:
    delaware
    I listen to Rays on occasion. It is not in heavy rotation but I do put it on every now and then. It is different from much of Nesmith's offerings and much, much different than the first 6 LP's. I don't listen to it as much as those, nor probably any other release of his I own (believe I only don't have Garden/Ocean). Rays, the song, is really good and the other songs with lyrics, I enjoy as well. I did buy Rays when it came out, at least in full release, by then, I came to expect the unexpected from Nez, so I wasn't surprised necessarily by what was there. A 3.5 overall.
     
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  16. JuanTCB

    JuanTCB Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Rays is a conundrum and kind of an allegory for Mike's whole career - it would have been so much better with an outside producer to rein Mike in but he's also so, shall we say, individualistic that it wouldn't really be a Nesmith album if he was collaborating head-to-head with anybody else. Most of the time that works pretty spectacularly but when it doesn't? All aboard, Friedriders!

    Overall, I can't help but come back to the fact that it's a mediocre album with a couple of really good songs and some truly awful production. Pretty half-baked stuff (though the artist himself was probably fully baked). Could an outside hand have made chicken salad out of it? Hard to say, but I bet it would have been an improvement regardless.

    2.5/5, a shrug, and a "what if?"
     
  17. TEDA

    TEDA Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Rays is 2/5

    It’s just Nez playing around with electronic music that sometimes sounds interesting but not often enough for me.

    Anyone else reminded of the intro and musical cues from Seinfeld by this album? I’m not joking, it’s got that vibe/quality to me.
     
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  18. super sally

    super sally Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mint Hill, NC USA
    Rays — 3/5
     
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  19. DaveJ

    DaveJ Senior Member

    Location:
    Manchester, UK
    Follow The Heart, along with Rays, is one the best songs on the album. The instrumental break at 1.14 could almost make you think that you're listening to an outtake from The Prison.

    Follow The Heart - 4/5


    I was very excited about Rays when it was announced but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed when I finally got it. (I paid for the deluxe or whatever it was called and was also underwhelmed with the value for money but that's another story.)

    It's taken quite a while for it to grow on me and if you add my scores up for the individual tracks you wouldn't think it can have grown too much but the thing is, I think it holds much better together as an album. Much better. It also helps if you've sucked a THC infused sweet, although not so much that you're orbiting Neptune.

    Anyway, not one of my favourite albums of Papa Nes, I prefer Wichita for example.

    Rays - 3.5/5
     
  20. Guy Smiley

    Guy Smiley America’s Favorite Game Show Host

    Location:
    Sesame Street
    I don’t especially love Rays, but I feel the album has to be listened to start to finish given how the tracks flow into one another. It’s a rather disjointed piece, but something of a single piece nonetheless. Whether Nez succeeded in whatever he was going for here is debatable, but I think Rays works best as a complete listen.

    Several of the instrumentals (Or mostly instrumental, in some cases) are actually pretty strong. I’m just not sure all of then were fully developed. As you noted, even the three songs with a full set of lyrics seem half-finished. Relying so heavily on synthesizers, including synth horns and strings, and less on “organic” instruments didn’t help.

    Some artists, like Peter Gabriel or McCartney’s more avant-garde side (Check out The Fireman stuff, especially the outstanding Electric Arguments) can make this really work. I think Nez gave this a decent try, but somehow he falls well short of those other guys. Maybe Nez needed a collaborator or strong producer? A dedicated band? Something’s missing.

    I’ve listened to this album over the past week or two on Apple Music. They describe Rays as “a hard left turn into atmospherics, orchestrations and soundtrack-worthy songs that work together as a conceptual journey of Nez’s life.” They go on to say “It requires close listens to hear the distinct personalities in the tunes. Nez obviously left it up to the listener to decide whether the album is ironic. It rewards either way.”

    Having listened several times, I’m not hearing this “conceptual journey” (Perhaps the album cover art tells the story better than the actual music?) nor “distinct personalities in the tunes.” Not sure I’d call this terribly “Rewarding” either.

    I mean, I think my favorite track is “Land O’ Pies,” which is groovy, but a short little throwaway nonetheless!

    I’m glad Nez got back to stuff like FNB Redux, not to mention The Monkees, in recent years. Nez sounds natural in those settings. “Ironic” or not, Rays just sounds forced most of the time.

    Rays is, ultimately, greater than the sum of its parts but not by a lot. A low 3/5.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
  21. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    "Rays"-2/5
     
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  22. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    The ratings for Rays:

    1-0
    2-6
    3-4
    4-2
    5-0
     
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  23. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Today's song is Sexina:



    We will go very slightly out of order today and I believe this movie was released in 2007 (we will discuss Best Friend and then Peter's live album over the next couple of days).

    Both this theme and the movie itself are guilty pleasures for me. An obvious Bond parody, Davy hams it up for all he's worth and the song is all the better for it. It's hard to imagine anyone being more over the top...until you see Adam West's performance in the film.

    Davy sounds pretty good when he's playing it straight, but I prefer the camped up moments.

    3/5.
     
  24. Turk Thrust

    Turk Thrust Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.K.
    Here is a making of video:



    Davy comes across very well here and shows his sense of humour.
     
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  25. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    I missed rating Rays. However, I don't think I have a good enough take on the album as a whole. And, I think there's been plenty of discussion. A pity that this is Nez's last album. Perhaps he could do an album of covers of songs by the other three Monkees.

    Sexina

    This is effectively a Bond theme parody, and I think it works well in that role. Davy does what is needed for that song, and the arrangement also matches up. Not something I want to listen to repeatedly, but it's very interesting to hear as a one-off.

    3.2/5
     
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