Fantasic album, this was the first proper album of the Monkees i bought and it knocked the greatest hits album out of the water. From the opening giggles of 1,2,3, a parody on the Beatles "Revolver" album, Headquarters holds no barrs and launches straight into Mike Nesmith's first fantastic offering the upbeat country tune "You Told Me".
From then on it produces one great track after another, with stand out songs "I'll Spend My Life With You" beautifully sung by Micky, "Early Morning Blues and Greens", my favourite Davy Jones track of all time and of course the fabulous "Randy Scouse Git (Alternate Title)".
Now of course you can get Headquarters with bonus tracks added and these are a real treat, the Bill Martin song "All Of Your Toys" should have been released on the original album, it is so good and the haunting echoes of "Pillow Time" finish off the album to perfection.
The thing i like most about this album is the fact that you get in-between dialogue and out-takes which somehow make you feel that you were right along with them when they made this album. For a group who were originally picked to sing and act, but not play their instruments, this album proves to the critics that dubbed them second rate Beatles that they are far from that and the songwriting and music ability excedes what many had expected from them.
All i can say that if you are curious as to how the Monkees sound, buy this album and you will soon find out that the musical Marx Brothers are so much more than that.