The Monkees [Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

I have been a fan of the Monkees since they first appeared in 1966, when I was nine. The TV show and records profoundly affected me, initiating a lifelong love of music for which I am forever grateful. I have owned all of their recordings in every conceivable format, including all three of the previous CD versions of this album (the original Japanese issue, the US Arista and the previous Rhino).

I am a picky connoisseur. I am also a grouch. I was prepared to hate this so-called "deluxe" issue, ready to dismiss it as a cynical attempt to get hard-core fans (like me) to shell out AGAIN for the music we love. And I am a recording engineer who knows a thing or two about mastering.

Nevertheless, I am delighted to report that is not only the finest edition of this record ever released, it is one of the best reissues of a '60s pop album EVER issued.

Disc 1 has the original LP in stereo with nine bonus tracks. Side 2 has the LP's monaural mix plus eight MORE bonus tracks. The double-gatefold package is very impressive, the extensive liner notes (by Andrew Sandoval, who probably knows more about this group than anybody) are excellent, and the production credits are as complete as it's possible to recreate after forty years. There are also plenty of tasty photos, many of which I've never seen before.

Only seven of the seventeen bonus tracks have never been issued before. Most of the others appeared on either the previous Rhino version of this album, or on one of the three volumes of MISSING LINKS rarities released in the 90s (all now out of print). If you don't already have any of these discs, these tracks will be of great interest.

However, the real reason you want to get this edition is the sound. This album has never sounded as good as this, not EVER. Every track is clean and quiet, with low distortion and a degree of natural expressiveness I haven't heard in forty years of intent listening. I am not exaggerating. I do not work for Rhino. This is a genuinely impressive restoration job!

Curious as to what was being done, I extracted the waveforms into my computer and examined them. Amazingly, unlike almost every other remastering job being done these days, there has been no attempt to make this music sound as "loud" as possible. The entire dynamic range of the source tapes appears to be completely preserved! The waveform display clearly shows how some songs (like "I Wanna Be Free", or the central bridge of "Last Train To Clarksville") are ALLOWED to sound softer than the other tracks. This is almost un-heard of in today's world of iPod-friendly mixes with savagely squashed dynamic range. Congratulations and thanks to Dan Hersch, Andrew Sandoval and Bill Inglot at Digiprep for finally, FINALLY getting it right.

The same high standards apply to the companion edition of MORE OF THE MONKEES.

If you're a Monkees fan, you owe it to yourself to purchase these fine editions at once. Please support Rhino/Warner so they will be encouraged to continue issuing the remainder of the Monkees catalog in this truly deluxe format.

Let's hope somebody at Apple is paying attention.

NOTE: The mono mix of the album is a minor feature. Instead, it would be a lot more interesting to include the backing tracks of each song, without the vocals. This would allow us to study the arrangements in detail. And what a boon to karaoke enthusiasts!

If you are younger than me - and you probably ARE younger than me - then I'm afraid that you'll miss the relevance of the Monkees. In 1966, they were a phenomenon. They were also controversial. I was eight years old at the time, and I loved the band, the television show, the music, all of it. Along with the Beatles, they were a true obsession of mine. Older teenagers, though, cast doubt on my faith and fan-dom. They considered the Monkees to be pawns, a manufactured product who didn't (or couldn't) even play their own instruments. While I vaguely recognized some of their criticisms to be true, it didn't matter in the least to me. Besides, their arguments missed the most fundamental point; the music is good. Really good. While the older kids talked about Jefferson Airplane or the Rolling Stones, I reveled in the Monkees. It was fairly obvious that Davy Jones was not a whiz-bang musician, but the other guys appeared capable of playing, and they all sang great. Mike Nesmith even wrote some of their best songs, so at least he must be playing.

If you were to judge the band by this first album, then we would both be right. Studio musicians perform virtually every song here - including guitar work by Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork. What is revelatory is how a band - an admittedly manufactured band - would develop a strong rapport that made good material even better. "Last Train to Clarksville" is a good song, but the Monkees make it a great song. "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day" and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" are special because the Monkees bring a youthful energy that enlivens them. There are a few gaffs and laughable bits, like Davey's swoon-inducing "I Wanna Be Free" and "I'll Be True to You," but the balance of the record is incredibly strong. "Saturday's Child" still sounds great. Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" is one of the most beautiful songs of the decade, and the Monkees version utilizes imaginative Eastern tonalities that make it simultaneously unique and definitive. After this, the best tracks belong to Mike Nesmith. "Papa Gene's Blues" and "Sweet Young Thing" are the work of a fully developed and extraordinarily talented songwriter, so why didn't the naysayers acknowledge this?

This `special edition' release features the full stereo mix on one disk and the original mono mix on the other, with bonus material fleshing out both disks. The difference in the mixes isn't particularly revelatory, but the bonus tracks certainly are. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog (backing track)" rocks harder than the album version, while songs like "All the King's Horses," "I Don't Think You Know Me" and "Propinquity" should have made the album, if only space had allowed. This material is forty years old, and it has been endlessly maligned, but it has withstood the barrage of insults AND the test of time. So many people missed the point, but after forty years, maybe the Monkees will finally get some respect. A- Tom Ryan

This CD is simply the last word on these recordings. Terrific sound, great bonus tracks and wonderful packaging! Well worth the time and money to pick up. The bonus tracks are espeically nice. All four Monkees on backgound vocals for "Papa Gene's Blues" and "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" are worth the price alone.

If you're a fan of the Monkees or great pop music do yourself a favor and pick up this - and "More of the Monkees" - deluxe edition. You won't be disappointed. Easily one of the best reissues of older material I've seen. A major thank you to Rhino and Andrew Sandoval for putting this together!