The Monkees: Selections From The Headquarters Sessions (Rhino/2012)

Aside from being known for their classic hit singles “I'm A Believer”, “Last Train To Clarksville” and “Daydream Believer”, the Monkees also had some notoriety for not being the actual musicians who played on the records. The Monkees was conceived by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schnieder as an American television show equivalent of The Beatles. Half of the Monkees were actors and the other half were musicians. As a need to promote The Monkees name, the band needed to tour - which necessitated the need for all four Monkees to learn their respective instruments. So for the Summer of 1967 the band toured the U.S.. For the first two Monkees albums studio musicians were used on all recordings except vocally.

However for the third album, Headquarters, the band played nearly all the instruments themselves. In 2000 Rhino released The Headquarters Sessions, an 84-track 3-CD set on their boutique Rhino Handmade label. Selections From The Headquarters Sessions is a vinyl-only condensation of that and is an eight-song mini album consisting of highlights from the recording sessions. “All Of Your Toys” which the band had earmarked as their third single was marred by problems involving the publishing and their producer Don Kirschner. The song is presented here in it's original mono version. Also appearing in its' mono version is the original version of Mike Nesmith's “The Girl I Knew Somewhere”. An alternate version (with an unused tag) of the single “Randy Scouse Git” is another highlight. Rounding things out are a few acoustic demos from Mike Nesmith the backing track for “No Time” and a solo Peter Tork banjo performance of the traditional “Cripple Creek”.

This release is limited pressing of 2,000 on red vinyl that was issued for Record Store Day 2012 on Rhino Records. It is basically for Monkees fans who can't get enough Monkees vinyl and as such a nice collection for them. 

Here's The Video Review:

The dB's: Revolution Of The Mind (Orange Sound Records/2013)

Winston-Salem North Carolina's The dB's were one of the leading-lights of the American Power Pop/Jangle Rock movement of the late 70's/early 80's. In 1988, after ten years and four albums the band called it a day. In 2005 the original line-up reformed to play various shows and in 2011 they released the Picture Sleeve single on their own Orange Sound Records (“The Label With Appeal”) and the Falling Off The Sky album on Bar/None Records in 2012.

Released on Record Store Day in 2013 Revolution Of The Mind (also on Orange Sound Records) is a four-song EP on Orange Vinyl in a limited pressing of 2,000 (and includes a digital download). The EP is basically a four-song distillation of makes the band special. The title-track is a minor-key rocker that features a hypnotic siren-esque lead guitar riff. “Lakefront” is compelling ballad with Mellotron-strings that would've been a lovely addition the most recent full-length album and recalls earlier dB's tracks such as “Nothing Is Wrong” and “From A Window To Screen”. “Orange Squeezer” is a whimsical Chris Stamey composition about a Dan Armstrong compressions pedal. And rounding things out is a live version of “pH Factor” (which first appeared as a the B-side to their 1982 “Neverland” single). “pH Factor, which references song author Peter Holsapple, is a sleepy Raybeats-like surf instrumental. And this is a very-well recorded live version of the song.

The EP is once again, a nice distillation of what makes the dB's a special band (i.e. good songwriting, a thoughtful approach to playing and challenging hooks). The vinyl itself is of nice quality and is on nice Orange Vinyl. All-in-all a nice piece for the dB's fan. And also quite appealing for the uninitiated as well.

Here's the video review:

No Alternative (2013/1993 Legacy/Arista Records)

No Alternative is a compilation album that was released in the Autumn of 1993 by Arista Records and was funded by the Red Hot Organization. The Red Hot Organization is a non-profit organization that has released over a dozen album and raised over 10 million dollars towards AIDS-research. No Alternative is a various artists compilation of several leading lights of the mid 90's alternative pop movement. This was the age of  MTV's 120 Minutes and Alternative Nation, when clueless major labels signed any and everything vaguely “alternative”. This made for an interesting time as bands who weren't given the time of day (before Nevermind by Nirvana introduced Modern Rock and Alternative to those who'd otherwise had never been exposed to it) were suddenly given the keys to the kingdom.

In tandem to the record's release, MTV produced and hour-long No Alternative special which was later released on home video. To celebrate it's twentieth anniversary, it was reissued on 180 gram vinyl and was issued on RECORD STORE DAY in 2013. Like other alternative comps of the day (i.e. DGC Rarities Volume One, Born To Choose and the Singles OMPS) No Alternative was something of a staple of the Alternative Music Lover's collection and thus has something of a 90's relic status.

The inherent problem with compilations like these, is that no one artist ends of bringing their best material to the table. There are several live versions of songs and covers as well. Stars of the day include Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and an unlisted track by Nirvana. Established acts like Bob Mould, Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Jonathan Richman and the legendary Patti Smith. Bands on the cusp of their stardom like Matthew Sweet, Goo Goo Dolls, Sarah McLachlan and Soul Asylum. And indie stars like Pavement, Uncle Tupelo, Buffalo Tom and The Breeders.

Obviously there's going to be plenty of hit-and-miss per individual listener. But my personal favorite tracks are “Superdeformed” by Matthew Sweet featuring the fantastic Ivan Julian of the Voidoids and the Outsets on lead guitar and the legendary Nicky Hopkins on piano, “For All To See” by Buffalo Tom, “Can't Fight It” by Bob Mould (recorded just before his stint with Sugar) and “Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence” by Pavement. That's not to say that the Goo Goo Dolls cover of The Rolling Stones' “Bitch” isn't amusing as it features the late Buffalo lounge singer The Incredible Lance Diamond on lead vocals or Sonic Youth's take on their early track “Burning Spear” isn't worth an precarious listen or the Beastie Boys live take of “It's The New Style” isn't flat-out great.

That's for you to decide.

Here's The Video Review:

Dedicated to: The Incredible Lance Diamond

The Box Tops: Soul Deep: The Best Of (Simply Vinyl/1999)

Memphis Tennessee’s The Box Tops were one of the greatest Blue-eyed soul bands of the 1960's. The band had a soulful pop sound that rested alongside bands like The Rascals, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and The Righteous Brother quite comfortably. In addition to such fine hits as “The Letter”, “Neon Rainbow” & “Cry Like A Baby”, the band was also responsible for producing one of the largest cult artists of the modern rock era in Alex Chilton. Chilton joined the band at age 16 and shortly thereafter recorded “The Letter” which went to #1 and was the bands biggest selling single. The band released four albums and twelve singles (10 of which were in  Billboard 's Top-100) before disbanding in early 1970.

Soul Deep: The Best Of The Box Tops is the definitive Box Tops compilation album. Originally released in the US in 1996 on Arista and the UK in 1999 on the Simply Vinyl label. The record contains all ten of the bands' charting singles including the  cover of  Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released”, the ode to prostitution “Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March”, the big production of “I Met Her In Church” and the Mark James-penned “Turn On A Dream”. The album also contains four of the seven Chilton compositions the band recorded. “I Must Be The Devil” is a legitimate blues-excursion.“Together” is a perfectly hazy late 60's confection. “I See Only Sunshine” is the lone song that possibly hints to the writing Alex would do with Chris Bell on Big Star's Number One Record.

Perhaps overstated is how vastly different Alex Chlton's voice sounds after he left the Box Tops. He went from the growling old-man vocals “The Letter” which he recorded at age 16 with The Box Tops to the sweet harmony-laden vocals of “Thirteen” when he was 20 with Big Star. Chilton has said he was just copying the direction of Box Tops producer Dan Penn and found his own true voice after spending a year in with the folk-set in New York City in 1970.

The only real compliant is the absence of the final two singles the band released before Chilton left the band. Those are Randy Newman's “Let Me Go” (which appeared in the motion picture The Pursuit Of Happiness) and the Wayne Carson Thompson song “King's Highway”. Both are fine singles and easily could've replaced average album-fare such as “Happy Times”, “Fields Of Clover” or “She Shot A Hole In My Soul”.

 Recommended for Big Star fans looking for a starting point in finding out where Alex Chilton got his start. And truth be told The Box Tops are a fairly easy band to enjoy. Chilton himself professed to preferring the Box Tops to Big Star in the 1990's. The material is well-produced and holds up as well made 60's pop.

Here's The Video Review:

Thanks to: The Box Tops.

The Byrds: Sanctuary III (Sundazed Music/2001)

It might be easy to forget now, but behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones & The Beach Boys - The Byrds were quite possibly the most popular and influential band of the 1960s. They ushered in folk rock, raga rock, acid rock and country rock all with equal creative success. Sundazed Music has released all of their albums in both stereo and mono along with a line of revisionist alternate releases as well. They've released a series of four albums of all unreleased and alternate versions of tracks on vinyl. Sanctuary III is the third of these releases and it contains tracks from the Ballad Of Easy Rider from 1969 and their Untitled album from 1970. The band are in their country rock period here and are just starting to sound comfortable as such.

This version of the Byrds included bassist John York and drummer Gene Parsons. The Untitled tracks feature Skip Battin on bass. The best tracks here are a cover of The Pentangle's "Way Behind The Sun", a version of "Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood" written by a then-unknown songwriter by the name of Jackson Browne, a longer version of "Ballad Of Easy Rider" that features virtuoso guitarist Clarence White and an alternate version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". The band made a tradition of covering one Dylan song on each album. And I daresay their version of "Baby Blue" is the very best of these.

 There are also a few interesting instrumentals ("Build It Up" and "White's Lightening Parts I & II") which make for a nice showcase for the late, great Clarence White and his B-Bender Telecaster. The majority of the Sanctuary tracks have all appeared as bonus tracks on the respective album's CD reissues for which they were recorded for. However here the tracks have a nice unified cohesive whole, instead of appearing as also-rans after each album's original tracks. If you are a fan of the Byrds and are looking for a nice vinyl series in which to invest, by all means pick up the four records on 180 Gram vinyl on Sundazed Music that make up Sanctuary series.


Here's The Video Review:

Special Thanks: Sundazed Music.

The Cure: Entreat Plus (Rhino/Elektra/2012).

 Entreat is a live album that was recorded at London's Wembley Arena in July of 1989 in support of the bands' monumental and very successful Disintegration album. In fact Entreat is essentially the Disintegration album, in sequence, live.

Songs on Entreat Plus had previously had been released in dribs and drabs, namely on the Lullaby and Pictures Of You singles. And then in 1990 eight songs had been culled and released in the UK-only as mini-album Entreat. However all 12 songs from Disintegration had been performed at these Wembley shows and were amongst the most in-demand to be released from the band, for some time.

In 2009 the tracks were finally mixed by Robert Smith for the triple-CD reissue of Disintegration and for a subsequent vinyl-only release. After a few delays, it was finally released as a very-nice 180-Gram double-vinyl set on Elektra/Rhino for Record Store Day 2012.

If you are a fan of The Cure, this release is highly recommended. It's a beautifully-recorded
set, tastefully-performed and somehow manages to retain the integrity of the studio recordings - which is no easy feat. "Fascination Street", "Love Song", "Lullaby" and "Pictures Of You" are all given fine readings here.
Even Robert Smith's vocals - which can sometimes be stubbornly and willfully erratic (like a child
manipulating a temper-tantrum) are right on the mark. Alcohol was a main-factor in his live vocal performances in the mid 1980's. Here he sounds sober enough to execute everything perfectly. As are the members of The Cure, who were now without one-time-drummer-turned-keyboard-player Laurence Tolhurst.

This was basically The Cure at their peak, creatively. And they were seemingly at the peak of their powers live and Robert Smith as a songwriter seemed to be able to do no wrong.

Highly Recommended for the Cure fan.

Here's The Video Review:

Special Thanks to: Denver Gillette and Zorro Zero.

The Fleshtones: Wheel Of Talent (Yep Roc Records 2014)

New York City's The Fleshtones have been producing their unique brand of "Super Rock" since 1976. Originally from Queens - transplanting to Brooklyn in the early 90's - the band has been the preeminent nuevo garage rock band since the early 80's. Connoisseurs of 60's soul, pop, garage and surf. The band has released Wheel Of Talent, their twenty-second album in total and their seventh since being signed to the wonderful Yep Roc Records in 2002.

There is the very first use of a string section on a Fleshtones album - on the single "Available" (which addresses the gentrification of Brooklyn) and "How To Say Goodbye". Both tracks incorporate them nicely into the bands melodic area. The album's other single ("For A Smile") features girl-group lead vocals from Southern Culture On The Skid's Mary Huff. "The Right Girl" is a British Invasion-styled nugget and features faux-cockney ballad vocals from Peter Zaremba. "It Is As It Was" features guitarist Keith Streng on lead vocals and references the bands biography Sweat: The Story Of The Fleshtones, America's Garage Band (Continuum Press, written by Joe Bonomo). "Roofarama" features a liberal amount of wah-wah guitar and whooping-backing vocals.

 "Remember The Ramones" is about that Other band from Queens that The Fleshtones were friends/peers with and the time. "The Clash and The Pistols didn't exist/CBGB's was very loud/Suicide attacked the crowd/I was drinking Remy (Martin) with Marty Thau". The band humorously sings the chorus as "Remem. Ber The Ramones". The band does a Spanish-language cover of The Music Explosion's "I See The Light" (a live version of which previously appeared on their Soul Madrid LP). "Hipster Heaven" bemoans Williamsburg hipsters. Not a new subject for the band (the band's "Take A Good Look" from 2008 and "Haunted Hipster" from 2013 do the same). "Tear For Tear" is my personal favorite track and it closes things out nicely in a soulful way. And it features very nice lead vocals from Peter Zaremba.

The band seems to have refined the sound they established on the trilogy of excellent albums they released from in the mid 2000's (Do You Swing? from 2003, Beachhead from 2005 and Take A Good Look from 2008). The muscular rhythm section of Bill Milhizer and Ken Fox are well-accounted for. The Farfisa organ of Peter Zaremba is present (albeit sparingly) as are the garage band backing vocals of the group. The album features guest backing vocals from none other than original Fleshtones bassist Jan Marek Pakulski (who was also on the band's 2001 Solid Gold Sound album). As a longtime-fan, it's nice to see his name grace a new Fleshtones album.

You may have heard Steven Van Zandt sing the praises of The Fleshtones on his Little Steven's Underground Garage program or maybe you heard them on an I.R.S. Records compilation from the 1980's. Either way it's high-time to discover this durable band as this album (as is Beachhead or Take A Good Look) is a nice modern introduction.

Here's the video review:

Thanks to: Yep Roc Records, Cassandra Fowler and The Fleshtones.