The Definitive Monkees

AMG Review of The Definitive Monkees

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

This two-CD set, issued in Europe about a week before Rhino Records' expanded box appeared in America, resembles either a considerably expanded and upgraded version of the old Arista Records set Then & Now..., or a more entertaining successor to Rhino Records' 1998 Anthology. The disc, running just under 80 minutes and containing 29 songs, is for the listener who wants the hits and the best album tracks all gathered in one place, including ubiquitous numbers like the television series' second-season end credit track, "For Pete's Sake." These have been remastered, so there's lots of presence in all of the playing, and the vocals never sounded better; the songs all have thick, dense textures, much heavier and harder and upfront than they did on the radio in 1966-1967, with good stereo separation. This set is proof, as though any were needed, that the nicest thing ever to happen to the Monkees' music was getting it moved into the hands of Rhino Records, whose library was the source for these masters.