|
Rating:  -
Justus is thirty-nine minutes and fifty-three seconds long and was released on October 15, 1996. It went to #200 on the Billboard Album chart. Though I am a Monkees fan, I was a little disappointed with this CD. First of all, how many times can Circle Sky are played in different ways. Also none of the songs on this CD jump out as catchy tunes and none of the songs charted as well. This was the Monkees 11th studio album and their seventh as a foursome. Basically this was Headquarters all over again. The only different is that Headquarters was a better album. Mickey sings lead on six of the songs while, Davy sings lead on four song and Peter and Michael sing lead on one each. Justus gets a B-.
Circle Sky-Michael
Never Enough-Mickey
Oh, What A Night-Davey
You and I-Davey
Unlucky Stars-Mickey
Admiral Mike-Mickey
Dyin' of a Broken Heart-Mickey
Regional Girl-Mickey
Run Away From Life-Davey
I Believe You-Peter
It's My Life-Mickey
It's Not Too Late-Davey
Rating: -
people tend to pan this album about the monkees trying too hard to be a 90's sounding band.this is not the case this is a reunion album of the four original monkees they did this before something unfourtunate happened to one of them.the tried hard they probably didn't succeed but
they tried.it really isn't a bad effort there are some decent tracts such as YOU AND I,REGINONAL GIRL,even IT'S MY LIFE,and davy's ITS NOT TOO LATE
but in this case it was too late.MIKE should have been involved in 1986
when the band first came back this might have sold and gotten them some respect but the poor PREFAB FOUR couldn't be so lucky.hey hey its the MONKEES once you accept that it really isn't a bad effort.
Rating: -
Justus is a very good album with quite a bit of good songs on it. Plus, you'd think by 1996 that a band like The Monkees wouldn't be able to make something as enduring as their classics, but the song on this album called "It's My Life".... That song is INCREDIBLE!!!!! That song can definately fit up there with Last Train To Clarksville, Daydream Believer, (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone, etc.! If you can find a copy of this, please check it out!
Rating: -
When I first heard this years ago, I thought it was awful and got rid of it.
I picked it up again a few months ago (it's CHEAP used) and gave it another shot. I wasn't blown away this time either, but I was willing to give it a few more listens.
Now, after having listened to it many times, I have come to see it as one of the best Monkees albums. It's my second favorite after Headquarters.
It's far from being a perfect album. Someone once described it as "weird, flawed, and eccentric" and I agree. Certainly, the album could have been better with the omission of a weak track such as "Run Away From Life" in favor of a good Mike number. It is this albums greatest flaw that Mike is so absent on lead vocals.
But Mike did have a heavy hand in this one. He played guitar on all the songs, sang back up, and he produced it (though production is credited to "the Monkees"). "Wool hat" is all over this record, but for one reason or another, he opted to let the other Monkees shine. As a fan, I don't agree with that decision, but who am I to argue?
My favorites are Regional Girl, Dyin of a Broken Heart, Oh What a Night, You and I, It's my life, Admiral Mike, Circly Sky, and I Believe You. The other songs aren't as good, but I've grown to appreciate them.
Perhaps the reason this album has suffered such poor critical reviews is that it doesn't sound anything like the Monkees we remember. It's a bit heavy, almost grungy at times. I think that was a brilliant approach. The Monkees in 1996 were trying to make an album that was modern, not something retro to appeal to their older fans. It had a ballsy and fresh 90's sound that was different from anything they had done before. But there was one problem....there was no audience for it. While 60's fans were looking for Carole King type ditties produced by Chip Douglas, 90's music fans were looking for martyrs. To make matters more difficult, this album got very little in the way of promotion. There was an ABC special, but almost nothing after that. They made excellent videos for several of the songs (the black and white Regional Girl video is one of my favorites) that never got any airplay on MTV. While there had been a tremendous buzz around the Monkees in the 1980's, there was none in the 1990's. Justus was the wrong album released by the wrong band at the wrong time.
Had the same identical album been released in 1987 instead of Pool It, I think it would now be regarded as a classic.
There is something to be said about the Monkees playing together as a band. They seem to enjoy playing together and there is a chemistry that I can't explain. It isn't found on albums like "Pisces..", "Head", or "More of...", but it is on Headquarters and on Justus. I only wish they had made more albums as a quartet.
I prefer this sequence...
1. You and I
2. Never Enough
3. Dyin of a Broken Heart
4. Circle Sky
5. Unlucky Stars
6. Admiral Mike
7. I Believe You
8. Run Away From Life
9. Regional Girl
10. Oh, What a Night
11. It's my LIfe
12. It's Not Too Late
Rating:  -
This album was released in 1996, for the Monkees 30th Anniversary. For the first time since 1968, all four Monkees contributed to the album. And for the first time ever, the Monkees performed all the instruments, sang all the notes, and wrote all the songs. They were probably shooting for something like their classic album Headquarters. But what they ended up with is an album that contends with Changes for the title of "Worst Monkees Album". The problem is that, frankly, most of the songs aren't very good. Sure, "Circle Sky" is a good song, but the Monkees already recorded that twice, so what's the point of doing a third version? Nesmith wrote one other song besides that one; the lousy "Admiral Mike", featuring an overacted vocal by Dolenz. The other Monkees wrote the other songs, and they aren't that impressive for the most part. There are a few interesting moments here and there, but they are few and far between. As a longtime Monkees fan, this album was a big disappointment.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Most Popular TV collectibles
|
|
Home
Articles
Images
Forum
Search
Shopping
TV Trivia
Watch TV
Wallpaper
