On May 27, Rhino Records released The Monkees’ first album in 20 years, Good Times! It’s tied to the group’s 50th anniversary and their far-reaching North American tour. While you can tell by their voices that they’re a little older, the guys are still on pitch and making great music, giving a modern feel to their 60's sound.
The Monkees have always been a fun band. This album is no different. It starts off with the distinctive Monkees’ guitar style on “Good Times” and there’s a definite jangly guitar sound and ‘60’s style backing vocals on “Whatever’s Right.” “She Makes Me Laugh” is a lighthearted song and you can’t help but be happy with tunes like “Our Own World” which is warm and fuzzy.
The Monkees collaborated with a variety of musicians to write and record the songs on this album. The best is probably “You Bring the Summer” written with the reclusive Andy Patridge of XTC. Other collaborators are Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Noah Gallagher and an old tune by Neil Diamond called “Love to Love” that Davy Jones began to record in the 1960s. They use his voice posthumously and it’s hard to imagine a Monkees’ record without him.
There are tunes written by The Monkees’ members too. “I Know What I Know” is an obvious Nesmith tune with piano and synth. Peter Tork contributed “Little Girl” to the album, but it’s probably the most lackluster track on the record.
This album has an old time rock ‘n’ roll quality and the men’s voices are as clear as they’ve always been. While it’s been 20 years since they last released a record, it feels like they’ve picked up where they left off. This album is certainly worth the wait.