Monkees Original Album Series a Must for Fans

Long-time Monkee fans know that Rhino Entertainment has been releasing compilations of Monkees material since the 1980's. Most of us have at least a few of the compilations that include outtakes and alternate versions of some of their most popular singles and album cuts. Over the years, Rhino has also released most of the Monkees' albums from the 1966-1970 period, plus some original material like the "Pool It" and "Justus" albums from the 80's and 90's. What has been missing is a simple boxed set that includes the five albums that continue to define the Monkees today, those first five Colgems albums that kept the Monkees near and dear to the hearts of millions of teenage fans.

In order to correct the problem, Rhino has released The Monkees Original Album Series. Each of these five seminal albums are represented in the set. You can begin your journey through the Monkees' history with that very first release from 1966, "The Monkees", then move on to "More of the Monkees", "Headquarters", "Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones Ltd", and finally "The Birds The Bees and the Monkees".

Each CD in the set follows the exact track series of the original Colgems albums. In addition, each of the five CDs also include bonus tracks. Some of these extra tracks are alternate versions of released materials that were actually used in the television show, while others are recorded versions that were later revised for actual release. The insights into how the Monkees experimented with different lead singers on some of the takes, as well as different tempos and approaches to certain songs, helps to enhance the Monkees discography by demonstrating that far from being simply cogs in a corporate machine, these guys really were capable of making music in their own right.

Best of all, the Monkees Original Album Series includes reproductions of each of the original album covers, back and front, a treat for those of us who still have the original LPs but want to take our heroes with us in the car and elsewhere. Money is not a big issue with this set either. Unlike some of the other Monkees compilations from years past, this five-CD set is available at a very reasonable price.

Treat yourself to some memories, and enjoy some solid pop/rock music that has held up over the test of time. Even if you never saw the Monkees during the run of their TV show or grew up watching reruns on Saturday mornings, it is still possible to find yourself singing along with these great songs. Check into the set today and see what you think.