The eighty-fifth album: #85 The Monkees - Headquarters
We'll be watching the Monkees TV show at some point in the future. Today we get their first real album - the third to be published from the band, but the first they played on and wrote themselves. Of course, from my perspective, I'm now comparing that with the Beatles' album released a week later, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And while that may not be perfection, this feels like it harkens back so much more to old Beatles material (which I think the Monkees were meant to at least somewhat invoke). It's not until Shades of Gray that it went beyond that, a soft, wistful ballad that sounds a lot more unique - the folk direction working for Jones' and Tork's voices.
The second side of the album works better for that reason. Abandoning the love songs, we get more interesting songs, relying on Dolensz as another strong vocalist who gets more focus and more of a mix of styles. They feel like they show more skill and interest, which is a major help. Sunny Girlfriend sounds like a love song, but is played with a hint of sarcasm that really makes it sound that bit better. And then you get Zilch. A spoken track that overlays the four vocalists each repeating a key phrase, creating its own kind of music that feels unique on its own and may well be my standout track of the album, if only because of the statement it makes of the Monkees as artists and writers. And it explains why I know of Mister Bob Dobalina. Another question answered.