The Monkees had spent a good amount of time cleaning out their vault of material on two previous releases of Missing Links. Both of these excellent archival release were filled with rarities from the TV days, early song versions, and a significant amount of previously unreleased songs that showcased the large variety and stockpile of The Monkees' back catalog - in essence, I consider them to be myth-building, from the lost single "All of Your Toys" to the Nesmith country gems like "Nine Times Blue" and "Some of Shelly's Blues." So third time around, you'd think they have this down pat - well, to be honest, they're kinda scrapping the bottom of the barrel here. Some of the stuff on here, apart from not even being rare, just doesn't hit all the same points as the first two, and some of this stuff is, quite honestly, better left unheard. Even still, the occasional gem does show that there was, yet again, more to the group than meets the eye.
Let's start with the fact that for being the longest Missing Links album yet, five of the 24 songs aren't really full songs. You have the TV version of the theme (which I wouldn't necessarily call a "rarity"), the Italian "Tema Dei Monkees," (literally just the theme in Italian), the Kellogg's jingle, and two shorter intermission songs used in the show's syndicated Saturday Morning run. While these are good fun, they also aren't exactly... songs, and feel like more of a way to fill time than anything - friendly reminder that there are OTHER Monkees deep cuts that went unreleased on this like the Davy Jones number "Ceiling In My Room." Besides those, some of the material on this is just pure throwaway. Davy and Micky get the worst of it, but even Mike's material here leaves something to be desired at points - while early versions of "Little Red Rider" and "Hollywood" are both excellent additions, you have "Angel Band" and "How Insensitive," both of which are amongst his most derivative country tunes - no wonder they weren't used. Davy is slighted with "Penny Music," "Look Down," and the "She Hangs Out" single mix, with the former two being trite and just a little lacking respectfully, and the latter being the song that got Don Kirshner fired. That should speak to its quality. Micky fares better with some good tunes, but "Shake 'Em Up" may very well be the worst Monkees song recorded up to this point - the fucking vocals on this one are painful. Did I mention that the early song versions leave a bit to be desired? "Through the Looking Glass" isn't nearly as good first time around, and "Zor and Zam" does not hit the same as on The Birds, the Bees & The Monkees.
So what's good? Well, Davy has "Love to Love," a truly fantastic number from the Jeff Barry sessions in early 1967 - for my money it would've made a far better single than "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You." Mike has the aforementioned "Hollywood," which is amongst one of my favorite songs from him, as well as an alternate studio version of "Circle Sky" (They were really milking that song in the 90s, huh). The vocal on this version is clearer, and I'd wager it's the best studio version of the song - can't hold a candle to the live version, but this is pretty close. You also have "Propinquity," which has a solid version done here - almost as good as the Nevada Fighter version. Peter is the only one who consistently brings the energy, with his rocking "Tear the Top Right Off My Head" being one of the best songs here, and his mysterious "Merry Go Round" showcasing his songwriting talent beautifully. Micky even delivers on the record, with the punching "Steam Engine" track, the blazing "You're So Good," and two demos from the Headquarters era - an earlier, more vulgar and tongue-in-cheek version of "Midnight Train," and the somewhat dark and beautiful "She'll Be There."
No doubt there's some fine material to be found on Missing Links, Vol. 3, but it's easily the least essential out of the trilogy. Now, apparently there's word of a fourth Missing Links supposedly being on the way - I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how much I buy it, but if it does in fact come I'm sure it'll have great numbers on it. Even still, I think their third entry into the series has shown it to be a bit of barrel-scrapping at this point. All the best material has either been re-released on Super Deluxe Editions or are available on the first two Missing Links volumes, leaving Volume 3 feeling all the more unnecessary.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Missing Links, Vol. 3.
Comments
Post a Comment