Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky [Mono Version]
Pleasant Valley Sunday [Mono Version]
Daily Nightly [Mono Version]
Don't Call on Me [Mono Version]
Star Collector [Mono Version]
Special Announcement [*]
Salesman [*]
Cuddly Toy [#/*]
Goin' Down [*]
The Door into Summer [*]
Daily Nightly [#/*]
Star Collector [#/*]
In an effort to restore and remaster the music of The Monkees, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, LTD is back in a new and improved way! Featuring "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Salesman," and "Cuddly Toy," this album... more » is a great addition to any Monkees fan's collection.« less
In an effort to restore and remaster the music of The Monkees, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, LTD is back in a new and improved way! Featuring "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Salesman," and "Cuddly Toy," this album is a great addition to any Monkees fan's collection.
CD Reviews
Pleasant valley tuesday
Robert Pendarvis | Savannah, GA | 07/10/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"my copies of the deluxe versions of HEADQUARTERS and PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES LTD. turned up today and they were worth the wait. both albums are special in their own way. HEADQUARTERS, the monkees' third album, featured the band playing their own instruments (augmented by their producer, chip douglas, on bass) and has a strong country rock/garage band sound, thanks mostly to the influence of mike nesmith. it's a fun, charmingly "homemade" album, but the guys decided to make PISCES a compromise, using ace session players (while still contributing plenty of guitar/keyboards/percussion of their own).
the music on this album is an eclectic mix of country/rock/pop/lounge/psychedelia sounds that blend surprisingly well. producer douglas, under-appreciated at the time by the band, helped maintain a unified overall vibe, despite the stylistic shifts from track to track. my personal favorite songs are PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY, WHAT AM I DOING HANGING 'ROUND?, DAILY NIGHTLY, THE DOOR INTO SUMMER, LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING and, of course, CUDDLY TOY...but the whole album is ear candy from start to finish (even the much-maligned davy jones number, HARD TO BELIEVE).
the deluxe edition of this album features a bunch of bonus tracks, including many previously unreleased mixes. i found myself prefering some of these to the originals (i had similar feelings listening to the also-included mono mix of the entire album).
andrew sandoval's liner notes are well written and helpfully informative (well, not a whole lot of new info for my jaded ears, but still nicely presented). all-in-all, i thought the whole package was a great tribute to the original classic. i can only hope and pray that the folks in charge of the beatles' upcoming re-mixes can be half as responsible and fan-friendly as andrew.
long live the texas praire chicken!
"
As the years go by, people changing every day.
Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 02/17/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is generally considered to be the Monkees best album, although some would give that honor to Headquarters, which has the distinction of having the majority of the instruments played by the Monkees themselves. The Monkees didn't contribute as much instrumentally to this album, although Tork and Nesmith did play on most of the tracks, with Dolenz and Jones lending a hand to several of them. As for the songs, there are several great ones here, with no real bad ones. Heck, I like 'em all! This "deluxe edition" features both the mono and stereo versions of the album, with different bonus track added to each album. With the exception of "Goin' Down", "Riu Chiu" and a brief "Special Announcement", the bonus track are alternate mixes of songs from the album. Whether you need to have both the mono and stereo albums and several alternate mixes probably depends on how much you like the Monkees. F.Y.I., here is how the alternate mixes differ from the "regular" versions:
Disc 1
"Salesman" - has monologue at the end, runs half a minute longer
"She Hangs Out" - no horns, runs half a minute longer
"Love Is Only Sleeping" - different vocals
"What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?" - different vocals, runs a few seconds longer
"Star Collector" - no Moog synthesizer, runs half a minute longer
Disc 2
"Salesman" - has monologue at the end, fades out earlier than the alternate mix on disc 1
"Cuddly Toy" - echoing effect at the end goes on about half a minute longer
"The Door Into Summer" - different vocals
"Daily Nightly" - no Moog synthesizer
"Star Collector" - different Moog synthesizer part, runs half a minute longer"
Tied with Headquarters as their best album
Sandi | 01/25/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"On several songs, The Monkees almost achieve Beatledom.
I can give no higher compliment.
The Monkees were a very good band who, because of their perceived "fakeness", are seriously underrated and overlooked. Naysayers should give this album a listen.
If you're a Monkees fan, you'll love it. If you're not a Monkees fan, give it a chance."
Unprofessional production of a great CD....
Bo Duke--The Elvis Presley Fan | Pittsburgh Steelers Country, USA | 11/24/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I am a Monkees Fan from childhood. This CD and Headquarters are by far their best ever, because they played the instruments and had control over the creativity. BUT, the people that produced and mixed the Deluxe Edition of this and Headquarters missed the mark. It sounds a bit rushed and compressed. If they cared about the Monkees, the sound or putting out a decent product they ruined it by making them sound compressed and rushed. I am sure there are others out there that agree and others, myself included, who could have and would have done better, because I am a fan first and foremost wouldn't matter. Not as much as the integrity, which I can't find in the rush job here and on Headquarters. I am disappointed that it is only a halfway decent job at best, NOT a great job.
"
All the tracks from the previous edition plus the mono/stere
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 08/23/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After The Monkees made their seminal album as a band Headquarters (Deluxe Edition, 2 CD) they returned with a more experimental album influenced by "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", Love's "Forever Changes" and other albums happening at the time. "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd" is equally as strong as its predecessor although it lacks the large amount of previously unreleased songs (we do get a number of previously unavailable here and the available remixes/alternate mixes ported over from the previous edition), it's an important album for the group.
The album sounds terrific and features both the mono and stereo mixes of the album for the first time together on CD. Bill Inglot has done a fine job of remastering these and Andrew Sandoval's notes and production supervision is, as usual, top notch. If you own the previous edition, this might be worthwhile if you want the mono mixes and the previously unavailable alternate mixes of the album. This reissue isn't quite as essential in many respects as "Headquarters" (which had a mixture of previously unreleased takes as well as tracks from the "Missing Links" CDs assembled all in the first place for the first time with "Headquarters" where they belong). Some audiophiles may quibble with Inglot's mastering choices but overall, it's a fair representation of the album with a lot more detail than has been heard on CD before.
It features arguably one of the best songs they ever recorded by outside writers the brilliant Goffin-King "Pleasant Valley Sunday" which they arrange (producer Chip Douglas and Mike Nesmith came up with the infectious lick that opens the song inspired by songs like "Day Tripper" and "Satisfaction")brilliantly. The group, with the exception of a handful of songs, went back to bringing in session players to play on the sessions enabling them to finish the album in a timely fashion but also broadening the type of sounds on the album. Nevertheless THEY were in charge.
Nesmith contributes two songs the jazzy/nightclub sounding "Don't Call On Me" (written with bassist John London who played on many of their sessions) and "Daily Nightly" with Mickey singing lead vocals. The band revived the Boyce/Hart song "Words", covered soon-to-be rock star Harry Nilsson ("Without You", "The Coconut Song", "You're Breakin' My Heart")"Cuddly Toy" a song with an infectious melody and a darkly misogynistic lyric. Bill Martin and Chip Douglas' "The Door into Summer" and the Mann/Weill "Love is Only Sleeping" are marvelous showcases for Nesmith's vocals.
The next couple of albums would continue the experimental trend with the guys superivising the albums but still bringing in session players. Unfortunately, Chip Douglas (aka Douglas Farthing Hatlelid)would only produce one more track on their next album."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1