The Monkees are my #1 all-time favorite band. And this package may be the best overview of their material to be found in one place. Certainly, it's more than worth it for the large book with all those great photographs alone! But for the absolute purists, I should warn you-- many of the tunes here are somewhat remixed, and that can be jarring if you're used to what they "should" sound like. My recommendation is, if you're REALLY a Monkees fan-- skip this box, GO the whole route and get ALL the Rhino Monkees CDs! They were done after this, when Rhino had aquired all the master tapes, and are better in sound quality. Plus, how can you NOT want ALL their songs? I sure did!

I bought this box set in the early 90's with the complete and unapologetic intention of getting back to my roots. As the youngest of four siblings, the others all being much older than myself, I was exposed to the Monkees, Beatles, etc., for as long as I can remember. We always want to embrace our best memories, especially as we grow older and experience more of what life has in store for us. The Monkees are truly an ear candy happy place for a lot of people, and yours truly is no exception. I'm also happy to see that a so-called caricature band is being embraced by a lot of very young people here! Congratulations for discovering some very good music, regardless of what you may have heard.

It doesn't matter that the band started out as somebody's idea for a TV show aimed at the youth of the 60's. They had great songwriters like Boyce and Hart, King and Goffin, David Gates, and so on writing some very well-crafted, catchy-to-this-day songs that are still not being forgotten. That alone is proof positive against the arguments of all those dismissive naysayers. Let that make you say "I'm a Believer!"

The hits are all here from the TV show theme to 1986's not-so-great "Heart and Soul." I would like mostly to direct your attention to the first two discs in this four-cd collection, because there's not one bad song on either of them. Even the album tracks from that era are great, including when the band finally took over and began to write and play their own music under the tutelage of former Turtles member Chip Douglas (No, he is not the middle boy on My Three Sons, and he's not the brainchild behind Manheim Steamroller--his name is Chip Davis. And, yes, I write this because I kept getting confused about the name myself!:-D). In fact, the band recorded two great albums with Douglas, containing some great self-penned hits like Micky Dolenz's "Randy Scouse Git"(a song about his future and ex-wife Samantha) and the great bluesy brass driven "Goin' Down" before their unfortunate decline with The Birds, the Bees, and the Monkees, an album I never cared too much about. The other two cds aren't as consistently good, but they contain some true gems like "D.W. Washburn," the beautiful and hard-to-find "Someday Man," and one of my favorite of all of Mike Nesmith's country rock ditties, "Good, Clean Fun."

You also get a booklet full of rare photos, track-by-track descriptions of what was going down around the time of the recordings, and full studio musician credits. This box set is a must to own for both newcomers and long-time fans alike. I recommend it highly to anyone interested in this band that some never expected to have any lasting effect, and encourage you to keep their name buzzing around for many more years to come!

I guess it's okay finally to come out of the closet and admit to enjoying the Monkees. This collection is everything I could want from a box set. There's every major hit, every cool tune that wasn't a hit, several very interesting alternate versions, and some neat rarities to boot. On top of that, there's a beautiful book of notes-- great background tales, new material, and best of all (for me, anyway) meticulous notes about who played what, when. Regardless of how you feel about the concept of casting a band or 60's pop almost-bubble gum, how can anyone look at the listing of writers and players in this group's library and not be at least intrigued? For the Monkees fan who's too poor to buy every single cd separately, this is a great adition to the library.

It's not the perfect overview, as later editions of The Monkees albums would yield even more rarities, but this box set contains unique mixes of several songs, not be found elsewhere.

For example; "Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)" was originally released in two very different mixes. One was the monophonic 7" mix with had an extended ending, more echo on the vocals, and more prominent tubular bell accents. The second mix was the stereo version included on the "Head" movie soundtrack ( assembled by Jack Nicholson, no less!! ). The stereo version truncated the song by cutting off the instrumental ending, and mixing sound effects over the intro of the song. The mix of the song also buried many of the tubular bell hits, and eliminated much of the echo on the voices. The unique remix included on this set gives you the flavor of the 45 rpm mix, but in true stereo!

Another rarity first included here is a version of "Mary Mary", which has an extended ending. Also unique to this set is a stereo mix of the 7" single version of "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone", which was originally ( and subsequently ) only issued in a monophonic mix.

While the later Monkees 4 disc " Music Box" set includes many of the same songs included here ( and a few others not on this set ), the mixes on this set are unique and not to be found anywhere else.

I watched the show in reruns on Nickelodian in the late 80's. Then after Daydream Believer(and the Monkee marathon that proceeded it), I became a fan. This set has some of the best Music from the group. From thier first album, to thier most recent album released in the late 80's) this is the definite Monkees collection, every fan should own it.