Head – THE MONKEES***

Opening Ceremony/Porpoise Song/Ditty Diego/Circle Sky/Supplicio/Can You Dig It/Gravy/Superstitious/As We Go Along/Dandruff/Daddy’s Song/Poll/Do I Have To Do This All Over Again/Swami

By late 1968 The Monkees were quickly losing most of their adolescent female fan base whilst failing to gain credibility as more serious musical artists. Only six of the tracks contain music the rest are sound clips and dialogue. (US:45)

“There really isn't much music on here. There are lots of random snippets of dialogue from the movie that is very annoying. That said, when they play the music, it is outstanding.”

“At the time The Monkees, poster boys of teenybopperdom, were at a crossroads. Their TV show was rapidly losing its audience and they were in constant battles over artistic direction. They were unfairly accused in the press of being completely fake By '68, they were spent. It was time to explode the image. They had nothing to lose but their careers. So what to do? Create a movie and spend the entire time firebombing your 'manufactured' image. Show screaming girls in tandem with Vietnam atrocities. The result? No one got it. Too 'hip' for the teenyboppers and too 'teenybopper' for the hipsters.”

“It's a soundtrack and not a regular album, but it contains some of The Monkees finest recordings. The two Carole King tracks Porpoise Song and As We Go Along are outstanding. Also Tork's Can You Dig It and Nesmith's Circle Sky are Monkees classics. Only six tracks on the album are actually music. The rest are sound clips and dialogue; some of it quite entertaining.”

“Musically, it has a few charms. Most of the tracks could be described as psychedelic rock. Circle Sky is a frenetic burst of country-punk hokum, and Mickey Dolenz turns in an excellent vocal on As We Go Along. On the other hand Daddy's Song with Davy Jones on vocals is pretty bad. The album is wrapped together with bits from taped interludes and dialogue. Not what you would expect from The Monkees but it shows that the group were more than just a bunch of hired actors.”

“The soundtrack to their film Head isn't meant as a cohesive studio album and it shows. Sure, Porpoise Song is here, which I think is their very best song, and a couple of others are worth mentioning, but nothing else stands out. Good listen overall, their most psychedelic offering, but far from being their finest moment.”