The Monkees were the world's first manufactured pop group, designed by businessmen as America's answer to the Beatles. They were never quite that of course, but looking back on it all now it's quite remarkable how much genuinely great music they managed to produce. Daydream Believer, Last Train to Clarksville and Pleasant Valley Sunday are classic pop songs by any standards and there's plenty more where they came from on this handsomely packaged 60-track compilation which also includes a generous selection of rarities and curios. The Monkees were often silly but never cynical and they remain an integral part of 60s pop history. It's time to give them the credit they deserve.
