The Monkees - The A's, The B's & The Monkees [2LP]

The Monkees' The A's, The B's & The Monkees does exactly what its title promises, lining up their singles and flip sides in their original single versions across a limited 2LP set.

Created for television in 1966, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork quickly became much more than a TV gimmick. Backed by songwriters like Boyce and Hart, Neil Diamond and Carole King with Gerry Goffin, they racked up a run of hits that defined sixties pop, and they fought hard to play and write more of their own music along the way.

The A-sides are pure joy: "Last Train to Clarksville" with its jangling urgency, "I'm a Believer" with its irresistible sing-along chorus, and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" with its sly take on suburban life. "Daydream Believer" remains one of the sweetest songs of the era. The flip sides reveal another side of the band, from the snarling garage rock of "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" to Nesmith's own "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," proof the group could write as well as sing.

Hearing the singles in their original form brings out the punch and immediacy that made them radio staples.

Two sides to every single, and barely a dud among them: a vivid, front-to-back reminder of just how good The Monkees really were.