Pool It! by Monkees (The) (CD, Oct-1995, Rhino)

I bought the vinyl version of this back in 1987, listened to it a lot then, transferred it to a tape when that upgrade came about. Up until about a year ago I still used tapes and CDs interchangeably to listen to music, but I have moved into the 2000s (by putting all of my music on the computer) so a CD of this album was a necessity.

Clean and crisp sound, the versions are the same as on the record, and it has bonus liner notes!

But for the ones who have never heard it, I'll try to listen with a fresh ear.

The first track 'Heart and Soul' is bouncy, with Micky singing, a nice drum beat and guitar chords that tell you The Monkees have(had) moved into the '80s!.

The second track '(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World' a Wreckless Eric cover. Also sung by Micky; poppier, with more instrumentation than the original.

'Long Way Home' is a very sweet reflective love song sung by Davy.

'Secret Heart' sung by Micky, has that mellow late 70's sound to my ear, but it's pleasurable. To be honest, his vocal almost gets buried by the instruments.

'Gettin' In' has a deep sound, written and performed by Peter - a danceable beat, when he goes into the chorus it's just him and a beat, and seems to change time signatures - works well, though. According to the liner notes the "unusual structure garnered notice from the critics". I'd venture with calling it a bit new wave.

'(I'll) Love You forever - Davy singing, soft, slow, totally breaks the mood you had with 'Gettin In'(I used to skip this one). I'd be great on a mix with Air Supply ;).

'Every Step Of The Way' an Ian Hunter cover - more '80s guitar and Davy sounding so pepped up! (I like it better than Ian's, maybe because I hadn't heard Ian's at that point in time...don't kill me.)

'Don't Bring Me Down' written By Tommy James (of & The Shondells), has a fun and easy beat, and horns!

'Midnight' sung by Micky, I don't think they ever made a video for this, but if they did, they'd have to have a girl walking in a dark alley and smoking. I'd call the chords dark and melancholy. The liner notes call it "inspired" reminds me of Steve Perry songs for some reason. (I used to skip this one, too...but I listened to it for YOU.)

One of my favorites 'She's Moving In With Rico' - with it's slightly Jamaican flavor and Davy's vocals. (In fact when I dug out the old version of this on tape to listen to, it's the first song I fast-forwarded to find).

'Since You Went Away' - sung by Peter, vocally reminiscent of the fun he had with Auntie Grizelda, but so much more of a 'real' song.

'Counting On You' another slow love song, with Davy's vocals. The electric guitar in the break is nice, but again, I'd put in on that Air Supply mix.

The records sounds so '80s now, at the time it was right with what pop music was doing.

LOVE it because I can take it with me wherever I go! Bought it because I love the MOnkees and remember this one very well

I love the monkees and had the cassette tape,and haven't heard it for years, so I wanted the cd. I knew I liked it before I bought it. Very happy with it.