It was the first Monkees studio album since Justus (1996), marking the longest gap between releases to date, and the first since the death of band member Davy Jones.
received generally positive reviews from music critics and reached number 14 on the Billboard 200, becoming the band's highest-charting album in 48 years.
The project was initiated by Rhino executives John Hughes and Mark Pinkus, who wanted the Monkees to record a new album for the band's 50th anniversary.
[1] The album, the band's first since Justus (1996), was produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and features surviving Monkees Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.
[2] The album features one composition or co-write from each Monkee, as well as older material penned by writers long associated with the band (Harry Nilsson, Neil Diamond, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, Gerry Goffin & Carole King and Jeff Barry & Joey Levine), alongside new songs by Schlesinger, Andy Partridge, Rivers Cuomo, Ben Gibbard, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.
[7] In August 1969, Brendan Cahill supervised a new double-tracked lead vocal by Jones, but the song remained unfinished and did not see an official release until a poor quality copy was issued on the 1979 compilation album Monkeemania.
"[19] The magazine's Australian edition gave it full marks and noted "Producer Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne knows a thing or five about classic pop, and although Good Times!
However, it bemoaned the fact that "Noel Gallagher teams up with Paul Weller to dash off 'Birth Of An Accidental Hipster', another droll sub-Kinks ditty but it sounds bloated compared to the effervescence of what's gone before.
[25] Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times noted that "Songs by Death Cab for Cutie songwriter Ben Gibbard ("Me & Magdalena"), XTC's Andy Partridge ("You Bring The Summer"), and Noel Gallagher/Paul Weller ("Birth of an Accidental Hipster") brilliantly reference the band's 1960s glory days, but as a cohesive project it's more unpleasant valley Sunday than anything else.