Christmas Party (The Monkees album)

Christmas Party is the 13th and final album by The Monkees, released on October 12, 2018. Produced mainly by Adam Schlesinger (with Michael Nesmith's tracks produced by his sons Christian and Jonathan), the album is the Monkees' first to focus on Christmas themes. It follows on the success of their 2016 album Good Times! The album features surviving Monkees Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, and Peter Tork, as well as two posthumous contributions from Davy Jones.[1] It is the final Monkees studio album to be released prior to Tork and Nesmith's deaths in 2019 and 2021, respectively.

Christmas Party
Studio album by
The Monkees
ReleasedOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Recorded1967, 1976, 1991, 2018
GenrePop rock, Christmas music
LabelRhino
ProducerAdam Schlesinger, Christian Nesmith, Jonathan Nesmith
The Monkees chronology
Good Times!
(2016)		 Christmas Party
(2018)		 The Mike and Micky Show
(2020)
Singles from Christmas Party
  1. "Unwrap You at Christmas"
    Released: 2018

The album features a mix of covers of earlier Christmas songs (from "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Wonderful Christmastime" to the relatively obscure "Jesus Christ" originally by Big Star) and new holiday tunes written specifically for the album by several Good Times! contributors, including XTC's Andy Partridge, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo and Schlesinger.[2] This is the only Monkees album on which there are no songs written by any member of The Monkees.

The Target store exclusive version features two additional tracks, "Riu Chiu" and "Christmas Is My Time of Year," vintage recordings from the group remastered and remixed by original Monkees producer Chip Douglas.[3]

Cover

The album cover was illustrated by comics artist Michael Allred. Allred, a lifetime Monkees fan, recalled: "I can't even remember doing it now. I was on a crazy high trying to squeeze everything I could into it."[4]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
The Guardian[6]
The Arts Desk[7]
Los Angeles Times[8]
Allmusic [9]

Christmas Party received a mixed review in The Guardian, who described it as "a curious hodgepodge" and gave it three out of five stars.[6] The same score was given by The Arts Desk who described it as "a mixed bag of covers and original songs and some of it is a bit cheesy".[7] The Los Angeles Times gave the album two and a half out of four stars, stating "the big calling card may well be two vocals that Davy Jones recorded in 1991 and that are newly outfitted in fresh instrumental accompaniment pulled together by album producer Adam Schlesinger."[8]

Variety did not rate the album, but described it as feeling "mostly like a Micky Dolenz solo album — co-produced by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger — that happens to have a few odd interjections from Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and, yes, the late Davy Jones."[10]

Track listing
Standard edition[11]
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalistLength
1."Unwrap You at Christmas"Andy PartridgeMicky Dolenz3:33
2."What Would Santa Do"Rivers CuomoMicky Dolenz3:13
3."Mele Kalikimaka"Robert Alexander AndersonDavy Jones2:26
4."House of Broken Gingerbread"
Micky Dolenz2:55
5."The Christmas Song"
Michael Nesmith3:41
6."Christmas Party (features audio sourced from The Monkees episode "The Christmas Show", filmed November 22, 1967)"
Micky Dolenz3:04
7."Jesus Christ"Alex ChiltonMicky Dolenz2:37
8."I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day"Roy WoodMicky Dolenz3:31
9."Silver Bells"
Davy Jones3:22
10."Wonderful Christmastime"Paul McCartneyMicky Dolenz3:33
11."Snowfall"Claude ThornhillMichael Nesmith2:57
12."Angels We Have Heard on High"traditional; lyrics by James ChadwickPeter Tork2:49
13."Merry Christmas, Baby"
Micky Dolenz2:56
Target exclusive bonus tracks [12]
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalistLength
1."Riu Chiu (audio sourced from The Monkees episode "The Christmas Show", filmed November 22, 1967)[13]"Mateo FlechaMicky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork1:30
2."Christmas Is My Time of Year"
  • Davy Jones
  • Micky Dolenz
3:08

Personnel

Partial credits sourced from track listing and Monkees Live Almanac.[14]

  • Micky Dolenz: lead vocals on "Unwrap You at Christmas", "What Would Santa Do", "House of Broken Gingerbread", "Christmas Party", "Jesus Christ", "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", "Wonderful Christmastime", "Merry Christmas, Baby"; co-lead vocals on “Christmas Is My Time of Year”; vocals on "Riu Chiu"; spoken vocals on "Christmas Party"
  • Michael Nesmith: lead vocals on "The Christmas Song" and "Snowfall"; vocals on "Riu Chiu"; spoken vocals on "Christmas Party"
  • Peter Tork: lead vocals on "Angels We Have Heard on High”, vocals on “Riu Chiu”; spoken vocals on "Christmas Party"; banjo on "Angels We Have Heard on High"; Hammond organ on “Christmas Is My Time of Year”
  • Davy Jones: lead vocals on "Mele Kelikimaka" and "Silver Bells"; vocals on “Riu Chiu”; co-lead vocals on “Christmas Is My Time of Year”; spoken vocals on "Christmas Party"
  • Adam Schlesinger: bass on "Unwrap You at Christmas", "What Would Santa Do", "Mele Kelikimaka", "House of Broken Gingerbread", "Christmas Party", "Jesus Christ", "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", "Silver Bells", "Wonderful Christmastime", "Merry Christmas, Baby"; keyboards on "What Would Santa Do", "House of Broken Gingerbread", "Christmas Party", "Jesus Christ", "Wonderful Christmastime"; piano on "Christmas Party", "Jesus Christ", "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"
  • Brian Young: drums
  • Jody Porter: guitar
  • Peter Buck: guitar
  • David Mead: backing vocals
  • Christian Nesmith: guitar, keyboards
  • Jonathan Nesmith: instruments, backing vocals on "Snowfall"
  • Chip Douglas: bass, guitar and production on “Christmas Is My Time of Year”
  • Eddie Hoh: drums on “Christmas Is My Time of Year”

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
US Billboard Top Current Album Sales 60[15]
US Billboard Holiday Album 3[16]

References
  1. "The Monkees To Release Christmas Party, Their First Ever Holiday Album". monkees.com. 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  2. "Micky Dolenz Breaks Down the Monkees' New Christmas Album". rollingstone.com. 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  3. "Zilch #124 Monkees Christmas Party News". zilchmonkeescast.blogspot.com. 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  4. "MIKE ALLRED Talks New MONKEES Album Project". 13thdimension.com. 2018-09-24.
  5. "Critic Reviews for Christmas Party". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  6. Hann, Michael (14 December 2018). "The Monkees: Christmas Party review – festive mishmash best when guests chime in". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  7. Oddy, Guy (4 December 2018). "Wake up Sleepy Jean, the Monkees are back to spread some Christmas cheer". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  8. Lewis, Randy (23 November 2018). "This year's essential Christmas albums ranked, from 'Shatner Claus' to the irresistible JD McPherson". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  9. Christmas Party at AllMusic
  10. Willman, Chris. "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Spotify: 15 New Holiday Albums Reviewed, From John Legend to William Shatner". Variety. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  11. "The Monkees Announce Christmas Album with Rivers Cuomo, Peter Buck, Andy Partridge, & More". SPIN. 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  12. Duquette, Mike (2018-09-20). "Wonderful Christmastime: The Monkees' "Christmas Party" Arrives In October". The Second Disc. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  13. "The Christmas Show" at monkeestv3.tripod.com
  14. "The 1976 Christmas single".
  15. "Chart History: The Monkees - Top Current Album Sales".
  16. "The Monkees".
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