Hardbopjazz Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Does anyone here own Jackie McLean's Monuments? How bad is it really? If you have it, do you listen to it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 RCA/BMG owns it and it is a piece of crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 I had it on vinyl years ago. I sold it for $2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Got this when it came out. Advance word was that it was not monumental. So I was not disappointed when I listened to it. I still have the original vinyl. Don't play it as often as favorite McLean stuff but I don't think it's as bad as its reputation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 I did own it. I couldn't believe I was actually able to sell it back to a record store! It's quite bad, with all the tracks credited to some producer rather than anything written by McLean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 A real dog - I'm sure somebody's going to pipe up and say he likes it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 I'm not opposed to albums such as this in pricipal, but I am opposed to this one. The only even slightly "redeeming" quality is the track where McLean talks about the old days. It's kinda jive, but kinda not. The producer was Mitch Farber, a keyboardist/arranger who was doing some production work for Muse at the time. How the hookup w/McLean came about, I don't know. But it was unfortunate for all concerned. The irony is that McClean could no doubt have made a burning "street" record at the time, ala the Gary Bartz NTU Troop's work of a few years earlier. But this one ain't street - this one is some sad, overproduced, underinspired, too-slick bullshit. I'll say this about Monuments - it's proof that making a good pop-jazz record (if you're willing to admit that such a beast is capable of even existing...) ain't as easy as you might think. If anything, it's easier to make a bad one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMP Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Got rid of the album years ago - a real period piece (although I did like a couple of the tracks.) HOWEVER - I still have the 12" disco single LP somewhere in my collection of jazz disco singles. .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 The album was already discussed last year (and probably the year before): http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...monuments&st=15 Since I doubt the album will ever be reissued, I'll keep my copy and make a killing with it on eBay several years from now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 I had it. It's bad, but what's funny is Jackie's playing is fine, but he is inserted in some weird freaking disco environment where the material just plain sucks. Not even redeemable for sampling hip hop purposes. Hilarious cover, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Hilarious cover, though! ← You wouldn't have a image of that cover? I would like to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 I will check. It may be in black and white..... Think the Sphinx but with Jackie's face on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 (edited) Hilarious cover, though! ← You wouldn't have a image of that cover? I would like to see it. ← see Brownie's post above. "The album was already discussed last year (and probably the year before):" Edited August 11, 2005 by John B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Man that's cheesy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 I feel like I saw "New Copy" LPs at Dusty Groove at some point. If somebody's reissuing that on vinyl, that's really reaching... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzydaddy Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Fortunately I managed to miss Jackie's Monuments album and based on the feedback I won't bother searching for it. While we are on the subject of dog's let me throw this one by John Handy on the table: I picked it up cheap in a used record shop a few years ago and when I played it I felt like I had been robbed!! It's God awful terrible and by far the worst "jazz" album in my collection. I purchased it without reading a review because I was impressed with John's playing on some of the other albums I had by him. I guess I'll blame it on the 70's. Seems like artists were forced to pretty much take whatever work came their way just to survive. The producer of this one ought to have been shot. It's albums like this that give jazz a bad name. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 That sphinx cover is mighty "cheese-o-fied." On the other hand, it leaves me with a POWERFUL hankering to hear Jackie Mac jam out with Earth, Wind, & Fire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Yeah, him taking Don Myrick's slot on "Reasons" is an intriguing notion, ain't it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) I spent about 5-minutes spinning a copy of Monuments in a used record store here in DC on Sunday. Dropped the needle on all of the tracks on side one, and I couldn't bring myself to flip the disc. The 'rap' Jim mentioned way up earlier in this thread, is the 2nd Youtube clip down below... Edited March 27, 2012 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 I'll keep my copy and make a killing with it on eBay several years from now Could be a long wait.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 A candidate for the worst jazz album I ever owned. I think I paid a buck and listened once. On the other hand, Miles' Doo Bop ain't much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 I'll keep my copy and make a killing with it on eBay several years from now Could be a long wait.. OK! OK! I won't be able to wait much longer... Will bequeath it to the grandchildren. They'll make a killing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedR Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 After reading all the comments and never hearing the album before I expected the worst. But, of the first You Tube example that Rooster posted, I thought of the commercial where NBA player Blake Griffin tells his Kia to play him some funk. Not a bad groove! The second tune totally blew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six string Posted March 30, 2012 Report Share Posted March 30, 2012 There's a copy of the album at a local record store and it's been there for years. Something inside of me said "don't buy it, boy" and I've listened to that voice all this time. Now that I've read this thread I won't have to worry about a little voice trying to convince me that it might be worth a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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