⭐ Official Review [Album]: "MADE IN AMERICA" (SP-3723)

How Would You Rate This Album?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 14 13.1%
  • ****

    Votes: 26 24.3%
  • ***

    Votes: 40 37.4%
  • **

    Votes: 22 20.6%
  • *

    Votes: 5 4.7%

  • Total voters
    107
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I always loved MIA i wasnt able to buy a copy until a couple years after its release but as a teenager at the time i was hooked on it. And made a portable tape copy for use in a walkman ( anybody remember those little tape devices?) I know im in the minority on this but i still enjoy this album albeit now on CD as i wore out my old vinyl copy a long time ago. Every song just had a special meaning to me for some unanswerable reasons
 
I always loved MIA i wasnt able to buy a copy until a couple years after its release but as a teenager at the time i was hooked on it. And made a portable tape copy for use in a walkman ( anybody remember those little tape devices?) I know im in the minority on this but i still enjoy this album albeit now on CD as i wore out my old vinyl copy a long time ago. Every song just had a special meaning to me for some unanswerable reasons
You're not alone, Bobberman :)
 
I heard the album recently on vinyl all the way through (I often play their songs out of order on an iPod) and the whole thing has a kind of aural dreamscape feel to it. Their signature sound in general and Karen's voice itself is very dreamy but this album, with its airbrushed production, Richard's lush, intricate orchestral arrangements in the forefront more than ever, and Karen's leads mixed lower and sounding airier sounds like a different one. What differs mostly I suppose in this album is a kind of samey feel to the songs, there's not much diversity unlike the dreamesque shifts in tone found in earlier albums. The "dream" for them was coming to an end and you can almost hear it here.
 
I still have mixed emotions regarding Made In America.
Happily, these are not necessarily negative emotions, as my outlook on the album
has changed considerably since 1981.
As of today, I still love Those Good Old Dreams....a great song in my opinion....
When It's Gone is a favorite....beautiful, haunting, vocals.....
Strength of A Woman....a comparatively unknown diamond...appearing on only two compilations !
Touch Me When We're Dancing....a great single with an excellent arrangement
(wish that sentiment held throughout the album !)
finally,
Because We Are In Love....the song I used to detest...now, I love it....
however, I listen to the song and eliminate the background choral,
concentrating on Karen's outstanding vocal reading of the song....that does it for me,
"What a surprise to discover....."
 
I still have mixed emotions regarding Made In America.
Happily, these are not necessarily negative emotions, as my outlook on the album
has changed considerably since 1981.
As of today, I still love Those Good Old Dreams....a great song in my opinion....
When It's Gone is a favorite....beautiful, haunting, vocals.....
Strength of A Woman....a comparatively unknown diamond...appearing on only two compilations !
Touch Me When We're Dancing....a great single with an excellent arrangement
(wish that sentiment held throughout the album !)
finally,
Because We Are In Love....the song I used to detest...now, I love it....
however, I listen to the song and eliminate the background choral,
concentrating on Karen's outstanding vocal reading of the song....that does it for me,
"What a surprise to discover....."

I too have an unusual kind of love for Because We Are In Love. The structure of the song is interesting and engaging, as well as the personal lyrics and orchestration to make it feel like a showtune. And this is one of Karen's best vocals - her innate melancholy tone and the emotion she puts into this especially haunts me. We know now that this was recorded after discovering the truth about her husband to be, and that inner soulful desvestation is here in this performance.
 
Among the promo items for this album is the 24" X 36" Poster of the Cover Artwork.
The Logo, unlike on the actual album, is not to the right, but above their profiles (and spans the length of the Poster).
The Logo is actually gorgeous in these colors. (That is, the colors as seen on the cover artwork).
I suppose, thinking back to the day in 1981 when I purchased the LP, that cover was no more embarrassing
than the awful (IMHO) Now & Then Cover, not to mention the awful Live At The Palladium cover (Las Vegas, anyone?).
And, there are some great photos from the MIA sessions.

Why did you not like the N&T cover?
 
^^Mary Beth, in answer to your question:
Why I do not like the Now & Then Cover,
primarily it is due to the car obscuring Karen's face.
She was far too beautiful for that !
 
^^Mary Beth, in answer to your question:
Why I do not like the Now & Then Cover,
primarily it is due to the car obscuring Karen's face.
She was far too beautiful for that !

Oh I agree with you there, but I think that there's an artistic element to the whole Tri fold, including Karen's obscured face that's intriguing and quietly haunting.
 
I played the LP last night on my new turntable. It sounded pretty good. But I was reminded of how much I dislike the album cover, seeing it in 12" x 12"!
 
I played the LP last night on my new turntable. It sounded pretty good. But I was reminded of how much I dislike the album cover, seeing it in 12" x 12"!

It's weird, because they wanted to escape their image problem yet they use this as their "comeback" cover? Although one could argue that at this point they knew they weren't the popular, hit making machine they once were, that their image was frozen this way so they just said what the hell and used it. This theory goes along with Jerry Moss' wish that the duo go back to their "bread and butter" material, and if the public liked old school Carpenters before that must include cheesy pictures of them smiling together. Of course, hardly anything on MIA comes close to their original innovation and overall production and the drawing on the cover is an extension of that.
 
It's weird, because they wanted to escape their image problem yet they use this as their "comeback" cover? Although one could argue that at this point they knew they weren't the popular, hit making machine they once were, that their image was frozen this way so they just said what the hell and used it. This theory goes along with Jerry Moss' wish that the duo go back to their "bread and butter" material, and if the public liked old school Carpenters before that must include cheesy pictures of them smiling together. Of course, hardly anything on MIA comes close to their original innovation and overall production and the drawing on the cover is an extension of that.

By 1981, after all the bitching Richard ever did about the albums covers, I find it inconceivable that Richard and A&M looked at the finished artwork for MIA and said "hey, that's a good album cover!". What on earth were they thinking? Even by today's standards, it's cartoonish, bubblegum, whiter than white and just plain cheeseball. The duo were now in their 30s, trying to hit the new decade the way they hit the seventies...and this is the best they could come up with?
 
By 1981, after all the bitching Richard ever did about the albums covers, I find it inconceivable that Richard and A&M looked at the finished artwork for MIA and said "hey, that's a good album cover!". What on earth were they thinking? Even by today's standards, it's cartoonish, bubblegum, whiter than white and just plain cheeseball. The duo were now in their 30s, trying to hit the new decade the way they hit the seventies...and this is the best they could come up with?

Their immortal kitsch status (something I believe they both transcend yet, fascinatingly, fit snugly into and by nature could never escape) was cemented by this album cover. It's amusing to look at it but sadder now than ever. It honestly looks like something Kristy and Jimmy McNichol would have used as a cover, and the only worthwhile thing they ever did was introduce C's to "Slow Dance". I could write all day (and have) about their almost subconscious resistance to adapt to the 80s differently than they had the 70s (much to do with their personal lives outside of music and how their dynamic formed a warped world-view). It almost seems as if they were poking fun at themselves but it backfired yet everyone was too busy enjoying other artists to notice.

And then they do something like Beechwood...and while the song isn't terrible and I've been enjoying it a bit more lately, they should never have wasted time recording it. Or releasing it as an A-side. Or filming a horrifying video for it (scary on both physical and psychological levels). And they played it straight - no winking or nudging, just them honestly doing this and thinking it would be accepted to the mainstream. They go from gorgeous promo videos in 1971 (Rainy Days and Superstar) to this cheeseball fluff ten years later. Why not a video for "Want you Back in My Life Again"? At least that was contemporary-ish and had a bigger shot than Beechwood at getting noticed.

I actually really love some tracks on MIA and even the lesser tracks aren't terrible but it's just not the soulful, compelling drama you felt on prior records.
 
And then they do something like Beechwood...and while the song isn't terrible and I've been enjoying it a bit more lately, they should never have wasted time recording it. Or releasing it as an A-side. Or filming a horrifying video for it (scary on both physical and psychological levels). And they played it straight - no winking or nudging, just them honestly doing this and thinking it would be accepted to the mainstream.

I too came to like "BEechwood 4-5789" more in later years and did so after hearing the promo single with the mono version on one side. Somehow, in mono the song has more of an "oldies" feel, like something you'd hear back in the '60s on an AM radio station. The mono gives the record more of a Phil Spector wall-of-sound feel.
 
I've come to like "Beechwood" more with time, too. As far as the LP artwork...remember that this was also used for the "Touch Me When We're Dancing" picture sleeve. And "Because We Are In Love" was used as the single's B-side (not generally considered one of the better album cuts). I realize radio and the public were probably ambivalent about a Carpenters comeback, but man...they sure didn't help themselves, either.
 
By 1981, after all the bitching Richard ever did about the albums covers, I find it inconceivable that Richard and A&M looked at the finished artwork for MIA and said "hey, that's a good album cover!". What on earth were they thinking? Even by today's standards, it's cartoonish, bubblegum, whiter than white and just plain cheeseball. The duo were now in their 30s, trying to hit the new decade the way they hit the seventies...and this is the best they could come up with?
Could Karen's physical appearance in 1981 have played a roll in deciding to put a drawing on the cover rather than a photograph? Randy Schmidt said the inner sleeve photo had to be "heavily retouched".
 
I too came to like "BEechwood 4-5789" more in later years and did so after hearing the promo single with the mono version on one side. Somehow, in mono the song has more of an "oldies" feel, like something you'd hear back in the '60s on an AM radio station. The mono gives the record more of a Phil Spector wall-of-sound feel.

I haven't heard the mono version but I'm sure it adds to the effect with that particular song. It's catchy and frothy and it sounds better now probably just because I've allowed it to. I still try and not focus on the video while I hear it though. I just try and focus on the music. I think another reason why people really dislike this is because of Karen's short time left we wish she was recording something of substance. Richard, more than anyone, feels that frustration and will continue for the rest of his life.
 
Could Karen's physical appearance in 1981 have played a roll in deciding to put a drawing on the cover rather than a photograph? Randy Schmidt said the inner sleeve photo had to be "heavily retouched".

I think this is the case. The airbrushed drawing is representative of the music inside more or less and the sunny facade they wanted to project during these darker times. They wanted to be as less pictures of Karen as they could out there it almost seems. The untouched photos of her show her true state at that time and it's just heartbreaking to see.
 
I've come to like "Beechwood" more with time, too. As far as the LP artwork...remember that this was also used for the "Touch Me When We're Dancing" picture sleeve. And "Because We Are In Love" was used as the single's B-side (not generally considered one of the better album cuts). I realize radio and the public were probably ambivalent about a Carpenters comeback, but man...they sure didn't help themselves, either.

Now that I think of it, I almost wonder if the duo accepted their fate/reality music-wise. They knew that their chart-topping days were history and that they would just be making albums for their core fan base (which would be different from a few years earlier and would maybe gain new fans for various reasons) and not the public at wide. Maybe it finally would have been about solely the music again and not aching for a hit, which was their motivating factor in the latter half of the 70s. Karen was thrilled when Touch Me hit #15(?) on the charts, a position she would have been livid about in 1974/75. She was grateful that it happened and knew that it was a rare "comeback" of sorts. Being a pop singer/star is one of the toughest positions of fame in pop culture, different than a rock/jazz/AC/country singer.

I mean, this all has to explain why Karen thought it would be fun to do Beechwood. I almost think they didn't even care anymore what the public thought (either this or I'm totally wrong). Why else would they release an oldie in 1982 and follow it up with a video in which a 31 year old Karen sways around in a poodle skirt looking thinner than ever? Like I said in my earlier posts, the life-long turmoil of their personal lives has something to do with inverting the way that most would process the situation at hand. It's fascinating yet haunting to consider either alternative.
 
I could write all day (and have) about their almost subconscious resistance to adapt to the 80s differently than they had the 70s (much to do with their personal lives outside of music and how their dynamic formed a warped world-view). It almost seems as if they were poking fun at themselves but it backfired yet everyone was too busy enjoying other artists to notice.

I've come to the conclusion, after years of studying and analysing their musical and personal story (via the myriad sources that we now have) that they couldn't adapt to a new era of music because Richard didn't want to. As late as 1981, he displayed a steadfast refusal to branch out into anything other than the seventies duo formula he'd worked so hard to cultivate. In the process, he denied both Karen and himself the opportunity to grow as artists and explore new avenues - together and separately - to see where it took them. Yes she was "allowed" a brief solo flirtation, but that was shot down in flames when A&M closed ranks with Richard against the end product and it was jettisoned before she had a chance to see where it would take her - or the duo. Richard was ambitious commercially, as was Karen, but he displayed absolutely zero ambition to do anything outside of the tried and tested Carpenters formula. The problem with this is that their audience grew up and the Carpenters failed to grow up with them. It's very telling that Richard has described himself as a creature of habit and it's conjecture on my part, but I would bet that Richard almost passed out with panic and fear when Karen told him she was going to try a solo album. To the public, she was the Carpenters and he knew he'd be lost without her (this proved to be the case after her death when both of his solo ventures bombed and even a single with Dusty Springfield couldn't revive his career). I believe this is why he stuck so doggedly to the duo and encouraged Karen to do the same.

Add to this the fact that they were so cossetted and pampered by A&M, which exaggerated their warped world view, and the result is that the public gradually left the duo behind and Carpenters slowly started to calcify from the late seventies onwards into a parody of themselves until their career ground to a halt in 1983. The MIA outtakes and the music they recorded in 1982 showed they were miles out of touch with the audience that once ate up their records insatiably. Richard had gone from selecting and recording classy tunes and standards from the likes of Bacharach/David, to recording forgettable, syrupy ballads that failed to touch a chord with anyone, never mind their fans. His one redeeming act in 1980 was the selection of the tracks from Music, Music, Music. Why didn't those songs evolve into a fully fledged album? Why didn't Richard push for an album along those lines? That may have given them a classy hit album similar to the musical output of Linda Ronstadt and Barbra Streisand around the same time. But no, he reverted to type, actively encouraged by A&M, and MIA was the result. Right down to the painted, Disney-esque cover featuring a duo in their thirties.

The harshest criticism of all in the 1980s came from none other than Bette Midler. Her reaction to Karen's death was to question all the fuss when no one had cared for Karen or her music or bought the Carpenters' records for years by the time she died. Cruel, but not all that far from the truth. And the blame for that lies to a large degree with Richard and the record label.
 
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^^May I add a correction to your ending, Newvillefan ?
( My correction doesn't change the sentiment, simply
that it was Joan Rivers who said it, not Bettte Midler):
It was Joan Rivers who said (in Playboy interview,1986):
Rivers: "All I said was... The point I always made with Karen Carpenter
was how everyone suddenly loved her the minute she died;
but for two years before she died, not one person bought an album or went to see her.
So why are we all so bereft over this poor girl?"

Source:
Remembering Joan Rivers: Her 1986 Playboy Interview | Playboy
 
^^May I add a correction to your ending, Newvillefan ?
( My correction doesn't change the sentiment, simply
that it was Joan Rivers who said it, not Bettte Midler):
It was Joan Rivers who said (in Playboy interview,1986):
Rivers: "All I said was... The point I always made with Karen Carpenter
was how everyone suddenly loved her the minute she died;
but for two years before she died, not one person bought an album or went to see her.
So why are we all so bereft over this poor girl?"

Source:
Remembering Joan Rivers: Her 1986 Playboy Interview | Playboy

Thanks for the correction. One in the same in my book :laugh:
 
I think this is the case. The airbrushed drawing is representative of the music inside more or less and the sunny facade they wanted to project during these darker times. They wanted to be as less pictures of Karen as they could out there it almost seems. The untouched photos of her show her true state at that time and it's just heartbreaking to see.

You might be right about the decision to use the drawing on the album cover, but they did a lot of photo sessions for the Made in America campaign (the photo on the cover of Lovelines is from one of these), so I don't think there was a real effort to prevent photos of Karen being out there. That said, I'm sure a number of these were done some months before the album's release and so before she started looking as thin as she does in the videos from 1981.
 
Made In America....stirs up many a memory with me....

1987's Treasures CD says this (Liner Notes, Richard Carpenter):
When It's Gone...(Richard) "one of my most favored songs from our favorite album"
When You've Got What It Takes... (Richard) "catchy melody...reminiscent of 'I Kept On Loving You,'
an arranger's dream...took quite a bit of time to record"
Because We Are In Love
...(Richard) "beautiful arrangement by Peter Knight."

In its defense, I have grown to appreciate a number of the songs on the LP.
(e'g', Those Good Old Dreams, Strength of A Woman, When It's Gone,Because We Are In Love),
not at all for their arrangements, but for Karen's shining vocal acrobatics/renditions.
As for releasing Beechwood 4-5789 as the final Made In America 45-single,
perhaps this, more than any other career choice,
sealed their 1980's radio fate.
 
I've come to the conclusion, after years of studying and analysing their musical and personal story (via the myriad sources that we now have) that they couldn't adapt to a new era of music because Richard didn't want to. As late as 1981, he displayed a steadfast refusal to branch out into anything other than the seventies duo formula he'd worked so hard to cultivate.

Great point, and I really think that had a lot to with his obsession over being 'perfect'. Obsessionals/perfectionists tend to focus on the things that they feel they can come close to mastering (and ultimately "live with") when performing a task. However, the reluctancy to venture outside of that for fear of failure makes attempting something brand new and different, almost impossible. I think for Richard it was easier to roll the dice on something he was comfortable with, knowing that if he was criticized for rehashing a sound that was all too familiar, at least he couldn't say he didn't do it with some form of mastery or perfection.
 
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