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Carpenters 2012 SHM cds question

adamj95

Well-Known Member
I’m looking at purchasing all of the 2012 SHM Carpenter cd’s but I can’t seem to find a list of all the cd’s released in this series. Correct me if I’m wrong but was Lovelines, Christmas Portrait, An Old Fashioned Christmas, and The Singles 1969-1973 not included for these?
 
Looks like these were later than 2012, but they are SHM-CDs.
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The 2 Christmas shm discs are included in the box set. Separately you can buy Live At The Palladium, rare, Karen Carpenter, Live In Japan, 40/40, Singles 1969-1973, and RPO.
 
Looks like these were later than 2012, but they are SHM-CDs.
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The 2 Christmas ones and Lovelines are in the paper jacket. Is that the only version of SHM they've been released in? The reason I"m asking is I have a jewel case of Made in America SHM-CD and I'd like all the ones I buy to be the same format for consistency reasons lol.
 
Good question. Look at either EBay, or Discogs. Most I have are in the white box set. The others I listed are jewel case, except Live At The Palladium. The Singles 1969-1973 is a thick jewel case SHM/SACD.
 
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@adamj95 I have never seen a complete list. I have a paper jacket version of Singles 1969-1973 SHM-CD UICY 76034. I got that one from Discogs but it was pricey.

I also have a jewel case of Karen Carpenter SHM-CD UICY 25304. I am slowly chasing the SHM-CD's because my CD System loves them. It also loves the Carpenters Gold Import lol 🤷‍♀️
 
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I was travelling in Japan in 2015 and got most of Carpenters’ albums on SHM CD, including the ‘Karen Carpenter’ album. All the ones I bought were in jewel cases. I didn’t see any in just cardboard sleeve. The CDs could fairly easily be found in stores such as Tower Records, at that time.
 
I got a great deal and purchased the whole lot, from Ticket to Lovelines in the paper jackets.

They all have the words "LOANED" and "SAMPLE" around the middle of the CDs... Other than that, they're no different to the 2016 releases.

I got "Live in Japan" and "Singles 1969-1973" separately, but still not got "Live at the Palladium" though!

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Live and Japan and Live at the Palladium are the rarest ones to find and go for a pretty penny online. I sadly had to sell mine during hard times and that I do regret!
 
Live and Japan and Live at the Palladium are the rarest ones to find and go for a pretty penny online. I sadly had to sell mine during hard times and that I do regret!

I don't play my Live In Japan double CD album much but I treasure it. What I remember most is how short CD one was!
 
I bought Live at the Palladium SHM cd. The packaging is excellent and it’s limited numbered. I didn’t get the Live in Japan though. Not my favorite live album and I have the regular Cd set and LP.

So sad that they toured like crazy and we only got 2 live albums. How is that possible? What happen to live at Vegas, Harrod’s, Australia or other well known venues they toured.
 
Well, I just learned something new!

I was curious why the Obi included in this has pictures of A Kind of Hush, Passage & Christmas Portrait on the back... Only to discover that the original album wasn't released in Japan (on standard vinyl) until 1979.

The CD4-Quadraphonic LP was released in 1975.
 
Just putting this here for the protection of the forum members:

I wouldn't kill yourselves trying to procure these. SHM is very much snake oil...just like Blu Spec and the others. CDs are CDs - they sound like CDs. There's no improving them, neither is there any need to. It's the same 16 bits and any perceived bump in sound quality is just a placebo.

There's a brief writeup on them in Wiki if you're curious. JVC claims "greater fluidity and clarity of the material used for SHM-CDs results in a higher reading accuracy and improved sound quality" which is honestly utter nonsense. Plus, they get money if you buy them so it's in their best interests to say things like this. Just putting this out there as I hate to see people be taken advantage of. The OG A&M CDs (denoted by AM+ on the face of the CD) are amazing just as they are. If you can find those, grab them. They trounce the Remastered Classics versions in most cases (no bus compression which artificially makes them sound louder than they need to). Leave SHM and Blu Spec alone.

Ed
 
The OG A&M CDs (denoted by AM+ on the face of the CD) are amazing just as they are. If you can find those, grab them. They trounce the Remastered Classics versions in most cases (no bus compression which artificially makes them sound louder than they need to).
Interesting. Three of my CDs have the AM+ designation on the back: Ticket to Ride, Carpenters and Horizon. Close to You, A Song for You and Now & Then are from the Remastered Classics series. The Singles and Passage, along with the later compilations, are all standard-issue CDs. I'll have to listen to them on our stereo, with headphones, to see if I can hear a difference.
 
Further, regarding the AM+ discs. These were the first CDs that A&M released back in the 80s. The AM+ program was started in the days of vinyl to indicate a special pressing on quiet vinyl. These were usually also listed as Audiophile pressings. When CDs were starting to enter the market, A&M's marketing department thought it was a good idea to put the AM+ logo on the CDs coming out, since by their nature, they were considered audiophile.

When the Carpenters CDs were entering the AM+ program on CD, Richard had begun to start his remixing. YESTERDAY ONCE MORE led the way with some new remixes, and when it came time to release the earlier album, Richard did some substitutions on the original album tracks. Things like "Rainy Days & Mondays" and "Superstar" were replaced with their remixes. In a few instances, single mixes replaced album mixes. The best part of the AM+ discs is that they are not loud and brickwalled, so they tend to sound "better" at least in that way.

When 1998 rolled around, the Remastered Classics discs were pressed. For these, Richard and Bernie Grundman went back to the original LP configurations of all of the albums. While they are not brickwalled for the most part, they also sometimes just sound a little underwhelming compared to the old 80s discs.
 
Further, regarding the AM+ discs. These were the first CDs that A&M released back in the 80s. The AM+ program was started in the days of vinyl to indicate a special pressing on quiet vinyl. These were usually also listed as Audiophile pressings. When CDs were starting to enter the market, A&M's marketing department thought it was a good idea to put the AM+ logo on the CDs coming out, since by their nature, they were considered audiophile.

When the Carpenters CDs were entering the AM+ program on CD, Richard had begun to start his remixing. YESTERDAY ONCE MORE led the way with some new remixes, and when it came time to release the earlier album, Richard did some substitutions on the original album tracks. Things like "Rainy Days & Mondays" and "Superstar" were replaced with their remixes. In a few instances, single mixes replaced album mixes. The best part of the AM+ discs is that they are not loud and brickwalled, so they tend to sound "better" at least in that way.

When 1998 rolled around, the Remastered Classics discs were pressed. For these, Richard and Bernie Grundman went back to the original LP configurations of all of the albums. While they are not brickwalled for the most part, they also sometimes just sound a little underwhelming compared to the old 80s discs.
I don’t recall ever seeing AM+ on any vinyl. It’s not on any of my copies of the original albums on vinyl. Did they ever produce any Carpenters albums with AM+ vinyl?
 
I don’t recall ever seeing AM+ on any vinyl. It’s not on any of my copies of the original albums on vinyl. Did they ever produce any Carpenters albums with AM+ vinyl?
No. The AM+ series started in the 80s and were almost exclusively CTi re-releases.
 
When 1998 rolled around, the Remastered Classics discs were pressed. For these, Richard and Bernie Grundman went back to the original LP configurations of all of the albums. While they are not brickwalled for the most part, they also sometimes just sound a little underwhelming compared to the old 80s discs.
They aren't brickwalled but they are compressed. Take a listen to "Close to You" from the album of the same name. Go to the bridge after the modulation ("on the day that you were born"). When it gets to the "...and starlight in your eyes of bluuuuuuuuuuueeeeeee", where the instruments just stop before Karen comes back in, you can hear "pumping". That's an unmistakable sign of compression and it's totally unnecessary. That was only done to make everything sound louder and it's not a decision Bernie Grundman would have made. That's Richard all the way. You won't hear it on the AM+ CD or on anything else; only on the Remastered Classics version.

Again, just grab the proper albums on AM+ CDs or stick to your LPs. Avoid everything else (don't get me started on the awfulness that is pre-recorded cassettes and those awful-sounding open reels...LOL!)

Ed
 
The original mix of A Song For You is available in the Remastered Classics series, the AM+ series as everyone knows has 5 remixes made in the 80s, one re-recording (TOTW) and one 1973 remix (HEO). Assuming the SHM-CD albums are all Remastered Classics, I think it would be worth getting at least the ASFY one for the original versions and the correct speed of IWLADWY, so if I see it I'll take it.
 
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