CLOSE TO YOU VS. CARPENTERS : WHICH IS THE BETTER ALBUM?

[manofsteel1979]

This is a tough one...but I will have to go with "CARPENTERS", if only for the Bacharach/David medley on side two. Plus, It introduced us to the classic "CARPENTERS" logo!

However, both albums are pretty much made of win to me, in spite of the fact they were quickly put together.

So, what say you?

 

[cam89]

I will go with CLOSE TO YOU album. That was the FIRST lp I bought in Fall of 1988.
I love the songs on this album. My faves were I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN, WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN, BABY IT'S YOU, CRESCENT NOON, MR GUDER, ANOTHER SONG, MAYBE IT'S YOU, HELP...I could have done without REASON TO BELIEVE or I KEPT ON LOVING YOU...but all in all, a GREAT album!!!

 

[Jeff]

Close To You is my sentimental #1. I think it's vocally more interesting too.

Jeff

 

[Mark-T]

CTY- no filler added and wonderful variety and textures. Can't say the same for the Tan album as it is very beautiful but sounds alot alike. Plus it has Druscilla Penny- the worst Carps song ever.

 

[Geographer]

Actually, I think Made in America is superior to BOTH albums...just kidding...I went with Both Close to You AND Carpenters. Close to you because of its unique, ground-breaking sound and Carpenters because of some awesome individual songs like Rainy Days, One Love, and others.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

This one is easy for me. CLOSE TO YOU by a landslide.

I used to not like the album at all, just because my sisters liked it. But then when A SONG FOR YOU came out, I became a fan (and had liked the preceding singles from the tan album as well) so I re-visited CLOSE and discovered what a great piece of work it is. Except for the cover!

 

[richard_sloat]

EDIT - Editing error deleted the original post.

 

[Dave]

It's always been "Tan Album" for me... (Although I've suffered the disappointment of once having bought a "new" copy w/o a bar code, just to find it did NOT have a Tan LABEL...!

That, I thought had the best selection of material & arrangements, topped only by A Song For You...!

In fact, I could easily have just those two albums & whatever "greatest hits" thingy (OK, the Classics, Vol. 2 Double CD!) that would thoroughly cover "the best periods" of their career, & I'd have ALL the CarpenterS that I'll EVER need!


Dave

 

[Harry]

I seem to have missed this thread. I must have been on vacation in late September.

Anyway, I'm going with CLOSE TO YOU. I find the album close to perfect, IMHO, without a single track that I could dismiss. The tan album is fine, but it always seemed a little short to me, like it needed one or two more songs to fill it up.

CLOSE TO YOU has got a nice balance of Karen and Richard leads, has some cool rock vibes with "Help! and "Another Song", plus their two signature songs.

I place CLOSE TO YOU up there with my other favorites, OFFERING and A SONG FOR YOU.

Harry

[Oh - and one more thing - I happen to like "Druscilla Penny" even though other fans seem to hate it.]

 

[davidgra]

I had to vote for CLOSE TO YOU as well. CARPENTERS is a fantastic album, but it suffers from a couple of flaws -- namely, "Druscilla Penny" and the trunkated Bacharach/David Medley. Had "And When He Smiles" been included instead of "Druscilla Penny," and the full-length version of the medley been used, I would call CARPENTERS the perfect album, but as it stands, it falls a little short.

CLOSE TO YOU is nearly perfect as it is. I love the harder edge and the darkness that is present in so many of the songs. It's one of the few Carpenters albums in which I prefer the album cuts to the "hits." "Crescent Noon," "Baby It's You," "Another Song." These are sheer perfection.

David

 

[richard_sloat]

Had "And When He Smiles" been included instead of "Druscilla Penny," and the full-length version of the medley been used, I would call CARPENTERS the perfect album, but as it stands, it falls a little short.

And would the full-length medley fit within the total time?

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I place CLOSE TO YOU up there with my other favorites, OFFERING and A SONG FOR YOU.

My sentiments exactly. There was a time when I would have included NOW AND THEN among my favorites list but hasn't aged as well as CLOSE and SONG.

 

[manofsteel1979]

I place CLOSE TO YOU up there with my other favorites, OFFERING and A SONG FOR YOU.

My sentiments exactly. There was a time when I would have included NOW AND THEN among my favorites list but hasn't aged as well as CLOSE and SONG.

Yeah, particularly 'SING'. It's a great production with a great vocal...but it's a song from SESAME STREET,for gosh sakes.

Also, the oldies melody from side two should have been their swan song from oldies,at least on their albums. PLEASE MR. POSTMAN and A KIND OF HUSH were nice,but knowing what we know now, It would have been better to see more original material than well produced rehashes of oldies.

I also love OFFERING. In fact, I got the original LP of that album (not the TICKET TO RIDE version, but the original) for Christmas. Very good condition!

 

[aaflyer98]

Although I LOVE both albums, Close To You wins. It's a classic.

 

[richard_sloat]

Last Time I Saw Him is a 1973 album released by American singer Diana Ross on the Motown label.

(...)

Disc 2:

"Let Me Be the One" (Nichols, Williams) - 2:27

I'll give it a listen anyway, out of curiosity.

Well, I did, and though it's not the MOST EXCITING RECORDING Diana Ross has ever made, it's still interesting to hear such a different take on that song.

Concerning the albums, I pick Carpenters because it sounds more like a whole project to me than Close to you, which will always sound to my ears like a rush job to put out after Close to you smash hit. I'm not fond of how the tracks were glued together for this album and the odd variety of styles reminds me of Karen's solo album, disjointed, lacking a sense of coherence, just throwing song after song, so NOT like the previous Ticket to ride and some others.

 

[A&M Retro]

Hard to believe 'Druscilla Penny" and "Saturday" are on a Grammy-winning album. Those two songs keep 'Carpenters' from being a '10' in my mind.
I love the ending of "Saturday", though....the way it leads into "Let Me Be The One" is really cool.
The rest of the album, however, is pure magic. ALL the other songs are a perfect '10'.

 

[Harry]

I like "Saturday" too!

Harry

 

[Harry]

I like "Saturday" too!

Harry

 

[Mark-T]

Me, too- not great, but it is a fun break after the dramatic and somewhat depressing Rainy Days.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

the odd variety of styles

That's exactly what makes CLOSE TO YOU a great album in my book. Consider the album A SONG FOR YOU; many people feel that's the best Carpenters album of all, and it has more styles and mood-shifts than any of the others.

 

[richard_sloat]

I DON'T agree with you. I think A song for you is build up in a way it just flows on you gracefully, the A side with the "story-telling" and the B side with the children's themed songs, Bless... and Crystal lullaby, the instrumental track and Richard's lead, complementing each other, and even the "hard-edge" (in the album context) Road ode with a flute solo that brings back the flute solo from A side in It's going...

Close to you is just flung together, not elegantly build up, the ballads are shoved up within the rocky and up tempo numbers with no concerning to whether they make it for a planned tracklisting.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well sorry sir, you're not gonna change my mind on this one. They're both great albums. I doubt any less care was taken with the running order on one or the other. Personally I think both SONG and CLOSE are better than the "tan" album. Style shifts notwithstanding, at least A SONG FOR YOU has a bathroom break in the middle. It's probably the only album in history to have one of those!

 

[richard_sloat]

Of course I'm not trying to change your mind... I didn't even say I don't LIKE the album, I do, it's just that I feel it was not well constructed as far as an album goes. I totally believe they did take much less care in the running order for Close to you because they had to hurry and release an album in the trail of the title song success.

 

[Dave]

I forgot (or maybe just remembered) that this is one thing I'd seem to have quoted earlier in a Chris May-sponsored "review" of CarpenterS TAN Album:

..."A Place To Hideaway", "Sometimes" and "One Love" seem to almost sound the same...

Of which I'll stand by my statement, in that while Tan Album is preferable to me than Close To You, these are the "clinker" tracks, which, again, in my opinion, show why further installments, from A Song For You, onward, were indeed necessary...!

Though all of their albums had their "Good 'N' Bad", y'know...!


Dave

 

[richard_sloat]

I totally don't agree with you regarding those three songs... to me each one sounds like a distinctive song in its own right.