Favorite Carpenters Album

[JMAR5]

I am fairly new to this board, so I am not sure if you've done this yet, but I was wondering what everyone's favorite Carpenters album was? Here is mine in order.
1)Close To You
2)A Song For You
3)Made in America
4)Carpenters
5)Horizon
6)Ticket to Ride or Offering
7)Passage
8)A Kind of Hush
9)Voice of the Heart
10)Lovelines
11)Christmas Portrait
12)Now and Then

 

[Rudy]

My list:

1) A Song For You
2) Carpenters
3) Close To You
4) Horizon
5) Passage
6) Ticket To Ride/Offering
7) Christmas Portrait
8) Now and Then
9) A Kind Of Hush
10) Made In America
11) Lovelines
12) An Old Fashioned Christmas
13) Voice Of The Heart
14) As Time Goes By

 

[Mark-T]

1- Horizon
2- Voice of the Heart
3- A Kind of Hush
4- Christmas Portrait
5- Close to You
6- Made in America
7- Lovelines
8- A Song for You
9- Carpenters
10- Now and Then
11- As Time Goes By
12- Old Fashioned Christmas
13- Passage
14- Ticket to Ride

Of course, live albums, compilations, and solo albums not included!

 

[aaflyer98]

My list of Favorite CARPENTERS albums in order is...

1. Made In America
2. Christmas Portrait
3. A Song For You
4. Horizon
5. A Kind Of Hush
6. Passage
7. Lovelines
8. Voice Of The Heart
9. Close To You
10. Carpenters
11. As Time Goes By
12. Now & Then
13. An Old Fashioned Christmas
14. Ticket To Ride

 

[bluebird1111]

A Song For You
Christmas Portrait
Now & Then
Close to You
Carpenters
Horizon
Passage
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
Ticket to Ride
A Kind of Hush
Voice of the Heart
As Time Goes By
Lovelines
Made in America

 

[Harry]

In order of my preference:

Offering
Close To You
Carpenters
A Song For You
Now And Then
Horizon
A Kind Of Hush
Passage
Made In America
Voice Of The Heart
Lovelines
As Time Goes By

Does that order look familiar? Yep, it's the order in which the albums were released. My favorites are all of the early ones followed by all of the later ones. (I've left out the Christmas albums, as they're a special case to me.)

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

1-A Song For You
2-Close To You
3-Offering
4-Now And Then
5-Carpenters
6-Lovelines
7-Horizon
8-Passage

The other albums....
A Kind Of Hush
Made In America
Voice Of The Heart
As Time Goes By
...are less musically adventurous and so for me, they're pretty much interchangeable, so they're all tied for 9th.

I left compilations out of the list, but I'd probably peg "Singles 1969-1973" in about 3rd place.

 

[newvillefan]

I'd say something like this:

Made In America
Lovelines
Offering
As Time Goes By
Passage
A Song For You
Carpenters
Close To You
Horizon
Voice Of The Heart
Now And Then
A Kind Of Hush

I love their later sound, but I also have a strong affection for their earliest albums, as these were some of the albums I discovered during that early phase when my interest was peaking in them.

Back in 1990, when I first discovered them, my mam told me that a neighbour had some of their vinyl albums, and I played them continuously. After I'd bought the 'Only Yesterday' UK hits collection as a way of confirming to myself that I'd stumbled on gold dust, I went looking for the rest of their original studio albums on CD, and continued to be amazed at how many different ones I found. I remember thinking 'how many more can there be?!'

Stephen

 

[Dave]

Well, my "Carpenters Kick", as far as Original Albums go, seem to be favored in the Following Order...:


1. Carpenters

2. A Song For You

3. Now and Then

4. Close To You

5. Horizon



Dave

 

[davidgra]

This is an interesting exercise, one which I had not attempted before. My lists would certainly change from mood to mood and year to year...

But for now, this is how I would rank the albums, from favorite to least favorite:

1. A SONG FOR YOU
2. CARPENTERS
3. CLOSE TO YOU
4. OFFERING
5. VOICE OF THE HEART
6. LOVELINES
7. CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT
8. HORIZON
9. PASSAGE
10. A KIND OF HUSH
11. AN OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS
12. AS TIME GOES BY
13. NOW AND THEN
14. MADE IN AMERICA

Doesn't seem right to have MADE IN AMERICA at the bottom of the list, but it is the album to which I listen the least. Something about the initial disappointment of its release, on the heels of an amazingly wonderful Christmas album and a fantastic TV special in 1980, MADE IN AMERICA just seemed like it wasn't making any attempt to get the Carpenters on the radio or on MTV, the way so many other artists of the '70s were doing in 1981.

NOW AND THEN just hasn't worn well with me over the years -- the oldies medley gets on my nerves (no offense to Tony Peluso, but the DJ thing is only fresh for a handful of listenings) and the other material isn't exactly their strongest ("Yesterday Once More" "Sing" "Jambalaya").

And I'm one of those people who thinks that VOICE OF THE HEART and LOVELINES are truly excellent albums. I've always maintained that since the material for those albums came from a variety of sources and years, it gives the albums a level of interest that isn't found on much of their late '70s work. AS TIME GOES BY attempts to create such a feeling, but it falls short because so much of the material feels "recycled." But I still enjoy listening to it more than to NOW AND THEN...

David

 

[newvillefan]

NOW AND THEN just hasn't worn well with me over the years -- the oldies medley gets on my nerves (no offense to Tony Peluso, but the DJ thing is only fresh for a handful of listenings) and the other material isn't exactly their strongest ("Yesterday Once More" "Sing" "Jambalaya").

I agree with that, and that's also the reason it's down the bottom of my list, I don't think I've ever listened to it as a standalone album more than a handful of times. The tracks I like from it (Yesterday Once More, I Can't Make Music) are found elsewhere on various compilations, so I usually pick them up through listening to those instead.

Stephen

 

[yesstiles]

Does that order look familiar? Yep, it's the order in which the albums were released. My favorites are all of the early ones followed by all of the later ones. (I've left out the Christmas albums, as they're a special case to me.)

Harry

LOL. That means for you, the Carpenters got worse every year since their inception. That's kind of depressing.

 

[yesstiles]

My favorites:

1. Horizons
2. A Song For You
3. Close To you
4. Carpenters
5. Now and Then

 

[Harry]

Does that order look familiar? Yep, it's the order in which the albums were released. My favorites are all of the early ones followed by all of the later ones. (I've left out the Christmas albums, as they're a special case to me.)

Harry

LOL. That means for you, the Carpenters got worse every year since their inception. That's kind of depressing.

One way of looking at it!

I still value and cherish all of their output, it's just that I preferred that early "group" sound with all of the multi-part harmonies shared by both siblings. But that doesn't mean that I don't like Karen's readings on the later stuff - she's still tops in my book for a vocalist, but I really liked those early recordings.

Harry

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I prefer Karen's voice in it's younger incarnation. As she got older, her voice deepened and she began sounding far more British. It really did grate from time to time. Also, due to the Anorexia, she also became a less powerful vocalist.

My list would look much like Harry's...

Offering
Close To You
Carpenters
A Song For You
Now And Then
Horizon
A Kind Of Hush
Passage
Lovelines
Voice Of The Heart
Made In America

Ed

 

[Mike Blakesley]

the other material isn't exactly their strongest ("Yesterday Once More"

This is a surprise. I didn't think anyone disliked that song...it's probably my all time Carpenters favorite, excepting maybe "Close to You."

I agree the first half of NOW AND THEN is a mishmash. The best song on Side 1 is "I Can't Make Music." (Ironic title, eh?) That album has worn less well with me over the years...at one time I would have put it at #2 or #3 on my list. ("Sing"...a good song, but they should have done a "kids" album like Carole King did, and used the song for that.) The oldies medley gets old if you listen to it too many times...I created an edited version of it where I left out "Deadman's Curve" through "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" so it's an easier listen, for me at least. I still like the album overall though...it's number 4 on my list and will likely stay there for awhile. Those top 3 are just impossible to beat in my book.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

1. A Song For You
2. Carpenters
3. Close To You
4. Singles 1969-1973
5. Horizon

To me, there's a huge drop-off beyond those albums...but if I had to rank the remaining ones:

6. Voice Of The Heart
7. Christmas Portrait ("Christmas Waltz" almost pushes this higher)
8. Passage
9. Ticket To Ride
10. Now and Then (though "Yesterday Once More" is my favorite Carpenters song)
11. Made In America
12. A Kind Of Hush

---Michael Hagerty

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

So where, in everyone's opinion, would their solo albums place amongst their catalog. If I had those in, it'd go like this:

Karen Carpenter (3rd place) - Karen's solo record was more urbane and, dare I say, R&B than anything else they touched. Some of it was was pretty bad ("Still In Love With You" brings up the rear by far) but a lot of it wasn't. Her version of "Make Believe..." is infinitely better than the Carpenters' version. Bob James and Phil Ramone knew what to do with the song and Richard seemingly didn't. I also love the jazz-isms of Rod Temperton's vocal and rhythm arrangements throughout the album. I know this'll sound like heresy but Rod might be the better vocal arranger. He's far less choral and jazzier. His vocal arrangement on "If I Had You" is the best thing any Carpenter ever recorded. In my opinion, Richard never got near that.

Richard's "Time" (8th place) - This album has two great songs on it, "Something In Your Eyes" and "When Time Was All We Had". Great vocal arrangements in both and Dusty does a nice job on "Something...". "That's What I Believe" feels contrived to me. Scott Grimes' attempt to sound exhuberant sounds totally forced to me. The vocal arrangement definitely has hooks in it and it's very hummable in spite of itself. Otherwise, not much to offer.

Richard's last record wouldn't chart...sorry. It did nothing for me. It came off far too much like elevator fare for my tastes.

Ed

 

[Rudy]

the other material isn't exactly their strongest ("Yesterday Once More"

This is a surprise. I didn't think anyone disliked that song...it's probably my all time Carpenters favorite, excepting maybe "Close to You."

I don't hate the song, but...I think the problem is that when I used to hear a Carpenters song on the radio, it would always be "Yesterday Once More". Overplayed, perhaps. It's not my favorite, but it is a well-crafted song, no doubt about it.

 

[Dave]

"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" is one song I would call over-played... I thought it was well-crafted, and somehow I never got tired of its D.J./Alien dialogue at the beginning as much as I thought the "Oldies Medley" would get wearing, but if I hear it more often than my second-least favorite, "Sing", then...



Dave

 

[Harry]

The oldies medley gets old if you listen to it too many times...I created an edited version of it where I left out "Deadman's Curve" through "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" so it's an easier listen, for me at least.

You should grab the Readers Digest set then Mike, if you can find it. It contains all of the oldies songs (except "Da Doo Ron Ron" for some reason)without Tony Peluso's DJ shtick . Some of the pairs of songs are still segued, but without the annoying DJ, the songs sound fresher.

That Readers Digest set is divided up into sections, so there's a group of hits, a group of "love songs", a group of oldies type stuff, and the Christmas stuff is also separated out. It's kind of neat to hear things like "PLease Mr. Postman", "Help!", and "A Kind Of Hush" in with the regular Oldies Medley stuff.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Actually, I don't mind listening to the DJ so much. Those three songs I edited out are not big favorites anyway, so I don't miss them....but Da Doo Ron Ron IS one of my favorites (really like the ending).

 

[Rudy]

That Readers Digest set is divided up into sections, so there's a group of hits, a group of "love songs", a group of oldies type stuff, and the Christmas stuff is also separated out. It's kind of neat to hear things like "PLease Mr. Postman", "Help!", and "A Kind Of Hush" in with the regular Oldies Medley stuff.

Here's a tempting idea: take all of the un-DJed oldies songs, throw in Da Doo Ron Ron (editing out the DJ), and then creating edited versions of all of their other "oldies" covers. Segue them together, and make an extended version of the oldies medley. The different recording dates might throw it off a bit (Kind Of Hush sounds newer than the original medley, for instance), but some judicious EQ would fix that. For a mega-medley, throw in the Bacharach medley.

Might be a good project for a rainy day...