"Gold" 35th CD on All Music Guide

[AM Matt]

I just read an article on "Gold" 35th when I went to: www.allmusic.com (All Music Guide). They gave the CD "* & 1/2" out of "*****" (five stars). & I can't believe the article either. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Rudy]

And I can guess why. Check out this portion of the review:

In many cases, however, the original and otherwise familiar renderings are not included. Rather, most likely at the beset of Richard Carpenter, versions that had alterations done in the mid-'80s and early '90s have been chosen. What's more is that several of these also boast enhancements done during the same era. Signature songs such as "Superstar," "Maybe It's You," "It's Going to Take Some Time," "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)," "We've Only Just Begun," "Sing," "Goodbye to Love," "For All We Know," "Mr. Guder," and "A Song for You" have all been augmented after the fact, while others are simply remixed.

In my opinion, it's about time someone nailed the remix problem!!

The star rating, though, still remains a mystery. Not for this title (with the remixes, I would probably have given it a star less, personally!), but for all AMG listings. I think the star ratings may be based on an average of AMG reviewers' ratings, since there are plenty of instances where an album gets a terrific review and a mediocre, at best, star rating.

AMG is flawed enough that I don't trust it anyway, making my discussion rather pointless anyway...

What really has been disappointing over the years is that I have offered, numerous times, to update and/or correct some of their listings, which are either nonexistent or incorrect, and they have never responded. (This goes back to around 1990, when they were a text-only database with a gateway to Compuserve.) Guess us mere mortals are not part of their little "clique" over there.

 

[Jeff]

To me,

Any "new" CarpenterS release is a five! You see , twenty one years have rolled by since karen's passing. The fact that the group is still putting out collections and such ie: AS Time Goes By is a testament to their still on-going fan base. I dunno. In some small way when "something" is released it sorta helps me re-live the dawn of original music. People say that they remember where they were at the time of JFK's death, Elvis, etc... Well, that's how I am regarding K & R's album's. At the time of Karen's death I was arriving home. My Mother was standing at the "top of the stairs" and gently told me Karen had passed.UGH!!! Shock, dismay, deep dark depression and denial or disbelief in the news. I called a local radio station for confirmation and then sat glued to the t.v. screen. I waited for the "official blow" as I trembled and...well, you get the idea. Kleenex...

Now that post was unlifting. Sorry to take you on a ride of darkness. Off topic I know.

Rating 5 stars,

Jeff

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Neil - about the star ratings. They are simply an average of "ordinary people" reviews, I think they are compiled by sales websites such as amazon.com. that's why the artist's most popular album usually has the highest star count.

As for the listings, I have offered to make a correction here and there and I even wrote a review of the A SONG FOR YOU album and submitted it (when they didn't have one listed) and never heard back either. And, here's the kicker...the AMG is owned by the place we buy our CDs from, so if anyone should have an inside track it should be I! But no such luck.