Must Hear This Album
Well-Known Member
So I’ve been prosthelytizing Carpenters music with a friend at work, and he recently indicated he wanted to dig more deeply than the hits collection (note: he’s my age, but he grew up on West Coast hip-hop, so...). He said he wanted to pick up three albums over the weekend and asked me where he should begin, which got me to thinking about our recent listmania on the forum, and I thought it might be an interesting topic.
So if you were coaching-up a friend on which three albums to pick up from Carpenters’ catalogue, three albums that would demonstrate their breadth and impact, while not scaring folks away with left-turns, nor completely satiating their appetites for the multi-harmonies (leaving them curious for more...), which three would they be and why?
Close To You: While only their second album, it’s probably the last one with any credible claim to a “rock” sound, and it also happens to be one of their best-loved, holding two of their most popular singles as well as favorite “deep cuts.”
Tan Album: Yes, it has some monster hits, but, start-to-finish, demonstrates the duo at the height of their cultural dominance. The Bacharach/David medley is a hidden treasure.
Horizon: Not only their best, original album cover, but the album demonstrates Karen’s evolving instrument and is a great example of how they would sound on the later albums (after they jettisoned the artsy, old-fashioned chamber-pop of the first few albums).
So if you were coaching-up a friend on which three albums to pick up from Carpenters’ catalogue, three albums that would demonstrate their breadth and impact, while not scaring folks away with left-turns, nor completely satiating their appetites for the multi-harmonies (leaving them curious for more...), which three would they be and why?
Close To You: While only their second album, it’s probably the last one with any credible claim to a “rock” sound, and it also happens to be one of their best-loved, holding two of their most popular singles as well as favorite “deep cuts.”
Tan Album: Yes, it has some monster hits, but, start-to-finish, demonstrates the duo at the height of their cultural dominance. The Bacharach/David medley is a hidden treasure.
Horizon: Not only their best, original album cover, but the album demonstrates Karen’s evolving instrument and is a great example of how they would sound on the later albums (after they jettisoned the artsy, old-fashioned chamber-pop of the first few albums).
