Must Hear This Album
Well-Known Member
Forgive me if this has already been a thread, but I wanted to weigh-in with my “Top 10” Carpenters albums, in order of excellence. I’d be interested in hearing yours, and I’d be VERY interested in hearing Richard’s. I wonder if he ever drops-in on this forum? Also, does anybody have information on the sales of each album? It would be interesting to compare our lists to the Carpenter albums which sold the most / least.
Okay, so here goes:
1.) A Song For You: It’s simply the best: young artists brimming with creative ideas and in love with life. It’s practically a greatest hits album in itself. Non-singles standouts include: “Road Ode,” “Crystal Lullaby,” and the title track. Timeless.
2.) Singles 1969-1973: Like it or not (as I would argue that the Carpenters were much more than “singles artists”), this album represents the duo’s tremendous talent and was deservedly a #1 album in the 1970’s. It also foreshadowed Richard’s penchant for remixing his already excellent work. That said, I must concede that the remixes of “Ticket To Ride” and “Top Of The World” vastly improve the original album cuts.
3.) Christmas Portrait: It has been said, and I’m inclined to agree, that Carpenters were made to make Christmas music. The original Christmas Portrait LP is the best holiday album ever. Period. The best. Step aside Phil Spector, Beach Boys, and Bing. Carpenters. Own. This. Genre.
4.) Close To You: The one that started it all. There’s so much to love about this remarkable album. Arguably, it was the last Carpenters LP with any aspiration to rock-and-roll credibility, and it contains so many “hits” that should have been (e.g., “Baby It’s You,” “Maybe It’s You”) and actual “rock” songs, like “Another Song.” Easy to understand why this album remains their favorite and ranked (quite highly, I might add) on the Rolling Stone list of “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.”
5.) Horizon: This is the last “great” Carpenters album. A departure from their tried and true style of their first hit albums, Horizon demonstrates the young artists at the very height of their creativity and powers and was sorely under-appreciated. Karen’s voice was at its peak on this album, and Richard’s remarkable gifts are most apparent on these carefully crafted songs. Sad that it wasn’t more popular…
6.) Offering/Ticket To Ride: There is so much that I love about their debut album. It’s feisty, counter-culture, and a quintessential Polaroid of that musical period. I’ve always believed that Richard was a master at capturing the zeitgeist of the day and delivering it to the masses in the form of smart, pop records (most deftly demonstrated by his sadly ignored debut solo album, Time), so much so that he delivered the late-1970’s crap of the television specials and the credibility / career-killing album, A Kind Of Hush. But in his defense, AKOH was exactly the type of tripe for which the masses clamored at the time (e.g., The Captain & Tennille, KC and the Sunshine Band, Bay City Rollers, etc. Ugh.).
7.) Carpenters: While this album signifies the duo’s official departure from anything resembling rock-and-roll of the time, the hits, the Bacharach/David medley, and key album cuts, like “Let Me Be The One,” “(A Place To) Hideaway,” and “One Love,” make this album essential listening.
8.) Now & Then: While the oldies medley that dominates side two demonstrated the last-minute, thrown-together nature of this project, it is the last album with the “classic” Carpenters sound. Best album tracks are “Jambalaya (On The Bayou),” “I Can’t Make Music,” and Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade,” which featured some of Karen’s very best drum work.
9.) Passage: This album gets a bad rap, and understandably so, as it’s pullout-all-the-stops, shotgun approach to record making smacked of desperation and audience pandering. The duo was desperate for a hit record that year and made an album designed to appeal to everyone and, ironically, appealed to no one. While featuring a fun, stylistic vocal departure for Karen, the album opener, “B’Wana She No Home,” was cringe-worthy, privileged racism. Of the bajillion funky songs out there at that time, why’d they pick that one? The other two head-scratchers were “Man Smart, Woman Smarter,” and “Calling Occupants…” The remaining songs on the album, however, hold together quite well and have aged beautifully.
10.) Made In America: The “comeback” album that turned out to be the duo’s bittersweet farewell. Richard’s subsequent production work seems to return to the blueprint laid out on this album: synthesizers, Anita Kerr-styled backing vocals, and that instrument (wind chimes?) that sounds like a magician is sweeping a wand over the proceedings, leaving a trail of sparkly glitter (am I right?). That said, Karen’s voice sounds smooth and sultry on these songs, although it was showing signs of wear and tear from her deteriorating health. I remember catching the duo on a few talk shows around that time to promote the album, and my sister gasping at how thin Karen looked. Boy, we had no idea…
Okay, so here goes:
1.) A Song For You: It’s simply the best: young artists brimming with creative ideas and in love with life. It’s practically a greatest hits album in itself. Non-singles standouts include: “Road Ode,” “Crystal Lullaby,” and the title track. Timeless.
2.) Singles 1969-1973: Like it or not (as I would argue that the Carpenters were much more than “singles artists”), this album represents the duo’s tremendous talent and was deservedly a #1 album in the 1970’s. It also foreshadowed Richard’s penchant for remixing his already excellent work. That said, I must concede that the remixes of “Ticket To Ride” and “Top Of The World” vastly improve the original album cuts.
3.) Christmas Portrait: It has been said, and I’m inclined to agree, that Carpenters were made to make Christmas music. The original Christmas Portrait LP is the best holiday album ever. Period. The best. Step aside Phil Spector, Beach Boys, and Bing. Carpenters. Own. This. Genre.
4.) Close To You: The one that started it all. There’s so much to love about this remarkable album. Arguably, it was the last Carpenters LP with any aspiration to rock-and-roll credibility, and it contains so many “hits” that should have been (e.g., “Baby It’s You,” “Maybe It’s You”) and actual “rock” songs, like “Another Song.” Easy to understand why this album remains their favorite and ranked (quite highly, I might add) on the Rolling Stone list of “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.”
5.) Horizon: This is the last “great” Carpenters album. A departure from their tried and true style of their first hit albums, Horizon demonstrates the young artists at the very height of their creativity and powers and was sorely under-appreciated. Karen’s voice was at its peak on this album, and Richard’s remarkable gifts are most apparent on these carefully crafted songs. Sad that it wasn’t more popular…
6.) Offering/Ticket To Ride: There is so much that I love about their debut album. It’s feisty, counter-culture, and a quintessential Polaroid of that musical period. I’ve always believed that Richard was a master at capturing the zeitgeist of the day and delivering it to the masses in the form of smart, pop records (most deftly demonstrated by his sadly ignored debut solo album, Time), so much so that he delivered the late-1970’s crap of the television specials and the credibility / career-killing album, A Kind Of Hush. But in his defense, AKOH was exactly the type of tripe for which the masses clamored at the time (e.g., The Captain & Tennille, KC and the Sunshine Band, Bay City Rollers, etc. Ugh.).
7.) Carpenters: While this album signifies the duo’s official departure from anything resembling rock-and-roll of the time, the hits, the Bacharach/David medley, and key album cuts, like “Let Me Be The One,” “(A Place To) Hideaway,” and “One Love,” make this album essential listening.
8.) Now & Then: While the oldies medley that dominates side two demonstrated the last-minute, thrown-together nature of this project, it is the last album with the “classic” Carpenters sound. Best album tracks are “Jambalaya (On The Bayou),” “I Can’t Make Music,” and Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade,” which featured some of Karen’s very best drum work.
9.) Passage: This album gets a bad rap, and understandably so, as it’s pullout-all-the-stops, shotgun approach to record making smacked of desperation and audience pandering. The duo was desperate for a hit record that year and made an album designed to appeal to everyone and, ironically, appealed to no one. While featuring a fun, stylistic vocal departure for Karen, the album opener, “B’Wana She No Home,” was cringe-worthy, privileged racism. Of the bajillion funky songs out there at that time, why’d they pick that one? The other two head-scratchers were “Man Smart, Woman Smarter,” and “Calling Occupants…” The remaining songs on the album, however, hold together quite well and have aged beautifully.
10.) Made In America: The “comeback” album that turned out to be the duo’s bittersweet farewell. Richard’s subsequent production work seems to return to the blueprint laid out on this album: synthesizers, Anita Kerr-styled backing vocals, and that instrument (wind chimes?) that sounds like a magician is sweeping a wand over the proceedings, leaving a trail of sparkly glitter (am I right?). That said, Karen’s voice sounds smooth and sultry on these songs, although it was showing signs of wear and tear from her deteriorating health. I remember catching the duo on a few talk shows around that time to promote the album, and my sister gasping at how thin Karen looked. Boy, we had no idea…