Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Another fascinating aspect of
I Can Dream Can't I ,
is Pete Jolly's excellent keyboard performance.
Quite memorable.
Solitaire never should have opened side 2 of Horizon. Terrible choice. Who made these decisions when it came to sequencing?
It is truly a crime that perhaps the signature song on HORIZON, as far as I'm concerned, is so overlooked, even by fans here. The song has garnered little discussion over the years, and yet it is a sublime look-back at the music stylings of the 40s. Richard himself is quoted as saying that he thinks he was born in the wrong decade.
^^What are the "muzak-y instrumentals" you refer to, on Horizon ?
Aurora and Eventide ? These "Bookends" designed to open and close the album.
I suppose one could make the case that Horizon is not strictly-speaking a "pop" album.
One could also make the case that many Carpenters' albums were not "pop" albums.
It's brevity should hardly matter--The tan album was a huge seller,clocking-in at 29m26s.
(Horizon album, 32m12s). And, two songs on the Tan album are throwaways(imho):
Druscilla Penny 2m18s, and Saturday 1m20s.
Whereas, the entirety of the Horizon album makes musical "sense" (and visual) to me,
the entirety of the hugely-selling, Grammy-nominated Tan album does not (imho).
Horizon "feels" like an album, not simply a sequence of songs sandwiched between hit singles.
Perhaps, Horizon is too "sophisticated" to appeal to the majority of music consumers ?
And, yes, a summer June release was perhaps a big mistake in timing.
I must apologize here as I mistakenly called them "instrumentals." This is what I get for writing something up while doing other things. Even so, while they're not instrumental they're still not exactly what would normally be used for an opener on an album. And, the two are basically the same song with different lyrics, so that's why it seems like a bit of a ripoff to have such a short album to start off with, and then have the same thing repeat itself at the end. I realize it's supposed to be an "album" i.e. a cohesive work as opposed to a group of singles surrounded by album cuts, but if they were going for THAT, they would have left out "Please Mr. Postman" which sticks out like a sore thumb in the context of the rest of the record.^^What are the "muzak-y instrumentals" you refer to, on Horizon ?
Aurora and Eventide ? These "Bookends" designed to open and close the album.
I suppose one could make the case that Horizon is not strictly-speaking a "pop" album.
One could also make the case that many Carpenters' albums were not "pop" albums.
It's brevity should hardly matter--The tan album was a huge seller,clocking-in at 29m26s.
(Horizon album, 32m12s). And, two songs on the Tan album are throwaways(imho):
Druscilla Penny 2m18s, and Saturday 1m20s.
Whereas, the entirety of the Horizon album makes musical "sense" (and visual) to me,
the entirety of the hugely-selling, Grammy-nominated Tan album does not (imho).
Horizon "feels" like an album, not simply a sequence of songs sandwiched between hit singles.
Perhaps, Horizon is too "sophisticated" to appeal to the majority of music consumers ?
There are 3 Carpenters albums that stand apart from the others. They are Horizon, A Song For You and Close To You. These 3 alone could summarize their career. Horizon is the best for Karen sings the best and could even stand the talent test of Karen's vocal quality over any popular artist. better than anyone. A Song For You for its chosen material and artistry. Close To You for it begins the pattern that continues through their career with 2 of the most important songs of their career with overdubs and harmonies unlike any of the others. All the others fit in between them. Noteworthy is Passage for its guest artists that play on it and the Christmas Portrait for its generational and lasting signature appeal. Now and Then comes next for its Oldies signature and the others are outlined according to individual taste. All of this is to outline the musical signifance of Horizon. Without it, the Carpenters would have disappeared with the early 70's. Horizon still stands the test of time with jewels unlike any other and these jewels can even play today as a testament to the best example of musical style with I Can Dream, Can't I, Please Mr. Postman, Solitaire and Only Yesterday as songs that will never be performed better. Then add the originals as examples of fine music. The only thing it lacks are two more uptempo songs, but that in no way takes away from the presence made by the ones I just mentioned. No album outperforms them to the generational appeal of those songs in any other album. Then add Love Me For What I Am and you include a song that talks about the heart of relations that is even based in today's somgs. So whatever reason of critique, the individual songs that stand out are not on any other project to the significance of this project. The tan album is only good for its singles and the Bacharach medley and Let Me Be The One. The rest is filler, peasant filler, but filler. Nothing on Horizon is filler, all songs are single worthy.June 21, 1975 CashBox Magazine(page 24): "POP PICKS" album review.
"HORIZON —
" The Carpenters — A&M SP 4530 -Producer: Richard Carpenter
The natural vocals of Karen and the arranging genius of Richard have combined to make the
Carpenters' sound a classic in the easy listening market. This successful musical formula continues
on "Horizon” as the Carpenters turn their finely toned talents to proven outings on "Only Yesterday”
and "Love Me For What I Am " Also highlighted is a thoroughly laidback cover of
"Desperado. " Other top cuts include "Eventide," "Happy” and "I Can Dream Can't I."
The Carpenters once again prove themselves the listen of the century."
CashBox Top 50 Albums of Year 1975: Carpenters' Horizon #7
British Respond
To Carpenter LP
HOLLYWOOD — "Horizon,” the Carpenters new album which has been shipped
this past week, has the biggest-ever advance British sales of any Carpenters LP,
according to A&M sales manager Bill Groves.
The group's "Singles 1969-1973,” on the British charts for 72 weeks and recently back to number 3,
has become their biggest album seller to date with 1 3 million units.
"Horizon,” Richard and Karen Carpenter's first new studio album in two years,
contains their current single "Only Yesterday” and their recent world wide hit "Please Mr. Postman.”
According to Groves, A&M will be promoting "Horizon" via 30-second television spots throughout the United Kingdom, plus extensive retail store displays. The Carpenters make their return to Britain on Nov 14 with a tour already scheduled."
(Cashbox, June 21, 1975).
Herb Alpert has said in several interviews that he liked R&K early on because they were making "the music that was coming out of them." In other words, they were doing what they felt, not just gunning for singles. Given their circumstances at the time Horizon showed up -- they were overworked, Richard was burned out, and Karen was beginning to feel that solo-album itch -- it's no wonder that there's a "darkness" to the Horizon album. Plus it contains several short-cuts -- two instrumentals, two previously-released singles (one of which came out LONG ahead of the album and should have remained a standalone single) and so on.
As Mark-T says above, it doesn't feel like a summertime-fun album, but the problems with it are deeper than that to me -- it just draaags. This comment has nothing to do with the sound quality of the record -- it's probably one of the finest-produced albums of that time or any time. The problem is the choice of material, and just as importantly, the lack of material. In that era, a lot of artists were putting out albums that were 45 and 50 minutes long, or longer, and here comes this one at 34 minutes? And over 3 minutes were taken up by muzak-y instrumentals?
Simply put, as fine as "Only Yesterday" is (not my favorite song, but a stellar piece of music), and as much as I love the cover, they did themselves no favors with Horizon, because they were a pop act and when you get right down to it, Horizon is really not a pop album.
(3) The fact that Only Yesterday (in the USA) reached (only) #4 for (only) a week, then dropped like a bomb down
the charts, says more to me than does the timing of the Horizon album release in June.
I believe that "Only Yesterday", as a single, occurred just as Carpenters star was beginning to fall. "Please Mr. Postman" had been a number one hit and was all over hit radio, and I believe that "radio" was getting tired of the duo. We know of their image problem, and that was accelerated by the hipster radio programmers and DJs of the time. They were latching onto more soulful records, early disco-type stuff in 1975, and Carpenters just didn't fit that image.
So while "Only Yesterday" got played - and got played quite often as a #4 record, the singular moment that it began to drop in the charts, was an instantaneous signal for those hit radio stations to drop it from their playlists. "Solitaire" didn't get a lot of play on hit stations, but was picked up by soft-rock, adult-contemporary radio that summer. Hit radio took a break from Carpenters that summer.
By the time "A Kind Of Hush" was issued, Carpenters were no longer a fixture on hit radio and were pretty much relegated from then on to soft-rock stations.