⭐ Official Review [Album]: "PASSAGE" (SP-4703)

How Would You Rate This Album?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 10 9.3%
  • ****

    Votes: 55 50.9%
  • ***

    Votes: 35 32.4%
  • **

    Votes: 7 6.5%
  • *

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • Total voters
    108
3301

If any of you have the COMPACT DISC COLLECTION from the UK (1990), that version of PASSAGE also had the 80s "better" mastering - same as the A&M CD from the 80s and the SWEET MEMORY set. All of those sound better than the Remastered Classic versions and those in 1998 or later box sets.

No commercial CD has the single - or LP - mix with the right-trailing reverb. You'll need original vinyl for that.

Thanks Harry,
I do have that box set and as you say, it does sound better than the remastered classics version.
The box set also include ms a carbon copy of the MFSL release of the a song for you album, which is a great version ( apart from remix of IGTTST !)
How do you feel the other discs in this UK collection compare Harry?

Rob.
 
As I recall, most of the other discs are pretty much straight clones of the early A&M's.
 


Can't work out which chart this is, or who the DJ is, but All You Get from Love is a Love Song is charting at #24 in the UK here in May 1977...
 
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Can't work out which chart this is, or who the DJ is, but All You Get from Love is a Love Song is charting at #24 in the UK here in May 1977...

I already posted that over here: Heard Carpenters

Post 767. It would be interesting to know where the AYGFALS hit #24 as there’s no known chart action for it in the UK or Ireland. (I was just looking at OfficialReports.com and there is no sign of the Carpenters being on the UK May 77 charts, or Dolly Parton being on there either.). I wonder if his tape is from a different country like Australia?
 
It would be interesting to know where the AYGFALS hit #24 as there’s no known chart action for it in the UK. I wonder if his tape is from a different country like Australia?
Ah! I can offer an opinion on that, Tomswift. There was very little chart action for AYGFLIALS in Australia, either. It only reached Number 89 and spent 2 weeks on the Top 100. It would take ‘Calling Occupants’ to shake record buyers into action on the Carpenters front, five months later. In fact, ‘Calling Occupants’ was the last single by Carpenters to reach the Top 75 in Australia, ever.

Also, the DJ on the tape has a very English accent and style, rather than an Australian accent or manner.

I think the DJ is probably referring to a regional UK chart, such as his very radio station’s chart. Maybe they just happened to have a lot of requests and airplay for the song at that station, and, possibly, local sales.
 
Did the duo have an affection for burps? I hear one in Man Smart and someone laughs right after, and on I’ve Got Rhythm it ends in a huge belch.
 
I think those are ratchet noisemakers like are used on New Years. When used quickly, it can sound like a burping noise. Richard had an affinity for some of those weird sounds from listening to Spike Jones records in his early years.
 
It wasn’t until quite recently, when I went through all their albums and ticked off the songs per album that I have on my playlists, that I realised they include most of the songs on this one. The only other album that this applies to is Lovelines.
 
^^Passage and Lovelines fall into my Top five LPs (excluding Christmas and solo):
The list includes A Song For You, Horizon, Close To You.
Lately, Now & Then has been on my radar, too.
I like the self-titled Tan album, but, it and N &T are too Medley-heavy for my tastes.
But, I do wish Passage and Lovelines were better known to the public.
 
It wasn’t until quite recently, when I went through all their albums and ticked off the songs per album that I have on my playlists, that I realized they include most of the songs on this one. The only other album that this applies to is Lovelines.
But, I do wish Passage and Lovelines were better known to the public.

Cuts from "Passage and Lovelines" are also heavy on my playlists. I don't know if it's a generational thing. Or just because both sets have the unexpected? I like the tried and true, but I "love" musical risks. Even though they don't always pay off with the tried and true fans, it intrigues me, and keeps me coming back for more listens. From the album design to the music within, I think it (Passage) was a worthy risk for the Carpenters.
It was either going to be a surprise hit.......or follow the descending trend for their albums. But personally it's a winner for me!
 
I always liked the artwork for the album Passage. I think this is a cool t-shirt, looks really good in the black.
oV0nOqY.jpg


The Carpenters Album Passage Logo Men's T-Shirt Size S to 2XL | eBay
 
I always liked the artwork for the album Passage. I think this is a cool t-shirt, looks really good in the black.
oV0nOqY.jpg


The Carpenters Album Passage Logo Men's T-Shirt Size S to 2XL | eBay
From the T-Shirt eBay listing:

Item location: Chatsworth, California, United States

Shipping to: Worldwide

Excludes: Alaska/Hawaii, US Protectorates, APO/FPO, Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, Southeast Asia, South America


So, the only place the seller will ship to is... Antarctica? :laugh:
 
From the T-Shirt eBay listing:

Item location: Chatsworth, California, United States

Shipping to: Worldwide

Excludes: Alaska/Hawaii, US Protectorates, APO/FPO, Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, Southeast Asia, South America


So, the only place the seller will ship to is... Antarctica? :laugh:
Hope the Penguins like them!
 
Passage is monumental, not because of it's chart success or units sold. It's got great album art, interesting song choices, genres, and really something for everyone. Plus the strongest single to have come out in the late 1970's. Of course I'm talking about "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song." It's a dirty old shame it didn't end up being the Carpenters last top 10 song on the Hot 100! (If there had to be one!)
 
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I think the introduction of other singers hurt it’s chart success. It’s fine for live singing but once they started using others to sing along it felt as if their best was in the past and everyone already had them. Plus, as nice of a song as it is, it does not grab to the point of once you hear it it’s in your head all day, which hurt it. It was also spring, the time people are in love. Plus, I think the highest number of the chart it reached was in direct reflection of how many stations were left playing their music after the easy easy Hush album.
 
John Adam hit all the great aspects of Passage:
You have the marvelous artwork, the diversity of music and something for everyone. It simply baffles me that it did not "hit,"
which leads me to believe that its lack of success was due to everything BUT the music:
their image, the tag of being easy-listening, the lackluster showing of Hush album, radio resistance,
lack of promotional tour.....
 
radio resistance,

This. Hit radio wanted nothing to do with Carpenters at this point in time. Programmers had figured out what "turn-offs" were and their biggest fear was playing a record that someone in their core audience would push the button and tune out of. It didn't matter how great the record was, and "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song" is a great record. They weren't going to get airplay on the stations that mattered.

AM 1940 All You Get I Have You.jpg
 
You have to admire the duo for what they tried to do with Passage. They tried to turn that corner and get back into the game. The album has everything; funk, country, sci-fi, ballads, Broadway, and a genuine pop song that we all know shoulda, coulda, woulda. It was a great effort. Back in 1977, I listened to a variety of music stations a lot, and I never heard AYGFLIALS until I became a fan years later and actually bought the album.
 
This. Hit radio wanted nothing to do with Carpenters at this point in time. Programmers had figured out what "turn-offs" were and their biggest fear was playing a record that someone in their core audience would push the button and tune out of. It didn't matter how great the record was, and "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song" is a great record. They weren't going to get airplay on the stations that mattered.

AM 1940 All You Get I Have You.jpg

I'm sure this has been discussed before (???)
What if an album, lets say "A Song For You" had been released in 1977 instead of 1972. The first single this time is Goodbye To Love, also a great record. Do you think (as a radio person) the single and the album would of had the same fate as Passage?
And the rest of you guys who were present at the time, what do you think would of been the outcome in 1977?
 
It wasn't the record - it was that it was "Carpenters". They had been so successful early in the decade - and that ran so counter to so much else that was out there - that the American audience just shut them down. They'd had enough of their sugary stuff and no matter how good a record they'd make, it wasn't going to fly on the big stations of the day.

All artists have their ups and downs. Elsewhere, early in the 70s, John Denver was the hippest thing going. By the end of the decade, he was as passé as warm milk.

And what usually happens is a resurgence at some point. Neil Diamond had faded considerably, but in the early 80s, he hit it big with his great soundtrack to his awful movie, THE JAZZ SINGER. And then he faded out again.

It's possible that Carpenters would have had a resurgence too, but they never got the chance while Karen was alive.
 
Didn’t John Denver have problems after the 70’s getting his new material/albums play. They all wanted to hear his hits from the 70’s not his new stuff, even his concerts too. They wouldn’t let him move on (music wise)
 
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