⭐ Official Review Carpenters Royal Philharmonic Review and Comments Thread

How would you rate Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra?

  • ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ (Best)

    Votes: 38 36.5%
  • ⁕⁕⁕⁕

    Votes: 47 45.2%
  • ⁕⁕⁕ (Average)

    Votes: 16 15.4%
  • ⁕⁕

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • ⁕ (Worst)

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Did not listen to this album yet

    Votes: 1 1.0%

  • Total voters
    104
I have to admit that the additions made with the RPO were too minimalist to truly be considered something completely "new" [...] I rarely listen to it anymore. I've gone back to the pre-RPO material almost exclusively.

^^^ This is what I said all along and I still feel the same. Not sure he'd do anything different if he was given the green light for RPO#2, although I'd still love to hear what he'd do with an RPO version of A Song For You.
 
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I think I may have written before but I was never a huge fan of Touch Me When We're Dancing. However since hearing the RPO version I've really grown to love the song more. It's amazing how a little technology such as being able to bring Karen's vocal up front instead of being buried in the mix has been incredible to hear for the first time and changed how I feel about the song.

For me, one of the main reasons I love the album so much has less to do with how much or little Richard decided to add orchestra to the original recordings. It has more to do with how advanced technology has come that they were able to clean up the masters and project Karen's voice to a whole new level of closeness and richness.

I think Richard even said in one of the earlier interviews that this was one of...if not the main reason why he undertook the project. The orchestra is paired perfectly with these Carpenters tracks but the level of enhancement we get from Karen's vocals alone are worth the cost of purchase.
 
Once again, I've been doing a little analyzing of the tracks from the various releases of the RPO album and found this interesting.

If you recall, "Ticket To Ride" was one of the pre-release tracks that showed up on YouTube before that album's official release. The opening piano on that one sounded like the old regular remix from 1973.

Next came the original CD releases, both the standard, and then the Target (and Japanese) with the bonus track. All of those have the same standard opening on "Ticket To Ride" that was on the pre-release version.

Then we got word that the files that were being released in HiDef and standard resolution were out, and there it was discovered that "Ticket To Ride" had a new "stereo" piano opening, different from the CD versions. (There were other differences on other tracks too.) Many were upset that the download versions were different from the CD versions, and that's understandable.

After many months, the vinyl was finally released, and guess what? "Ticket To Ride" is back to the standard opening heard on the CDs and pre-release.

And even THAT analysis is confused by multiple versions. The crossed-out statement applies only to the mp3 files sent by Amazon as part of its Autorip program. THAT version of "Ticket To Ride" is the older, pre-release and CD version.

The actual vinyl contains the newer version as one would expect, making most of this post really unimportant!
 
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Perhaps all these kinds of changes/additions could be added to the resource to help us keep track in the future.
 
I enjoy reading all your posts concerning the RPO album. It is a way of presenting another tweaking to material we already love the way it was.
That part is true, and you guys are right, it is not all that different. But I don't mind all the attempts to expand and perfect the Carpenters work.

Music is art, but it is fluid, and "can" be altered. As long as we have the originals, let the artist have his fun, since Karen is no longer here to sing us new songs, the old ones provide a platform for Richard to expand on his original ideas. I look at it this way. Is a first marriage always the best one? Maybe the thought applies to song arranging too? lol
 
Maybe music isn't Art. Maybe its something more fundamental to human existence. Can you imagine Da Vinci changing the Mona Lisa. And yes, I know he worked on 16 years, till he though it was perfect. So go for it RC. Can't wait for the RPO of the RPO of the RPO......
Sorry to be so abstruse.:)
 
Maybe music isn't Art. Maybe its something more fundamental to human existence. Can you imagine Da Vinci changing the Mona Lisa. And yes, I know he worked on 16 years, till he though it was perfect. So go for it RC. Can't wait for the RPO of the RPO of the RPO......
Sorry to be so abstruse.:)

If we all viewed everything the same it would be a very boring world, wouldn't it? :)
 
If Richard took the same process he did on the RPO (with regard to Karen's vocals not the orchestra) and applied that to all the originals studio albums and re-released them on CD what would he call them? I mean you can't use Remastered Classics as that has been used. I think it would be a great idea. I would buy them all again just to get the clarity in the vocals brought up to the quality of the RPO album. But he or Universal would have to use a catchy title in order for the public to re buy them. Maybe it would never happen but I'd sure like it to.
 
I think I may have written before but I was never a huge fan of Touch Me When We're Dancing. However since hearing the RPO version I've really grown to love the song more. It's amazing how a little technology such as being able to bring Karen's vocal up front instead of being buried in the mix has been incredible to hear for the first time and changed how I feel about the song.

There's one song from the RPO that somehow attained a new level of magic for me - I Believe You. Whatever Richard did with this one on the RPO, it really sounds better to me. Maybe it _IS_ just hearing her voice higher in the mix, but for whatever reason this is the one song from the RPO I use now in my playlist.
 
If Richard took the same process he did on the RPO (with regard to Karen's vocals not the orchestra) and applied that to all the originals studio albums and re-released them on CD what would he call them? I mean you can't use Remastered Classics as that has been used. I think it would be a great idea. I would buy them all again just to get the clarity in the vocals brought up to the quality of the RPO album. But he or Universal would have to use a catchy title in order for the public to re buy them. Maybe it would never happen but I'd sure like it to.

Believe it or not, I would also re-re-re-re-re-buy the entire CarpenterS catalog. I'm counting my 8 tracks, cassettes, 45's, reel-to-reels, CDs, downloads and geez, I've got the re-re's bad...what'd I miss?
I agree that Karen's leads and overdubs are so sparkling fresh. This is why I've experienced EVERY format. In an effort to reproduce the finest available. My electronics have been upgraded accordingly. I have a high-end system 11.2 channels and I can accomodate these recordings brilliantly. I'm a Klipsch man. My primary hobby and exclusive pleasure knows no bounds or constraints, save my wallet. One day when my ship comes in watchout stereo stores cause here comes Jeffrey...AGAIN!
 
Believe it or not, I would also re-re-re-re-re-buy the entire CarpenterS catalog. I'm counting my 8 tracks, cassettes, 45's, reel-to-reels, CDs, downloads and geez, I've got the re-re's bad...what'd I miss?

I'm officially done with buying any new Carpenters releases on CD, unless by a miracle anything unreleased is included in the future, in which case I'd happily make an exception. I dabbled in the Remastered Classic CDs a few years ago and in the ones I did buy, I found there to be zero sonic difference compared to the earlier CDs I had, so I put a halt to wasting my money right there and then. If I ever do have a burning desire to know which version of which track is on which album, the Recording Resource is there. I've now probably got at least a couple of versions of each of the songs which have been remixed and I'm happy with that, as it's years since I listened to a CD anyway.
 
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I understand the fresh feeling. There are those like I’ll Just Fall In Love Again and I Believe You, For All We Know and Hurting Each Other. But, then go listen to the original of the others and see if you find what I do. I can hear an edge of her voice missing from some of the new versions. I’m not sure if it’s removal of effects or if the effects of new removed some of the original umph and edge for lack of better terms from her voice. The best thing of the new is that we can hear Karen clear from all speakers and background vocals as in Touch Me When are so good you never want to hear the original again. I guess that what I’m saying is that technology is still being improved and we will always want revisions but what we have is pretty darn good! All in all it shows her voice was one of a kind!
 
Honestly, I can do without any more revisions to anything. I Believe You, nice album cut that it is, is simply too insipid.
Touch Me When We're Dancing does sound better on RPO album, though not due to any RPO subtle-as-they-are additions.
The 'UMG/ Carpenters' RPO album on Youtube says the playlist was "updated today." I wonder what was "updated."
I listened to a symphonic re-do of A-Ha's Take On Me. Now, that is how you do it.
 
[QUOTE="GaryAlan, post: 200177, member: 2493]:
I listened to a symphonic re-do of A-Ha's Take On Me. Now, that is how you do it.
[/QUOTE]
 
Honestly, I can do without any more revisions to anything. I Believe You, nice album cut that it is, is simply too insipid.
Touch Me When We're Dancing does sound better on RPO album, though not due to any RPO subtle-as-they-are additions.
The 'UMG/ Carpenters' RPO album on Youtube says the playlist was "updated today." I wonder what was "updated."
I listened to a symphonic re-do of A-Ha's Take On Me. Now, that is how you do it.

Insipid or not, I Believe You may have the most overtly (hah!) sexual innuendo in the catalog:

"When you say you'll fill my body with your soul
And love will grow into a freckled little girl
Who looks like we do"
 
Hi guys,

I just wondered, is there a version of the album on cd yet that includes all the later tweaks?
Happy Christmas everyone.
Rob
Hi Robert,

Did you get an answer to this? I got mine when it was released, and I was a bit disappointed with Merry Christmas Darling as I wanted to separate it from the album on my phone (I never want to hear Christmas songs outside of December) but the CD track ends before the actual recording does, so separating it means you get the end cut off, with that ending being included on the next track. Or are there other tweaks?
 
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Hi Robert,

Did you get an answer to this? I got mine when it was released, and I was a bit disappointed with Merry Christmas Darling as I wanted to separate it from the album on my phone (I never want to hear Christmas songs outside of December) but the CD track ends before the actual recording does, so separating it means you get the end cut off, with that ending being included on the next track. Or are there other tweaks?

Hi Alan,

From what I can tell on cd there is just the one version ( apart from the target special that includes postman ).
There are a few other tweaks , listed on here if you go back a bit - some of the interludes, stereo piano on ticket to ride - little bits and pieces here and there. The itunes and downloadable versions have the up to date tweaks i think. They arent huge changes but i dont want to have to buy it again. im not one for downloading either.
 
Thanks Robert. Likewise, I’m not going to download something I already own.

The versions that were released to radio did differ from the CD versions. For instance, Yesterday Once More had an odd cold ending on the radio version which isn’t present on the CD. And, of course, Merry Christmas Darling had its ending intact on the radio version.
 
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