⭐ Official Review [Album]: "LOVELINES" (SP-3931)

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THIS ALBUM?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 18 20.0%
  • ****

    Votes: 48 53.3%
  • ***

    Votes: 15 16.7%
  • **

    Votes: 8 8.9%
  • *

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • Total voters
    90
It looks like this corresponds to this Discogs link:

But also this same catalog number was for a non-promo CD:
I made the submission to Discogs. 🙂 I think the key difference (aside from the packaging) would be the disc itself has "sample" in the centre.
 
Ooh how do these promo discs sound? I wonder if there's any different from my 1990 disc! haha.

@TimeWarp what's on the matrix of your CD? Is it PCCY-10022 1 + ++ ++++++++ like on the image on Discogs?
 
The US Promotional CD had a big red PROMOTIONAL printed across the top.

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I noticed DIPX on the disc and wondered why... but I believe DIPX means the disc is a promo disc. Also found this DIPX entry on Discogs for a promo Joni Mitchell disc:

 
Ooh how do these promo discs sound?
The US Promo disc is exactly the same as the stock CD. In fact, Windows recognizes it as the same as the stock CD. All they did was slap that PROMOTIONAL artwork and change the DIPX number. Even the hub numbering is the same as the stock disc.
 
My copy with the orange promotional stamp on it has the matrix number DIDX-005680. Center circle. Made in the USA. On the top side of the disc it says
CD 3931
DIPX 005680
It has the hype sticker on the jewel case with Carpenters 20th Anniversary info. Same as the one Harry posted the pic of.
 
Ooh how do these promo discs sound? I wonder if there's any different from my 1990 disc! haha.

@TimeWarp what's on the matrix of your CD? Is it PCCY-10022 1 + ++ ++++++++ like on the image on Discogs?
Yes, it only has "PCCY-10022 1" and then a string of what looks like a barcode.
 
I remember first seeing this cover when I was 12 back in 2000. My mother had bought just about every remastered classic except singles & loveliness. She bought everything on Barnes and & Noble. I asked why she skipped loveliness standing by the computer why she forgot one album, as we already had the Singles on CD. She said she barely had enough to buy all the others as it was, and would get it later. My mother had compilations that I heard as a kid, along with 45s she played. I would not hear Loveliness until I got it as a gift from a boyfriend homecoming night when I was a freshman in high school. This was my most played album through my CD Walkman in High School.

I was blown away just how pretty the songs sounded. My least favourite song was If We Try. I had no clue where all the tracks came from, I thought it was some shelved album until I read the book. My mother never had Karen’s solo album nor did she know it existed until I was an adult buying us each a copy. While these tracks may be taken from all over the place, they flow perfectly. On top of that, every song is just so good! I only knew Little Girl Blue and When I Fall In Love because of Interpretations.

The title track immediately puts me on a happy note even to this day. I think about past sadness with the rest of the album and it resonates with me. But this album makes me feel. It makes me feel deep emotions I don’t feel on the other albums. It’s my second favourite next to offering.

Putting aside where the tracks came from, this masterpiece easily stands in its own. The fact it never charted is a travesty. This is way better than voice of the heart IMO.
 
Well, after the first poorly pressed vinyl collection, then total vinyl replacement from UMe, still really poor, a separate album purchase from Target.com, and now a 3rd vinyl collection box set, I finally got a pretty descent copy of Lovelines. Only 2 minor pops, 1 on each side. No rumble, no slow heart beat sound on or between tracks either. I can’t believe my luck! I wasn’t very optimistic after first playing the TTR album. The center hole is too small, like most copies, and really bad pops and rumbling on several tracks. Worst of the 3 copies I now have from sets. Each album is shrink wrapped. I don’t remember them being wrapped on the first box, but that was 2017. I probably won’t open the other albums since I havre excellent copies of them from Japan. I do wish they would release Karen’s solo album on vinyl though, just to make the collection more complete. As Time Goes By too. I probably play Lovelines more than any other record. Just sounds so well mixed and put together for me.
 
Well, after the first poorly pressed vinyl collection, then total vinyl replacement from UMe, still really poor, a separate album purchase from Target.com, and now a 3rd vinyl collection box set, I finally got a pretty descent copy of Lovelines. Only 2 minor pops, 1 on each side. No rumble, no slow heart beat sound on or between tracks either. I can’t believe my luck! I wasn’t very optimistic after first playing the TTR album. The center hole is too small, like most copies, and really bad pops and rumbling on several tracks. Worst of the 3 copies I now have from sets. Each album is shrink wrapped. I don’t remember them being wrapped on the first box, but that was 2017. I probably won’t open the other albums since I havre excellent copies of them from Japan. I do wish they would release Karen’s solo album on vinyl though, just to make the collection more complete. As Time Goes By too. I probably play Lovelines more than any other record. Just sounds so well mixed and put together for me.

If I were you, I'd go for an original A&M from the original release period...course I'm sure you're done now given how many copies of it you've already bought. I have an original from 1989 (it's on my site too; looks no different). The vinyl is thinner but it sounds excellent. I've avoided all the new Carpenters' vinyl because of well-known Universal Music quality issues. In fact, I avoid Universal anything at this point. They don't care and it shows over and over again. :sad:

Ed
 
If I were you, I'd go for an original A&M from the original release period...course I'm sure you're done now given how many copies of it you've already bought. I have an original from 1989 (it's on my site too; looks no different). The vinyl is thinner but it sounds excellent.

I’ve got the original 1989 vinyl as well and it sounds just great!
 
I have an 1989 copy, but never opened it. I played my cd back then. I kind of forgot about it until the Forum, and then the vinyl collection in 2017, when I really fell in love with it more than ever. I was inspired to buy a nicer turntable, a Fluance Rt-85 with built in amp. It sounded pretty good with the Ortofon 2M blue cartridge included. Then Rudy and others were talking about upgrades, so I purchased the great sounding 2M bronze, which is very warm and excellent, which in turn after reading more reviews the 2M black. Their top of the line moving magnet head that’s interchangeable with the bronze. I bought it to hear the quad albums, as they need a shibata tip for the best sound. It gets deeper into the record grove for the whole sounds they produce for playback. It’s not for everyone though. It’s very sensitive and picks up every flaw in the vinyl if there are any. I know Rudy doesn’t care for it. Mine has finally broken in after 6 months, and sounds amazing on clean vinyl. I change it out for older, or less quality records, and use the bronze instead. Thanks for the tips on the 1989 version. If I can find a another sealed copy for a decent price I’ll pick it up.
 
Lovelines Charts at 73
UK Record Mirror Jan 13, 1990
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Nice Photo but these writers...making digs at there names...:confused:
Lovelines Advert
UK Record Mirror Jan 20, 1990
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Gives me pause to wonder if the above snippet intentionally misspelled the title of the album (third line from bottom),
as they write, "newly released Lovliness" instead of Lovelines.
 
I’ve got this album on right now. Hard to believe but this Sunday is Lovelines 32nd anniversary!

32 years since the release of an album that should’ve been released 10 years earlier! For the most part, these are some of the strongest recordings from the 1977-1981 period (the one exception is “Little Girl Blue”, since that kind of closes a good album with a whimper and doesn’t really go with the rest of the album).
 
Album Lovelines remains one of my favorite albums to listen to:

12/09/1989, Billboard (page 72):
THE CARPENTERS
Lovelines PRODUCERS: Richard Carpenter; Phil Ramone, A &M 13931:
"This collection of unreleased tunes is amassed from Karen Carpenter's sessions with Phil Ramone and songs recorded by the brother and sister act over the years. One listen and it's clear that no one -the closest is Gloria Estefan -has filled the void left after Karen's death in 1983.
There's a good reason why some of the syrupy material was never released, but other tracks, like first single If I Had You, the classic When I Fall In Love,
and Where Do I Go From Here, instantly recall why the duo was one of the most successful of the '70s."

Radio & Records, January 19, 1990, (page 71):
What's In The Pipeline For '90, "Much of what appears on this page concerns what might happen in the format this year."
"We checked with some record labels for what will definitely come down in 1990:
"A &M: New albums from Sting and Suzanne Vega, at least two singles from Janet Jackson, and a Karen Carpenter "Lovelines" follow-up."

R&R, same issue:
"Some material is so hard that 'Hot ACs' are dealing with AC product they shied away from - such as Karen Carpenter, Donny Osmond,
and Olivia Newton -John. I had to get beaten over the head to add those records and they seem to be getting acceptance." WRMF/West Palm Beach PD
 
Produced by Olivia Newton-John's producer, John Farrar, in 1978, the introduction to the song below reminds me slightly of the introduction of Carpenters' 'The Uninvited Guest', from 1980.

The below song, "Winter, You've Caught me Out Again", was released in the UK and US on Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company. Unconventional and noncommercial, I know.

 
Right now I’ve got an A&M Records of Canada copy of Lovelines on the turntable (usually play the CD, but I decided to play the LP). Hard to believe that today is this album’s 33rd anniversary. And The Uninvited Guest is still the best song from the album for Halloween.

One thing I notice with the vinyl is that Richard’s notes are all on the back cover and then the inner sleeve is just a stock A&M Records of Canada paper/plastic lined sleeve. So after An Old-Fashioned Christmas, it looks like A&M really didn’t put much effort into how the Carpenters LP’s looked. But I did notice that on the LP you can make out that the cover is a purplish-black cloud background, while the CD, because of the size of the booklet and jewel case, and even online scans of the cover make the background look all black. The cover seems to have been designed with the LP size in mind, and unfortunately in the digital age we’ve lost that cloud or wisp design.
 
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