⭐ Official Review [Album]: "TIME" (SP 5117/CD 5117/DX 1687)

[Chris May]

“TIME”



Catalogue Number: A&M SP 5117 (LP), CD 5117/DX 1687 (CD)
Date of Release: 10/87
Format: LP/CD​

Track Listing:

1.) Say Yeah! 3:49 (P. Janz/P.Phillips Oland)
2.) Who Do You Love? 3:14 (M.Holden/P.Hamilton/G.Pickus)
3.) Something In Your Eyes 4:11 (R.Carpenter/P.Phillips Oland)
4.) When Time Was All We Had 3:01 (R.Carpenter/P.Phillips Oland)
5.) Time 3:32 (R.Carpenter)
6.) Calling Your Name Again 4:15 (R.Carpenter/R.Marx)
7.) In Love Alone 3:15 (R.Carpenter/J.Bettis)
8.) Remind Me To Tell You 3:53 (M. Mueller)
9.) That's What I Believe 4:26 (R.Carpenter/P.Phillips Oland)
10.) I'm Still Not Over You 3:15 (R.Carpenter/J.Bettis)

Album Credits:

Produced and Arranged by Richard Carpenter

 

[Mark-T]

It's not a bad disc and has some really wonderful moments. I wish he'd had followed it up with another pop disc, though.

 

[Geographer]

This is the best of the solo efforts (including Karen's). My only two "complaints," I think is the Richard sings way too high (same complaint with Karen's solo effort) and, of course, the Scott Grimes tune (not my favorite). Great moments, though, such as "Calling Your Name Again," Who Do You Love," "Time," and of course, "Something in Your Eyes." Overall, the material is strong; however, the P. Phillips Oland lyrics are/were not a favorite of mine, either, but they have grown on me over the years.

 

[A&M Retro]

It sounds very '80's today, but there are still some great tunes. 'In Love Alone', 'Time' and 'Something In Your Eyes' are standouts to me. I always thought 'Time' would be a nice soundtrack song to a movie. I still believe Richard should be doing that today. He's be a natural.

 

[Mark-T]

Other than holding the opposite view to your opening sentence, I like the same songs you've picked out.

 

[Chris May]

Other than some of Joe's signature bass lines along with Richard's string and vocal arrangements, I agree with A&M Retro - very "80s" and dated.

 

[newvillefan]

Other than the fact that Richard's not strong enough as a lead vocalist, this album isn't half bad at all. I agree with the above comment about the material being strong and there are some lovely moments on the record. I could imagine tracks like 'Calling Your Name Again' and 'I'm Still Not Over You' being recorded by artists like Glenn Madeiros and Richard Marx (who co-wrote the former).

 

[ullalume]

Considering the lovely "real" instrumental arrangements he came up with for VOH in '83, and Lovelines in '89, it's surprising how much synth he uses in Time. . .it really dates the thing, and takes what could have been a good album and makes it merely OK. Richard sings too high and uses very little vibrato on the verses which makes for a really samey sound. Scott Grimes track makes me cringe and not a big fan of some of the lyrics.

Those are the negatives. The positives. . .there's some really strong compositions on it, I'm Still Not Over You, In Love Alone, Calling Your Name Again, Something In Your Eyes. The background vocals, though missing Karen, still sound GREAT. And even though he leans on synths too much, some of the arrangements are still cracking.

Favourite Song - I'm Still Not Over You and had In Love Alone (with Karen and their bg vocals) been the lead off single for their '83 album in April/May of that year I'm convinced it would have gone top 10.

Overall, a fair album with some cracking moments. 3/5

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Except for the disco sound, I don't feel Karen's solo album is really all that dated. If we are comparing (which I think both stand on their own and should) Karen's far outshines production and vocal work than Richard's. I was listening to "That's What I Believe" just yesterday in the car and the lyrics to me are not all that far from a Carpenters sugar sweet song and I imagined Karen singing this and really enjoying it much more, so to me it's not a bad song it's just got the wrong singer. There are some nice tracks on this album, like Calling Your Name Again, When Time Was All We Had and the heart wrenching I'm Still Not Over You.

I still think Richard should have heeded Karen's call and scored a film (he wasn't listening), it would have been a great direction to head into especially teaming with John Bettis. Richard has always been better behind the scenes in production work. This album shows he is not a lead vocalist, although I love his vocals as a background against Karen's.

I give it 3 stars for the nice tracks I mentioned. Vocal work alone, Karen's solo gets a 5 star treatment!!

 

[Chris May]

Except for the disco sound, I don't feel Karen's solo album is really all that dated. If we are comparing (which I think both stand on their own and should) Karen's far outshines production and vocal work than Richard's. I was listening to "That's What I Believe" just yesterday in the car and the lyrics to me are not all that far from a Carpenters sugar sweet song and I imagined Karen singing this and really enjoying it much more, so to me it's not a bad song it's just got the wrong singer. There are some nice tracks on this album, like Calling Your Name Again, When Time Was All We Had and the heart wrenching I'm Still Not Over You.

I still think Richard should have heeded Karen's call and scored a film (he wasn't listening), it would have been a great direction to head into especially teaming with John Bettis. Richard has always been better behind the scenes in production work. This album shows he is not a lead vocalist, although I love his vocals as a background against Karen's.

I couldn't agree with you more, Chris! For me personally, I think the stuff that brought any enjoyment in listening to Richard's - again, were the signature "Carpenter" licks and overdubs. I mentioned in my above post about the strings as well - you definitely hear his signature treatment with a lot of the string lines, and of course Joe's bass playing. All of the DX-7 synth keys and such (and by the way, the same keyboard patches used on several remixes of earlier Carpenter cuts at the same time) just made it too dated. As for Karen's album, the vocals are really superb. I do agree with much of what has been said in terms of her being keyed too high for much of it on the leads, but the BGVs are absolutely exquisite.

 

[Mark-T]

Just imagine if in 1980, Richard would have done his own album, Karen hers, and they were both released at the same time in place of a Carpenters disc. What an incredible combination after Passage, then Christmas Portrait. Four unique discs in a row. Everyone in the industry (and the fans) would have noticed they were serious about doing new things and stretching out. Then, a duo disc would have been really welcome again when they came back together. And it probably would have been much fresher than Made in America.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

For me, Richard sounded best on the earlier solo cuts like I Kept On Loving You, Turn Away and What's The Use etc...the key was just right and I really like his backing vocals throughout the catalog, especially on some of the Christmas cuts. I mentioned it before on another thread but Richard sounded very different on Time, maybe it was just the synths and production or just too high of a key that throws me off in the mix. It's ironic that he felt Karen was too high for her solo album yet he did the very same thing on his solo album. However there are a few tracks he does sound better on with his solo album than other tracks.

I do like the choice for album cover both front and back. It's really a catch 22 because as much as Karen wanted him to branch out and try new things separately if he had went off after 83 and struck it big in say movie scores and producing many more up and coming artists....that would have only meant he wouldn't have had the "Time" to complete so many of the CD's put out after Karen died. When you think about it, he really worked on their back catalog, remixing and releasing a ton of compilations and rare sets. I can't imagine not having those. Someone posted a photo a while back of all the albums he put out since Karen passed away and I was thrown back with just how many there were.

 

[A&M Retro]

Just imagine if in 1980, Richard would have done his own album, Karen hers, and they were both released at the same time in place of a Carpenters disc. What an incredible combination after Passage, then Christmas Portrait. Four unique discs in a row. Everyone in the industry (and the fans) would have noticed they were serious about doing new things and stretching out. Then, a duo disc would have been really welcome again when they came back together. And it probably would have been much fresher than Made in America.

Dare to dream. Great vision, though.

 

[Jeff]

Synth aside. Here the flawless odubs at a new level. In this key I often single out Karen's blend. I love this kinda CarpenterS reimagined in '87.

 

[Jeff]

I gave Rich the same 5 as Karen. Studio perfection. Who am I to criticize?

 

[Harry]

I loved this album when it came out. Having always admired Richard for his talents, it was refreshing to see him break away from the depressing events of earlier in the decade. I was quite surprised to see the album in the store. It was Wall-To-Wall Sound in the Montgomeryville Mall in PA. It was an instant purchase and I eagerly took it home and listened on my CD player. I also instantly made a cassette dub to listen to on the ride to and from work.

It was so good to hear Richard's harmonies and arrangement skills put to use on a new album, and old friend Herb Alpert was found on the disc too, along with Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield. I wasn't keen on the Scott Grimes track and felt it was misplaced, but I overlooked it.

A short time later, a bunch of LPs of the album were being tossed at the radio station and I grabbed two of them. It remained a solid favorite for a fair amount of time in the late '80s.

Harry

 

[newvillefan]

It's interesting to see that the votes for both Karen's and Richard's solo albums come out as 3 stars. Neither is voted as being outstanding but they're equally compelling for different reasons. Karen's votes are mainly for her vocals and Richard's for the strength of the material and arrangements. This is one of the things that fascinates me about the duo - separate them and you quickly find that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Fascinating when you think about it.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Sorry about what's coming. This thing is a dog. It is, by far, my least favorite album in their canon and one of my least favorite period. Richard's voice is just awful throughout and the arrangements are just "Made in America" continued. No spark of life anywhere. There are no real bright spots here (Dusty's decent) but, beyond that, just awful. "Say Yeah!" is about the worst thing I've heard by anyone. Not sure what he was thinking there. This album was just a bad idea and it bombed horribly as it should have.

Ed

 

[Murray]

I gave the album 4 stars. I deducted one star because Richard, (to put it kindly) isn't the best lead singer, he's singing too high, and I can't stand the Scott Grimes number. Why did I only deduct one star you ask? With the exception of "That's What I Believe", I love the material on this album, and I'm thankful that we got to hear Richard's compositions from this period. I've always enjoyed his keyboard stylings, and the trademark Carpenter multi-layered vocals. Sure, it's synth heavy and sounds dated now, but I applaud Richard for at least trying to sound current at the time.

Ed's going to think I've lost my mind, but I actually like "Say Yeah!" It was composed by Paul Janz, who recorded a string of hits for A&M Canada in the 80s. A bit of trivia - Paul was dropped from the A&M roster when the company was sold to Polygram. He left the music business, and is now a theology professor at King's College, London.

 

[Harry]

but I actually like "Say Yeah!"

Me too!

 

[A&M Retro]

I loved the whole album when it was released....even the Scott Grimes tune! I just don't think it has held up as well as many Carpenters performances have due to the ultra '80's production style.

I do wish Richard had let someone else do the leads, though. 'Calling Your Name Again' had SMASH written all over it in 1987, but he needed somebody like Dionne to sing that one, too.

 

[GaryAlan]

"I believe young Scott (Grimes) to have quite a future in music".....Richard Carpenter, Time, Liner Notes.
(Huh?!)

I do appreciate :
Something In Your eyes....Brilliant,
Calling Your Name Again, and
I'm Still Not Over You are nice tunes.
Say Yeah, not bad.
That being said, I have listened to this album less than a handful of times since its release.
For comparison, I listen to Karen's solo album at least once a week.

Good Folks, I admire Richard Carpenter as a musical genius, but, what is going on here?
Cohesiveness is lacking, the album does not resonate with me.
But, at least, he gave it a shot.

People Magazine, October 1987:
My intention was to get back into my music and create something new," says Carpenter. "I loved working with our older music, the Carpenter things, remixing them for CDs and all that. But I'm very much into the future too."
Still, the past was hard to forget, especially when Carpenter started to record alone for the first time. "It struck home anew that Karen was no longer with us, and I found that very upsetting," he says. "Here I was, working alone when we had always been a team, working with the same engineer, the same musicians and in the same studios, and no Karen." In Love Alone, recorded on the new album, was written in 1982 especially for Karen by Richard and lyricist John Bettis, but she didn't live to hear it. "We'd invited Karen to a Christmas party we were having here so we could play it for her," says Richard. "But it was pouring pitchforks, and she didn't want to drive all the way from her apartment. I never really saw her by a piano after that where I could play it for her. She died the following February." Says Warwick of singing In Love Alone: "It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done; listening to it is still difficult. But I'm thrilled Richard has gotten himself together and is making pretty music again."

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Ed's going to think I've lost my mind, but I actually like "Say Yeah!" It was composed by Paul Janz, who recorded a string of hits for A&M Canada in the 80s. A bit of trivia - Paul was dropped from the A&M roster when the company was sold to Polygram. He left the music business, and is now a theology professor at King's College, London.

LOL! You're entitled, of course... I just can't stand it. He didn't like Karen singing "come hither" lyrics but he doesn't mine doing it here. And it's just so clunky! "Up and down/ring around the roses/you move in close/I come undone". LOL! Listening to Richard asking his lover to "c'mon, baby, make your move" is an absolute riot to me. Add to that all the sampling and dates synths and...okay, I'll stop.

Either way, I'm glad you (and others) like it. That's all that matters. I should likely refrain from commenting further as I have nothing nice to say about this album. Carry on...

Ed

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Has anyone heard "Time"'s cousin, the Scott Grimes debut that Richard produced? If so, how is it?

Ed

 

[newvillefan]

Has anyone heard "Time"'s cousin, the Scott Grimes debut that Richard produced? If so, how is it?

It's just as you'd expect it to be - full of dated 80s synths and similar material to 'Time', except substitute Richard's high pitch nasal vocals for Scott Grimes. The first one below I think should have been the single, but they chose the second one. It didn't chart in the US.