"As Time Goes By" album cover

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RainyDays

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Easily one of their best and "deepest" covers, that's so simple put packs a punch. A white, heavenly light glowing from behind Karen as she "sleeps" forever peacefully, as Richard looks away in the other direction with a sad kind of look; gazing into the future...

As_Time_Goes_By_%28Carpenters_album%29.jpg


A fitting cover for what is really there "final" album.
 
Probably the best cover of all Carpenters albums. Should have been used back in the day. They look really cool and relaxed.
 
This is cooler than the Horizon cover which takes some beating, I love the way Karen is photogaphed in full focus, and Richard just slightly out of focus because of the distance between them. Could be reason the photo never surfaced during the release of their studio albums, it just wasn't quite perfect enough for them. My fav photo of the duo.
 
the Horizon cover which takes some beating,
Really? I thought everyone loved that cover. I know it's my favorite one. Always found it amazing....Carpenters being one of the top selling artists of their era, but had some of the worst album covers!
 
This cover being released after Karen's death and the dust having been settled (kind of), this cover was/is a reflection of the current state of the two siblings, and adds a layer of "hauntingly beautiful" to a publicity still which before was simply a lovely picture. It's as if Karen has "past away/fallen asleep" on the seat, and Rich not being able to look at what has happened.
 
We've got A&M Marketing department to blame for those disasters!

Overall, I really don't think there covers were that bad at all. The only ones that needed some reshoots/touching up are Offering and Close To You - both look sloppy and washed out. Though TTR's cover was beautiful on the lake. The only other really "lesser" one I would change would be MADE IN AMERICA, which looks cheesy, sorta, for the duo who wanted to been seen as mature 30-somethings.
 
The problem I always had with their covers was the (for lack of a better word) amaterish design of the fronts. The packaging in general was often really good.....take A Song For You as an example. The inside sleeve was way cool; the textured paper of the outside cover, the "flap" with the embossing.....all great. But the front cover itself? Looked like somebody glanced at the "tan" album cover for about five minutes and said, "eh, just do it like this in a differnet color and we'll stick a heart on there." Zero imagination.

Or the Now and Then cover. Once again, really great package: Cool innersleeve; impressive double-gatefold; nice custom-printed record labels....with a front cover shot that took maybe 30 seconds to create (not counting the airbrushing) and doesn't show the star's face. Greeeat job there, art department.

For Made in America they should have used the inner-sleeve photo for the front cover. I doubt they'd have sold any more records by doing that, but you never know.

I guess I had these feelings stirred up after reading various accounts of how much Richard hated some of their covers and I went "you know....he's right!"
 
Really? I thought everyone loved that cover. I know it's my favorite one. Always found it amazing....Carpenters being one of the top selling artists of their era, but had some of the worst album covers!
I think Chris Mills was stating that it would be hard to beat the Horizon photo. And I agree with both of you!
 
The problem I always had with their covers was the (for lack of a better word) amaterish design of the fronts. The packaging in general was often really good.....take A Song For You as an example. The inside sleeve was way cool; the textured paper of the outside cover, the "flap" with the embossing.....all great. But the front cover itself? Looked like somebody glanced at the "tan" album cover for about five minutes and said, "eh, just do it like this in a differnet color and we'll stick a heart on there." Zero imagination.

Or the Now and Then cover. Once again, really great package: Cool innersleeve; impressive double-gatefold; nice custom-printed record labels....with a front cover shot that took maybe 30 seconds to create (not counting the airbrushing) and doesn't show the star's face. Greeeat job there, art department.

For Made in America they should have used the inner-sleeve photo for the front cover. I doubt they'd have sold any more records by doing that, but you never know.

I guess I had these feelings stirred up after reading various accounts of how much Richard hated some of their covers and I went "you know....he's right!"

But I really like the simplicity of ASFY, as in its simply a valentine they are giving you. It's eye-catching, "valentines red" stands out to me is appealing.

Now and Then is perfect I think. It has a darker, sadder, and mysterious edge to it that sticks with me. The meloncholy of the good old times behind them, with the uncertain future ahead. The isolating feeling is felt from the distance and lack of clarity from the duo. For me it all comes together perfectly.
 
I love the cover for A Song For You - I felt that it was very personal - it was like they were (lovingly) giving me a Valentine which contained songs they worked painstakingly to perfect, as a gift for the listener. Like Rainy Days said - it was simple and I think very effective. When I first saw the cover, I felt it was directed to me! :)
 
I love the cover for A Song For You - I felt that it was very personal - it was like they were (lovingly) giving me a Valentine which contained songs they worked painstakingly to perfect, as a gift for the listener. Like Rainy Days said - it was simple and I think very effective. When I first saw the cover, I felt it was directed to me! :)

What did you think of the N&T cover, Calvin?
 
I personally like both covers, as they both remind me of being a kid, and being so pumped to get "A Song For You" and "Now and Then" that I could barely handle it. That was back in the days when I didn't have $5.00 to blow on an album.
I remember staring at "Now and Then" at K-Mart (!), and thinking how cool the cover was in every way. Looking back in hindsight, having the house in the shot was ultra 'suburban', and Carpenters caught some flack for that in reviews, of course. But the DESIGN of the cover itself was uber cool.

I remember seeing a book of album covers a long time ago that was a deluxe-style, coffee-table book of reproduced album covers. And "Now and Then" was in there. In fact, it showed the whole gate fold sleeve opened up.
 
I personally like both covers, as they both remind me of being a kid, and being so pumped to get "A Song For You" and "Now and Then" that I could barely handle it. That was back in the days when I didn't have $5.00 to blow on an album.
I remember staring at "Now and Then" at K-Mart (!), and thinking how cool the cover was in every way. Looking back in hindsight, having the house in the shot was ultra 'suburban', and Carpenters caught some flack for that in reviews, of course. But the DESIGN of the cover itself was uber cool.

I remember seeing a book of album covers a long time ago that was a deluxe-style, coffee-table book of reproduced album covers. And "Now and Then" was in there. In fact, it showed the whole gate fold sleeve opened up.

I love how the house has become "imortalized" through that cover; that even if it is ever torn down, it will always live on.
 
What did you think of the N&T cover, Calvin?

I also really liked the cover for N&T. I bought the album much later (in 1979) when I was starting to piece together my own Carpenters record collection, and found a brand new copy of the album in a store, still shrink-wrapped. I did not know at the time that it was triple gatefold, and I recall looking at the packing (with the shrink wrap still intact) thinking it looked weird as normal gatefold LPs, when shrink wrapped, did not 'structure' themselves in that way - that is, the N&T LP seemed to have two 'spines'. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to open it at home and see the triple gatefold which I thought was cool, and I loved 'standing' it up on the table, with Karen on one side, Rich on the other, and the text in the middle - made it look like some sort of display. While I liked tha picture of the car/house and the vibrant colours of the cover proper, I remember thinking Richard looked quite angry. It was only later (on this site I think) that the reason was revealed! LOL! :)
 
Love this discussion of the covers.... Re AS4U, that shade of red was glorious. i liked it too. I actually liked them all - with the possible exception of CTY...

Okay.... truth be told, I was never fond of a kind of hush. that wooden frame, remimded me of a country effort - and although they occasionally dabbled with a country sound, hush didn't even go there. i preferred the promotional ad in Billboard for the single... the 45 spinning around the globe.. kinda cute. and it was a kind of hush, that I first got a vibe that karen wasn't well - with that photograph on the inside... she just didn't look healthy to me.

Argh... - just thought of another cover i didn't love... which was the live at palladium. I felt karen's hair and wardrobe during that phase of her career looked to be a little too much like a tide commercial mom. same with the outfit Richard had on for that cover. as opposed to the Live in Japan cover which to me was great.

The thing that stuck in my mind all along was how unique a Carpenters cover was... with the flaps and the folds, it was more of an event - unwrapping one of their albums... I liked most of the packaging as much as what was on the inside!
 
I personally like both covers, as they both remind me of being a kid, and being so pumped to get "A Song For You" and "Now and Then" that I could barely handle it. That was back in the days when I didn't have $5.00 to blow on an album.
I remember staring at "Now and Then" at K-Mart (!), and thinking how cool the cover was in every way. Looking back in hindsight, having the house in the shot was ultra 'suburban', and Carpenters caught some flack for that in reviews, of course. But the DESIGN of the cover itself was uber cool.

I remember seeing a book of album covers a long time ago that was a deluxe-style, coffee-table book of reproduced album covers. And "Now and Then" was in there. In fact, it showed the whole gate fold sleeve opened up.
I couldn't agree more!!!!! I was right there beside you at the Kmart! And my grass cutting money went to buy my first album.... Now & Then. when i unwrapped that gem - I remember just staring at it with the headphones on for HOURS trying to figure out of Karen had pigtails or not in the portrait, and then trying to decide what she might have been singing while they were crusing down Newville Road in their car... In the very beginning, I had no idea that was their house... but for me, it looked like a mansion anyway... compared to where I was living at the time...
 
Love this discussion of the covers.... Re AS4U, that shade of red was glorious. i liked it too. I actually liked them all - with the possible exception of CTY...

Okay.... truth be told, I was never fond of a kind of hush. that wooden frame, remimded me of a country effort - and although they occasionally dabbled with a country sound, hush didn't even go there. i preferred the promotional ad in Billboard for the single... the 45 spinning around the globe.. kinda cute. and it was a kind of hush, that I first got a vibe that karen wasn't well - with that photograph on the inside... she just didn't look healthy to me.

Argh... - just thought of another cover i didn't love... which was the live at palladium. I felt karen's hair and wardrobe during that phase of her career looked to be a little too much like a tide commercial mom. same with the outfit Richard had on for that cover. as opposed to the Live in Japan cover which to me was great.

The thing that stuck in my mind all along was how unique a Carpenters cover was... with the flaps and the folds, it was more of an event - unwrapping one of their albums... I liked most of the packaging as much as what was on the inside!

Yes! That red is glorious!

I actually like AKOH -- it has a kind of late summer/autumn feel to it that I really love (and it's really nice here in Boston/NE). The color scheme and printing really comes through with that vibe. The KOH single sleeve did have that 45 spinning, as well which I like. And that picture of Karen isn't that bad, but a much better one could have been taken. You can see the sad desperation in those eyes...
 
I never liked that inside photo from "A Kind of Hush", either. There were much better shots taken for the album than the one they ultimately chose. Karen looks pale and unhealthy.
Then there's Richard's jumpsuit....
 
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