Carpenters GOLD vs. 40/40

[Harry]

Within the past decade, two popular Carpenters 2-disc compilations have been released, the 35th Anniversary GOLD and the 40th Anniversary 40/40.

Naturally there's a great deal of overlap, but surprisingly 25% of these compilations are not the same. In doing a review of 40/40 for Amazon, I noted the differences, and I wonder which compilation our membership prefers.

For reference, here are the track lists. I'm using the US (international) track listing for 40/40. (If you have the Japanese set, the overlap changes with the inclusion of "Leave Yesterday Behind" and makes "Touch Me When We're Dancing" unique to GOLD.) The songs in red appear on both sets - the songs in black are unique to that set:

40/40

Disc One 
1 Yesterday Once More 
2 Superstar 
3 Rainy Days And Mondays 
4 Top Of The World 
5 Ticket To Ride 
6 Love Is Surrender 
7 Maybe It's You 
8 Reason To Believe 
9 Where Do I Go From Here? 
10 This Masquerade 
11 It's Going To Take Some Time 
12 One More Time 
13 Those Good Old Dreams 
14 For All We Know 
15 Crystal Lullaby 
16 I Believe You 
17 (They Long To Be) Close To You 
18 Bless The Beasts And Children 
19 All You Get From Love Is A Love Song 
20 Calling Occupants Of The Interplanetary Craft 

Disc Two 
1 I Need To Be In Love 
2 Now 
3 Solitaire 
4 Please Mr Postman 
5 Hurting　Each Other 
6 I Won't Last A Day Without You 
7 Sweet, Sweet Smile 
8 A Song For You 
9 Ordinary Fool 
10 When You've Got What It Takes 
11 Goodbye To Love 
12 Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore 
13 Sing 
14 Baby, It's You 
15 Let Me Be The One 
16 Only Yesterday 
17 Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 
18 Touch Me When We're Dancing
19 We've Only Just Begun 
20 When It's Gone 

and


GOLD

Disc One
1 Superstar 
2 Rainy Days And Mondays 
3 Top Of The World 
4 Maybe It's You 
5 Let Me Be The One 
6 Reason To Believe 
7 Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 
8 Leave Yesterday Behind 
9 Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore 
10 Bless The Beasts And Children 
11 It's Going To Take Some Time 
12 The Rainbow Connection 
13 Only Yesterday 
14 Sweet, Sweet Smile 
15 There's A Kind Of Hush (All Over The World) 
16 California Dreamin' 
17 Solitaire 
18 We've Only Just Begun 
19 This Masquerade 
20 Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft

Disc Two
1 Yesterday Once More 
2 Please Mr. Postman 
3 Hurting Each Other 
4 I Need To Be In Love 
5 Merry Christmas Darling 
6 (They Long To Be) Close To You 
7 All You Get From Love Is A Love Song 
8 Sing 
9 Make Believe It's Your First Time 
10 Ticket To Ride 
11 Goodbye To Love 
12 I Just Fall In Love Again 
13 I Believe You 
14 Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again 
15 For All We Know 
16 Touch Me When We're Dancing 
17 I Won't Last A Day Without You 
18 Mr. Guder 
19 A Song For You 
20 Karen's Theme 

If you had to choose only one of these and not the other, which would you pick, and why?

 

[Dave]

The one I'd pick would be '40/40', if for no-other reason than Crystal Lullaby...

While the one rejected would be Gold, simply because of "Rainbow Connection", "California Dreamin'", "Make Believe It's Your First Time", "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again" and "I Just Fall In Love Again"... To me, they're not really 'Carpenters songs' in the sense that I don't like the way they were done, or there are just one or two which I basically don't like...



Dave

 

[cam89]

What I loved about GOLD was it had SOLITAIRE that sounded a bit different, but I loved, as well as TRYING TO GET THE FEELING AGAIN...which I loved that song!!

I loved ONE MORE TIME and WHEN YOU'VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES and WHEN IT's GONE on the 40/40 set.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I'd pick 40/40 for three reasons:

It has "Love Is Surrender"
It has "Crystal Lullaby"
It does not have "Merry Christmas Darling"

Not that MCD isn't a great song; but Christmas songs don't belong in non-Christmas compilations.

Also 40/40 has a better-looking cover, IMHO. And I think "Yesterday Once More" is a much better song to kick things off with than "Superstar." Not that I don't love "Superstar;" it's one of my favorites. But it's just not an album-opener for me.

 

[newvillefan]

I'd go for 'Gold' because it included the tracks from 'As Time Goes By' as well as 'Trying To Get The Feeling Again'.

I'm not really a fan of tracks like 'One More Time' for a collection like this, so it didn't really sway me.

 

[KTFan]

Would pick 40/40 because it has Baby It's You. I love Karen's interpretation, so emotional and the song builds so well, and Richard's orchestration and even background vocals (which normally I could live without).

 

[Mark-T]

Gold- but tomorrow, I might pick 40/40.

 

[Dave]

I'd go for 'Gold' because it included the tracks from 'As Time Goes By' as well as 'Trying To Get The Feeling Again'.

I'm not really a fan of tracks like 'One More Time' for a collection like this, so it didn't really sway me.

--

"One More Time" is on 40X40... I just wasn't sure what you meant in your post...



Dave

 

[newvillefan]

Yeah I meant that for a collection of hits and the best of the rest, One More Time wouldn't be a choice of mine...its lovely, but such a quiet, uneventful song so that was one of the reasosns I prefer Gold

 

[Harry]

I voted for 40/40 basically for the fact that GOLD ends with "Karen's Theme". Not that I don't like it, but it's not a "Carpenters" track. If it had been a 41st bonus-type track, it wouldn't be as much of a problem for me.

Other than that, these two are real close.

Harry

 

[manofsteel1979]

For sentimental reasons covered in one of my first posts, I prefer "GOLD". I happen to really like some of the the "uncovered gems" that premiered on this album in the United States, like "Leave Yesterday Behind" and "Rainbow Connection". I also like the more in depth liner notes by Richard and such. However, I agree with Harry that as beautiful as "Karen's Theme" is, It is a Richard Carpenter solo piece, not a Carpenters track. It would have been like putting a couple of Karen's solo tracks on it. It just doesn't fit.

However, 40/40 has it's advantages. I was glad to see "One More Time" and "Love is Surrender" on it. Also, the overall look of it,from the cover to the discs themselves are better. The only thing that bugs me about the set is that it includes "When you've got what it takes",which is one of the weaker tracks from their weakest album, and NOT a classic like "Merry Christmas Darling". I know,it's a Christmas song, but it was one of their best works.

Anyhow,both sets are great,and worth owning. However,I would pick "GOLD".

 

[Martin ellsworth]

The choice for me is a simple one. 40/40 is far and away the winner. It includes some of my favorite album cuts. I like some of these songs better than any of the singles. My favorites include "Where Do I Go From Here?", "Baby It's You" "Ordinary Fool" and "One More TIme".

 

[Mark-T]

OK- today I choose 40/40!

 

[Song4uman]

I picked 40/40 but love both.....love most actually....

 

[manofsteel1979]

It is like choosing your left arm or your right arm, isn't it? Both sets are so similar except for a few track differences here and there. "GOLD" is more of an all encompassing greatest hits package with a few bonuses thrown in. "40/40" is more of a best of, leaving off a hit here and there in favor of a choice album track.

I guess it would depend on what kind of feel you want the set to have. If you want all the hits with a few extras,then "GOLD" is the choice. If you want a more of a career overview with some love given to more obscure songs,then 40/40 is for you.

Both are great,and I frankly find it hard to choose. "Gold" is my choice,because that was the first Carpenters album in any format that I purchased. I am a sentimental fool,after all.

 

[Rumbahbah]

They're both excellent compilations and either would work as an excellent introduction to a newcomer, but I'd give Gold the edge over 40/40.

Despite 40/40 including "One More Time" and "Ordinary Fool", two of my absolute favourites, it also includes "When It's Gone" and "When You've Got What It Takes", neither of which is anything more than an average album track. Likewise, "Crystal Lullaby" and "Love is Surrender" are both nice, but hardly essential - plus they're both fairly lightweight.

Gold follows the path of being slightly more comprehensive on the "greatest hits" side of things. Although not all fans are keen on them, I think both "There's A Kind of Hush" and "Make Believe It's Your First Time" deserve to be included as they were both singles, the former a reasonably successful one and the latter charting in the UK. The only non-Christmas singles omitted are "Goofus" and the three latter singles from Made in America, and to me that's forgivable (indeed, any compilation that actually included "Goofus" would automatically lose points!). Plus it scores well for using the single mix of "Solitaire", which is so much better than the album version that it finally made me appreciate the track a bit.

Gold's only real "filler" track is "Karen's Theme" - "Reason to Believe" isn't essential either but it's OK. Its other choice of best album tracks is a bit more adventurous than 40/40's - "California Dreamin'" in particular is a nice inclusion as it's not only a good track, but significantly different in style from nearly all the others featured. "I Just Fall in Love Again" and "Mr Guder" are also good and less obvious picks - I'd definitely place these two way above, say, "Crystal Lullaby" and "Love is Surrender".

So, it's a close call, but Gold just wins out. It's a shame that neither features "I Can Dream Can't I" - it's not a typical inclusion for a "best of" compilation, but it must rank as one of their best ever performances.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I guess it would depend on what kind of feel you want the set to have. If you want all the hits with a few extras,then "GOLD" is the choice. If you want a more of a career overview with some love given to more obscure songs,then 40/40 is for you.

I guess that's one reason I like 40/40 better. I've heard the hits SO many times that I often tend to gravitate to the album tracks.

 

[richard_sloat]

It is like choosing your left arm or your right arm, isn't it?

I AM right-handed (and left-footed)... so I'd definitely choose my right arm!!

 

[BarryT60]

I'm going with GOLD.

Although Surrender, Where do I go and Baby Its You made it a close race...

Make Believe, the Single version of Solitaire, Tryin' have all become favorites... And for me - two big reasons... Crystal was always a FF for me in the 70's and reamins that way... However, after all these years, I Just Fall In Love Again - - remains and is growing with leaps and bounds as one of my favorite Carpenters recordings of all time.

The crescendo at the last chorus - - is masterful - and does everything a "power ballad" should do - with some Carpenters-esque edges: Clarity, Emotion, and a reason melodically for the whole build-up.

It's like a few other things I can think of - with an amazingly complex and well executed climactic finale that leaves the listener exhausted - but all the better for the experience.

Gold - by far.

 

[Jeff]

I chose GOLD for the AS Time Goes By inclusions. The SHM-CD is still a 40/40 treat tho.

Jeff

 

[gregnewyorkcity]

Is there enough of a difference to notice? I thought I was going to go mad for all of those years when what, Rainy Days always gegued into Superstar.....

 

[Jamesj75]

"Gold" gets the gold for me! And for one main reason: it includes the original (single) version of "Solitaire," which in my book is Karen's best performance ever and my all-time favorite Carpenters' song.

 

[A&M Retro]

"Gold" gets the nod from me, too, as it's a more thorough compilation. I still think it should have included "Back In My Life Again", as that is one of their more upbeat and unique sounding singles.

I do like the song choices and cover for '40/40' quite a bit. I think the photos should have been reversed, as the back cover shot where they're smiling is superior to the non-smiling cover. And that's how most people remember the Carpenters....with a big smile. They both look fantastic in that shot.

 

[John from Aus]

Definitely 40/40, and quite the opposite to newvillefan, partly because of the inclusion of "One More Time" - and underrated, understated gem that - more than any other track I can think of (perhaps with the exception of "From This Moment On") gives you the feeling that it's almost just Karen and Richard in the room together. And while I like the songs from "As Time Goes By" that made it onto "Gold", they just don't really sound like the Carpenters, mostly because the Carpenters weren't both there for anything more than the basic tracks. A lot of Karen is missing on those tracks. Much as I stand in awe of Richard's talent, and the work he put into them, those tracks just don't sound as completely "Carpenters".

 

[byline]

I prefer "40/40" because of the additional tracks from the "Close to You" album, and because it doesn't have "A Kind of Hush" (just never much cared for that album, though I do love some of the songs like "One More Time" ... which, come to think of it, is included on "40/40").