📣 News Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

[Vinylalbumcovers]

All the studio albums from 1969 to 1973 are in need of some TLC...

I respectfully disagree. The original albums are perfectly fine as they are and the "Remastered Classics" are all the definitive word I need on them. There's magic in them just as they are. Just because they aren't as pristine as "Horizon" doesn't mean they don't sound great as they are to me.

Ed

 

[Rumbahbah]

I respectfully disagree. The original albums are perfectly fine as they are and the "Remastered Classics" are all the definitive word I need on them. There's magic in them just as they are. Just because they aren't as pristine as "Horizon" doesn't mean they don't sound great as they are to me.

Ed

Absolutely. Offering/Ticket to Ride is the only one that has some issues on this front and these are likely down to the way it was recorded, so I don't imagine much could be done about this.

Usually when tracks from this era have been remixed (e.g. 'Baby It's You', 'Love is Surrender' , 'Road Ode', 'Crystal Lullaby', 'Hurting Each Other'), the results have been far inferior to the original recordings.

 

[Bruno]

^^ So Bruno, what were your impressions? Did you like it?

I like the new strings on YOM, they make the song more dramatic; it reminds me of the strings on "Trying To Get The Feeling Again". I don't like the new ending of YOM, it is so abrupt. MCD is fine, but perhaps a bit to "sweet" now.

 

[newvillefan]

MCD is fine, but perhaps a bit to "sweet" now.

My thoughts exactly. It would have been interesting to hear what difference it would have made if Richard had used the original 1970 mix for this album.

 

[CraigGA]

Although I like the original vocal mix of Merry Christmas Darling for I feel the performance is better, the vocals shine better in the newer recorded one with the newer equipment used to capture it. Actually, I wish the Bruce Forsyth Show version would have been used, but I am
not certain of its quality of capture in comparison for its performance exceeded both of the others. For the one chosen, if they could have softened the word ‘special’ at the first of the song and if the slide of ‘on this Christmas Eve’ at the end of the song, would have a different take, I think I would have used it, but those originals could have been destroyed in the fire. I don’t think the glottal attack was originally accented as much, but the process of making the recording sounding newer created more of an accented attack on the word ‘special’. As already mentioned the vocal track from 1970 is so good it can’t be critiqued, it was just not captured as well. I am being super picky, and needless to say that all in all it is fine the way it is and only us as fans who have listened for almost 50 years would hear it. It is a Christmas, so the sweet candy appeal fits.

The only thing I have never liked are the arpeggios used in the piano on the chorus of all the Yesterday Once More remixes that were not in the original, that I could hear, that are now accented, but the new added orchestration seems to blend it better and I like all the added string parts.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Absolutely. Offering/Ticket to Ride is the only one that has some issues on this front and these are likely down to the way it was recorded, so I don't imagine much could be done about this.

Usually when tracks from this era have been remixed (e.g. 'Baby It's You', 'Love is Surrender' , 'Road Ode', 'Crystal Lullaby', 'Hurting Each Other'), the results have been far inferior to the original recordings.

Couldn't agree more. When Richard tinkers with the older tracks to add stereo piano, Karen ends up sounding disembodied. He also has this thing for adding extra kick drum and quite often, it's out of time. "Love is Surrender"'s remix is unlistenable for me because of that. "Road Ode's issue is that the background vocals are too far back in the choruses and, as is usually the case, he adds too much reverb on Karen in a likely attempt to stereofy her. It's just not necessary and it tinkers with the magic inherent in the recording. Very few of his remixes actually work and, as you said, I don't feel that any of the older ones do. Best to have left them as they were.

So far, it appears that Richard is content to do very little to these tracks so he's going the opposite way - even though he's got the Royal Philharmonic to play with. Of course, we've only heard two tracks so maybe he was more adventurous with the rest of them.

Ed

 

[CraigGA]

I like that there is almost no noise heard in the album Close To You on the remixes, but it comes at an added cost for much of the background vocals have been sacrificed in the process with bombastic drums added. The exception is Bless The Beasts snd the Children, from A Song For You, where vocal harmony seems added, but I still prefer the original drumming technique in contrast. This is why I am excited about this project for it gives an opportunity for the songs to sound refreshed.

 

[Greg]

I just listened to the new tracks through my lovely Beyerdynamic DT770's and the additions are rather subtle and dare I say almost underwhelming?

I am sure there will be more dynamic versions on the album.

 

[Graeme]

Given in and downloaded Spotify to listen to YOM and MCD. Not enjoying the Spotify experience (an annoying app to use on a phone and only marginally better on a tablet). However, I've enjoyed both tracks with the exception of the flutes in YOM at the 1.26 mark. To my ears they sound slightly off. It's the RPO so they can't possibly be out of tune and it must be my ears. Is anyone else hearing slightly out of tune flutes? Not listened with headphones yet so it could be my Dolby Atmos speakers on the tablet distorting them a bit.

 

[Harry]

There's a lot more vibrato in the flutes from the RPO. That may be what you're hearing. Vibrato moves the pitch rapidly up and down around the real concert pitch. It's possible that small speakers emphasize one frequency over another.

Listen on good equipment and you'll hear the difference.

 

[Graeme]

There's a lot more vibrato in the flutes from the RPO. That may be what you're hearing. Vibrato moves the pitch rapidly up and down around the real concert pitch. It's possible that small speakers emphasize one frequency over another.

Listen on good equipment and you'll hear the difference.

Thanks for the advice and explanation I'll give it ago.

 

[Matthew S]

Given in and downloaded Spotify to listen to YOM and MCD. Not enjoying the Spotify experience (an annoying app to use on a phone and only marginally better on a tablet). However, I've enjoyed both tracks with the exception of the flutes in YOM at the 1.26 mark. To my ears they sound slightly off. It's the RPO so they can't possibly be out of tune and it must be my ears. Is anyone else hearing slightly out of tune flutes? Not listened with headphones yet so it could be my Dolby Atmos speakers on the tablet distorting them a bit.

Agree. Not a big fan of that added flute. It gives it more of an easy listening quality which is a little off-putting.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Listening to these songs on a phone or tablet and then giving your review is doing a disservice to not only you but also to Richard for all the hard work he and others involved have spent on this project. Just my opinion and no I have not heard the songs yet.

 

[GaryAlan]

Having heard both renditions, I love them both.
I am not comparing them to the already standard "classics."
As stand-alone efforts, I get a big kick out of them.
After all, who would have imagined this, in 2018 ?
Now, I listened to the 1978 recording alongside the 2018 recording of MCD.
There appear to be differences besides the orchestra:
Karen's lead vocals (especially, at the lyric "desire" about 1:25) and the sax solo,
sound different (if not, clearer) than the 1978 recording.

 

[Graeme]

Listening to these songs on a phone or tablet and then giving your review is doing a disservice to not only you but also to Richard for all the hard work he and others involved have spent on this project. Just my opinion and no I have not heard the songs yet.

You're right, phone and tablet not the best musical medium to appreciate great music at its best. At the moment though this is the only way I can listen to the two tracks. CD and MP3 are how I usually lenjoy music. The flute observation wasn't meant as a critique - they just sounded slightly off (even with headphones initially). However, listening to the track on YouTube with headphones on it sounded fine and I had a play with the quality settings on Spotify and this also improved it). Apologies. I really like the two tracks.

 

[John Eidsvoog]

To reiterate, you should not be concerned about the ending of YOM (or MCD, for that matter). They each segue into other songs, interludes, or extended intros. Richard also refers to this interludes as "links" between two songs.

Regarding "Please, Mr. Postman", I'm glad to hear that it will be available as a bonus track. There's an unique surprise in the verse after the sax solo.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

To reiterate, you should not be concerned about the ending of YOM (or MCD, for that matter). They each segue into other songs, interludes, or extended intros. Richard also refers to this interludes as "links" between two songs.

Gotcha. Thanks for the added info. My fear is, though, that since few will see this, they'll take YOM as it is without the knowledge you've imparted, decide they don't like it, and won't invest. I'm not yet sold myself but I do appreciate knowing what Richard's intentions are with that ending.

Ed

 

[Song4uman]

@John Eidsvoog
Do you know the extra track on the Target cd?
Jonathan

 

[ars nova]

To reiterate, you should not be concerned about the ending of YOM (or MCD, for that matter). They each segue into other songs, interludes, or extended intros. Richard also refers to this interludes as "links" between two songs.

Regarding "Please, Mr. Postman", I'm glad to hear that it will be available as a bonus track. There's an unique surprise in the verse after the sax solo.

you had to go there....I will absolutely not buy more than three copies of this project !!!

 

[CraigGA]

To reiterate, you should not be concerned about the ending of YOM (or MCD, for that matter). They each segue into other songs, interludes, or extended intros. Richard also refers to this interludes as "links" between two songs.

Regarding "Please, Mr. Postman", I'm glad to hear that it will be available as a bonus track. There's an unique surprise in the verse after the sax solo.

I would like to hear that without having to pay 60.00 for one song for shipping is so expensive It should be on the US release as well.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

To reiterate, you should not be concerned about the ending of YOM (or MCD, for that matter). They each segue into other songs, interludes, or extended intros. Richard also refers to this interludes as "links" between two songs.

Regarding "Please, Mr. Postman", I'm glad to hear that it will be available as a bonus track. There's an unique surprise in the verse after the sax solo.

I love little surprises like this...can't wait for that one. I wonder if it's an alternate vocal take/line.

I would like to hear that without having to pay 60.00 for one song for shipping is so expensive It should be on the US release as well.

Well Target is dragging it's feet on their track listing so we still don't know yet.
I agree...though this might be one of the last Carpenters releases that I will be buying in so many different formats.

you had to go there....I will absolutely not buy more than three copies of this project !!!

Well, as it stands now I'm up to buying 4 different versions. Ha
I'm getting some Corrs deja vu

 

[John Eidsvoog]

@John Eidsvoog
Do you know the extra track on the Target cd?
Jonathan

I'm not privy to anything regarding marketing or even what the final mixes will be like. I only know what was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The surprise on Mr. Postman is in the accompaniment style. The original vocal is intact.

Some of you are concerned that the orchestrations will be too overwhelming, others that the differences are too subtle. I think the final product will be somewhere in between. Richard was very concerned about messing around too much with something that was nearly perfect in the first place, so much so that he undid some of his changes because less is more. For every time you fans have listened to these songs, imagine how much more he has listened over the years. Of course, it's impossible for everyone to be happy, but I hope this package will be as pleasing as can be to as many of you as possible.

Be grateful, because your alternative might be something like this:

 

[newvillefan]

Richard has left a story on his instagram confirming that the two tracks are now available for download on Spotify and Itunes. The message is quite nice, he thanks the fans for their “love and support”. Be quick if you want to catch it as stories disappear after 24 hours, they are not the same as posts.

I’m glad he sorted out the dispute over online royalties a while back, otherwise we likely wouldn’t have seen them available online at all.

 

[Someday]

This is the problem with the idiotic way people "listen" to music these days. Downloads, streaming and even CDs have people cherry-picking tracks, when an album should be seen as a body of work and heard through in a complete way. Random tracks from an album like this RPO project don't work.

 

[New Horizons.]

Just noticed an advert on a UK tv channel advertising a new release album of Buddy Holly with the RPO out next week.That has cover art similar to the Elvis ones and the song clips sound very different to usual Buddy style.
I find it a little strange that Please Mr Postman is to be a Japan exclusive track when it was voted the nations favourite Carpenters song here in the UK.Richard even comments about it on the nations favourite tv special.Great for collectors to find the new variations but odd to me that it's not featured on the UK release.