Caught by Surprise...

[Mark-T]

I was, admittedly, a little tired of listening to the same old Carpenters songs I have always loved. So I took a self imposed break of a couple of weeks.
Then I found on a used CD store site: REFLECTIONS. I decided to put it on as I never had this disc before. I thought it was just another compilation.
Starts with "I Need to be in Love". Good enough.
Then, came "I Just Fall in Love Again"- a song I have never been amazed by.
But, this is where I was caught off guard- When Karen sings "Magic", I was floored by THE VOICE once again! Wow! 28 years later, and it kicked in. I now love this song.

On a different note, there seems to be some remixes or rerecording here: "Maybe Its You" and "A Song For You". Is this right or just my ears?

 

[Harry]

REFLECTIONS has that ability to "sneak up on you" with its somewhat different track selection. It's not the usual "mostly hits + an album track or two" formula that usually applies to most compilations. Indeed only about four of the tracks were even singles, and not the big hit ones for sure.

I recall finding this album in the racks of a Tower Records store near the King Of Prussia mall one evening after work, opening it up and listening to it on my way home. Starting an album with "I Need To Be In Love" was certainly different. And you're right about the remixes on several tracks. "Baby It's You" was the big surprise for me here as I hadn't heard that remix until I picked up this disc, but it turned out it had been remixed for the Japanese TREASURES album.

This disc was issued a few times under some other titles. REFLECTIONS is the one I have, on the A&M/Karussell label from Australia, dated 1995/1996.

In 2000, it was re-issued as SWEET, SWEET SMILE in Europe, and just this past week or so has again been released in Japan under their BEST 1200 banner. I haven't heard either of those two, but assume that they're the same compilation.

A recent thread dealt with BEechwood 4-5789, and that I'd come to appreciate it more in recent years. It was probably its appearance on this disc that led to that appreciation.

Harry
NP: REFLECTIONS, Carpenters