Favourite Posthumous Album

[Simon KC1950]

Voice Of The Heart (1983)

The most commercially successful of all the posthumous albums, Voice Of The Heart, is certified Gold in both the US and the UK. In Japan and Australia it peaked at #41 and #54 respectively. In the United States it reached #46, it was however, a hit in Britain where it climbed to #6. It held 3 singles:
•Make Believe It's Your First Time (Ireland #20, UK #60, US Adult Contemporary #7)
•Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore (US Adult Contemporary #12
•Now (Brazil and UK only)
Songs from this collection come from a variety of dates, including Karen's very last recording session, according to Richard the songs needed quite a bit of arranging and production work which proved difficult at times but he believes Karen would have wanted these songs released.

An Old Fashioned Christmas (1984)

perhaps the most unsuccessful of these Albums An Old Fashioned Christmas only peaked at #190 in the US and is certified Gold. It had the singles:
•Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (UK #37)
•Little Alter Boy
The album is made up using both material left over from Christmas Portrait and newly recorded material by Richard in London's Abbey Road Studios
Perhaps the reason for it's poor chart performance was a lack of advertisement. According to Richard after he turned in the Master, he got the unwelcome news that the album would be released as a "mid-line" product, and even though pressed on an audiophile vinyl, would not get an inner sleeve with notes and lyrics. It was also A&Ms plan all along not to promote it. He reflects that if he had known that he would not have made the album.

Lovelines (1989)

Peaking at #74 in the UK, it's highest position, Lovelines was the Carpenters 13th Studio album.
It had two singles:
•Honolulu City Lights
•If I Had You (US Adult Contemporary #18)
Lovelines again was made up with songs from various years.

As Time Goes By
So far the latest Carpenters Studio album. It charted only in Japan where it peaked at #18 and is certified Gold. It also had a Japanese Single •The Rainbow Connection (#47)
This album was mostly made up with Television performances' and other unreleased songs.

 

[theninjarabbit]

Lovelines for sure. My favorite three tracks from it are "When I Fall In Love", "If We Try", and "Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night". "If I Had You" and "Slow Dance" are pretty cool too. Overall, it's a great record, considering its circumstances.

Voice of the Heart has some great moments in "Sailing on the Tide", "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore", and "Look to Your Dreams".

As Time Goes By released an early song I liked right away, "And When He Smiles". Plus, the song that returned me to the Carpenters..."The Rainbow Connection".

 

[Kencarpenterfan]

Simon, I love all of these posthumous albums, but I must choose As Time Goes By as my favorite out of the 4... because it contains a lot of songs/medleys that were on their TV specials that I watched when they aired as a kid. So therefore out of these 4 , I rank them:
1-As Time Goes Buy
2-Lovelines
3- Voice of the
4- Old Fashioned Christmas

 

[GaryAlan]

......Lovelines....gets my vote for favorite LP ,
but, those lead vocals on An Old Fashioned Christmas are my favorite vocals !
I love much of As Time Goes By---primarily the earlier material.....
And, of course, much of Voice Of The Heart is dear to my heart....

 

[Another Son]

This is one vote I'm steering clear of, because I wouldn't be able to choose between 'Voice of the Heart', 'Lovelines' and 'An Old Fashioned Christmas'.

'An Old Fashioned Christmas' is short on Karen but the tracks featuring her that do appear, in my opinion, include some of her best vocals ever - 'Little Altar Boy', 'He Came Here for Me', 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day', 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town', 'Home for the Holidays' 'Do You Hear What I Hear' and 'What Are You Doing New Years Eve'. Hang on, that's all of her tracks! Wonderful performances. Even though I'm not at all religious, I do like Carpenters' Christmas songs and more classically-bound religious music. In my opinion, Karen's tracks on 'An Old Fashioned Christmas' are up there with the best from 'Christmas Portrait'.

There has been recent discussion on the forum that 'Voice of the Heart' doesn't contain an obvious single for the 1983 era, but no matter. It still holds a strong selection of great songs and brilliant performances by Karen. It's a very 'warm' album. I find it hard to choose a stand-out track:- 'Now', 'At the End of a Song', 'Look to your Dreams', 'Make Believe It's a Your First Time' and 'You're Enough' are all delectable. (I prefer Karen recorded slow and low, rather than up-tempo - although I love her alto head-voice, as well). I think 'Prime-time Love' is the dud of the album. It's a sub-standard composition that nobody could have done much with. 'Sailing On the Tide' is nice, but unimpressive. 'Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore' and 'Two Lives' both have some beautiful moments, (especially the bridge of 'Two Lives' - "No, I can't believe it's over - it's over..."), but Karen gets a bit whiney, especially towards the end of 'Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore'. A couple of years ago, I heard this track playing on a top sound system in a music store and she sounded horrible towards the end - very harsh. Fair enough - she had no idea as she was singing that this particular performance would ever be heard, as it was a 'work lead'. 'Ordinary Fool' is a bit dull.

'Lovelines' includes many wonderful moments. I'm generally not a fan of the solo material but there are some nice sounds in the 'Karen Carpenter' tracks amongst the elements that I don't like. On the album, 'Lovelines', I particularly like 'Where Do I Go from Here', You're the One', 'Slow Dance', 'The Uninvited Guest', 'Little Girl Blue', 'When I Fall In Love' and 'If We Try'. And I especially like 'Honolulu City Lights'. I don't like 'Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night' as much. Karen gets a bit over-the-top, syrupy and sweetsy-sweet in her lead vocal on the track, 'Lovelines'. There are some nice moments on 'If I Had You', but, once again, she gets a bit over-the-top and definitely out of her range in her lead vocal towards the end. You can hear her voice almost cracking a couple of times. Some of her background vocals on 'Remember When Loving Took All Night' are nice but the song doesn't suit her. Her lead vocals sound thin, a bit weak and unimpressive, (as on most of the solo stuff, imho).

'As Time Goes By' includes some nice stuff for the die-hard fan but, generally, you can tell that the higher-quality choices have already been used up on the other posthumous collections.

 

[newvillefan]

Lovelines by a mile. The MIA outtakes were lovely but then you hear the solo tracks sprinkled throughout and it just added a whole other magical layer to the entire album.

 

[Song4uman]

This was difficult and not difficult at the same time.
My least favorite is AsTime Goes By.
I do love An Old Fashioned Christmas. Although not as much Karen, it seems like a nice Part 2 to Christmas Portrait. There are selections on there that I love as much as songs on Portrait.

Voice of the Heart holds a special place for me. Karen had died my senior year of high school. I had written a research paper on anorexia. I couldn't wait for the new album to come out. At the time, I didn't realize that they were leftovers from past sessions. I thought they had been working on a new album. Such an emotional connection to this album.

But, my favorite if these four is Loveliness. For me it is in the top 4-5 of their albums. I have this on vinyl and purchased at a record store st the mall the week it was released. I had heard a couple of the songs on the TV movie and was excited to have them in my personal collection.

Jonathan

 

[GaryAlan]

I, too, remember my Voice of the Heart experience:
I bought the LP (and cassette) on the day of release.
That is the only time I ever got to buy a Carpenters' LP on the exact release day !
An Old Fashioned Christmas....others gave me three LP copies that year as Christmas presents !
I bought my own cassette copy of the Album, those Karen vocals are spine-shivering.....
Contrast that with Lovelines....I found it accidentally in the cassette section (no LP to be found)
and, only much later could I locate an a Vinyl copy !
As Time Goes By....I ordered it from CDJapan on the web , long before the USA release.....

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

This is really hard because each one has it's own reasons for being a favorite. However as a whole, my choice goes to Lovelines. It amazing how much Lovelines sounds like a Carpenters album. I have to give credit to Richard for the way he made the album as a whole come together and create that Carpenters sound that we thought at that point was gone.

I still think Voice of the Heart is a close favorite as well yet this album brings back more sentimental feelings believing at the time this was going to be the last Carpenters album so the song choices could not be judged as inferior or does it have a hit single. Those things were not important to me as I thought this was the end of the road. The farewell ending track was the heartbreak of it all.

An Old Fashioned Christmas is also a favorite but CP still gets the best Christmas album ever (in all of history)

As Time Goes By doesn't get enough credit....we longed for new, unreleased material and when we finally got it on a new Carpenters CD, it fell flat on sales. We hardly ever hear the fans talk about this album (of which contains some real nice gems) I have always wished this album had got more attention from the public. Richard went to great lengths to finally get this material released first overseas then the US and I wonder if he felt it was worth all the trouble. I believe it was....

 

[newvillefan]

As Time Goes By doesn't get enough credit....we longed for new, unreleased material and when we finally got it on a new Carpenters CD, it fell flat on sales. We hardly ever hear the fans talk about this album (of which contains some real nice gems) I have always wished this album had got more attention from the public. Richard went to great lengths to finally get this material released first overseas then the US and I wonder if he felt it was worth all the trouble. I believe it was....

It's such a shame because this is the album I never believed we'd get. Here it is, chock full of tracks from TV specials and demos from their formative years, yet few people ever really pay any attention to it. I definitely get the impression Richard felt his efforts went largely unappreciated, which I think is the primary reason we've seen no more unreleased material since

 

[theninjarabbit]

It's rather hard to find, too. I hardly knew about it until I started getting deeper into their catalogue. Still haven't watched "Music, Music, Music", admittedly.

I think it takes a dedicated fan to appreciate it a little more.

 

[Murray]

As Time Goes By doesn't get enough credit....we longed for new, unreleased material and when we finally got it on a new Carpenters CD, it fell flat on sales. We hardly ever hear the fans talk about this album (of which contains some real nice gems) I have always wished this album had got more attention from the public. Richard went to great lengths to finally get this material released first overseas then the US and I wonder if he felt it was worth all the trouble. I believe it was....

The release of "As Time Goes By" was mishandled from the start. At first, it was only released in Japan. Universal didn't indicate that it was ever going to be released elsewhere, so many of us ordered it from Japan. Some people on the forums didn't want to pay the high price of the Japanese import (mine cost $50!), and decided to wait and see if it would be released anywhere else. A few months later, it got a UK release, at half the price of the Japanese CD. There was still no US release announced, so most American / Canadian fans bought the UK release (if they hadn't already got it from Japan). The US release got delayed because Universal wanted to reduce the number of tracks on the CD, to cut their costs because royalty rates are higher in the US. Richard objected to this, and had to fight his record company to get them to release the entire album. By the time the CD was finally released in the US, it was old news. Nearly every fan who cared to own the album had already bought one of the imports. Because import sales don't count on the US charts / sales reports, the album was seen to fall flat in the US, even though lots of American fans had actually purchased it.

If I recall correctly, there were no singles released from the album, other than in Japan. Richard didn't make any TV appearances to promote it (at least outside Japan), and there was no ad campaign. The general public wouldn't have even known of it's existence.

 

[Rumbahbah]

It's such a shame because this is the album I never believed we'd get. Here it is, chock full of tracks from TV specials and demos from their formative years, yet few people ever really pay any attention to it. I definitely get the impression Richard felt his efforts went largely unappreciated, which I think is the primary reason we've seen no more unreleased material since

It's still easy to obtain online but, unlike both Voice of the Heart and Lovelines, it feels like a rather incohesive album of 'outtakes' with a real hodgepodge of tracks in terms of era and quality - the kind of tracks that should have been part of a box set rather than a separate album in its own right.

It also leans heavily on music from the TV specials, which means a) some elements of songs seem a bit inexplicable without their visual accompaniment, like the long instrumental break in 'I Got Rhythm' and b) these songs have a very 'glossy' sound compared to the other tracks on the album, which for me you have to be in the right mood for. It's not really an album I've ever listened to from start to finish since I first bought it.

 

[Harry]

What Murray said^^^^

 

[Another Son]

My least favorite is AsTime Goes By. I do love An Old Fashioned Christmas. Although not as much Karen, it seems like a nice Part 2 to Christmas Portrait. Voice of the Heart holds a special place for me. But, my favorite if these four is Loveliness. For me it is in the top 4-5 of their albums. I have this on vinyl and purchased at a record store st the mall the week it was released. I had heard a couple of the songs on the TV movie and was excited to have them in my personal collection.

Jonathan

I agree that these posthumous albums are amongst Carpenters' best LPs, (except 'As Time Goes By' -which still has some great moments).

 

[Another Son]

I agree that 'As Time Goes By' is a lot more patchy than the other albums.

Richard has said there is not much left that can be brought up to the standard he would want for release. I don't believe he is ever going to release anything that he feels is not up to Carpenters' usual standard.

Having said that, recordings with just Richard at the piano and Karen singing - no instrumentation, arrangements or vocal overdubs - are just as beautiful as their full-on productions. I know they made appearances like this. Material of this type might be worthy of release. Perhaps Richard hasn't considered that. (The vocalist is a lot more exposed in this type of recording, though, so Karen's performances would probably have to be perfect in order for Richard to select them for an album). The other downside of this idea is that these types of performances were often of their well-known songs. Richard is, understandably, going to want their polished, 'hit' studio versions out there, representing those songs.

The thing to remember is that diehard fans will be forgiving with out-takes, medleys, slightly unfinished songs, choices that didn't quite suit Carpenters' style or songs that Karen and Richard subsequently chose not to release because maybe they weren't up to snuff in lyrics or melody. The general public won't be as forgiving. Whatever Richard releases is out there, representing Karen and Richard's ability, artistic scope and legacy. I think that's what Richard is aware of when considering an album of out-takes or bits and pieces, especially because he or Karen rejected the idea of releasing some of this stuff when it was first recorded.

 

[tomswift2002]

This is a hard one for me because each has songs that I like.

"Lovelines" was the second posthumous studio album I bought on CD in the summer of 1999, although I had heard tracks from all of them since at least November 24, 1993 (my mom bought the "Christmas Portrait Special Edition" CD, along with Roger Whittaker's "Tidings Of Comfort & Joy" as our first Christmas albums on CD and she said that the CD's would not be played till November 25, 1 month before Christmas; I managed to convince her to open the Carpenters on the 24 and Whittaker waited for the 25th). Found it brand-new at Legend Records in Ottawa (and no, it's not the Remastered Classics version). I had bought Karen's solo album in February of 98 (so I guess "Lovelines" was my second ph release), so I wasn't to happy hearing 'Lovelines' opening the album, but I found "The Uninvited Guest" and "Remember When Locung Took All Night" to be the stand-out tracks. And I'd already heard the remixed version of "If I Had You" on Interpretations, but it was nice to see it again, as it was another stand-out track.

My first album was "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" which I found on cassette during Boxing Week 97 (a few months later I got the album on CD when I got "The Christmas Collection" for my birthday---for me it was the first time I heard the original Christmas Portrait). Ever since I heard CPSE I've loved the song 'An Old-Fashioned Christmas' and I thought it was nice that Richard got his own Christmas song. Of course it would've been nice if AOFC had included "Toyland" (which I actually prefer over "I Heard The Bells", even though Bells is one of my favourite Christmas songs, I find Richard's arrangement is very poor and depressing---it needed a brighter arrangement for Christmas---not the funeral arrangement it received, even Burl Ives recording with just guitar is better), as it contains material from the TV specials (such as the Nutcracker Suite from their second special). "Do You Hear What I Hear" is clearly the albums stand-out track and it's too bad that it didn't make the charts, or get played more at Christmas.

"Voice Of The Heart" I bought in the summer of 2001, also at Legend Records, on the same day that I bought Richard's "Time" album, both on vinyl. I had already heard "Make Believe" on YOM'85, which I found to be very weak, along with "Now" and "Ordinary Fool" on 'From The Top' (two other songs that are also weak). I wasn't expecting much, but "Prime Time Love" and "You Baby" really stood out, along with "Sailing On The Tide" and "At The End Of A Song".

"As Time Goes By" I special ordered in 2002, when the album showed up on my local CD store's order list as an import title. I remember getting it in June, as "Spider-Man" with Tobey Maguire had just come out. I was excited to get it as it was the only studio album to have been released during my life (although Old-Fashioned Christmas and Lovelines had been released when I was very young, but ATGB was the only one released when I was of age to be buying albums). For me the stand-outs were "Dancing In The Street", "California Dreaming", "The Rainbow Connection", "Nowhere Man", and "I've Got Rhythm". The "Close Encounters/Star Wars" instrumental was nice, but I wish Richard had recorded the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture/TNG" to go along with those other two themes.

 

[Song4uman]

If I Had You on Interpretations??

 

[Murray]

Of course it would've been nice if AOFC had included "Toyland" (which I actually prefer over "I Heard The Bells", even though Bells is one of my favourite Christmas songs, I find Richard's arrangement is very poor and depressing---it needed a brighter arrangement for Christmas---not the funeral arrangement it received, even Burl Ives recording with just guitar is better)

I think that Richard's sombre arrangement of "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" is very appropriate, considering the origin of the song. The lyrics are a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written on Christmas Day 1863, during the height of the American Civil War. Earlier that year, Longfellow's oldest son had joined the Union Army, against his father's wishes. He was severely wounded in battle in November 1863. Longfellow fell in to despair - he had nearly lost his son, and his country was destroying itself in a devastating war that seemed like it would never end. It seemed far from the "peace on earth, goodwill to men" proclaimed at Christmas. Ultimately, there is the hope that peace and goodwill would eventually prevail, but no one knew how long it would take, or how many more people would die before it was achieved. It's not your typical bright, cheerful Christmas song. Rather, it's a dark song from a dark time.

Here's the complete lyrics (the Carpenters omitted some of them), which helps to give the song the proper context:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

 

[tomswift2002]

I'm aware of the extra lyrics and story of the songs composition. But I still think Richard should've arranged it differently.

 

[Murray]

I'm aware of the extra lyrics and story of the songs composition. But I still think Richard should've arranged it differently.

You called Richard's arrangement "depressing" and a "funeral arrangement". How would you have changed it to improve it then?

The only thing that really bothers me about the recording, is Karen's mispronunciation of "Christendom". She sang "Christiandom" instead. Every time I hear that I cringe. I realize it was a work lead, and probably would have been fixed if it had been released in Karen's lifetime. Still bugs me though.

 

[1979lee]

I chose Lovelines, since Karen Carpenter 1980/1996 wasnt listed.
Btw, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" god karen sounded great on that song, bing crosby sang it to. my god what a voice he had, never lost it,even at 75 wow!,

neat topic

 

[1979lee]

The general public wouldn't have even known of it's existence.

way back then(2001) i did not own a computer, so i found out about ATGB at my local barnes & noble store, back then they had these mini computers setup with a search function AND headphones to listen to samples of what you searched, well i type in CAREPNTERS and come across ATGB, i click on "leave yesterday behind" and it about knocks me out its so good!. my cd says 2001 made in japan. i payed like$20-25 us for it.... ah the days with no internet search... STONE AGE now when i look back.

 

[newvillefan]

If I Had You on Interpretations??

Yep it's on the UK version.

Carpenters - Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Collection

US Version

Carpenters - Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Collection

 

[Another Son]

I found "The Uninvited Guest" and "Remember When Locung Took All Night" to be the stand-out tracks. I love the song 'An Old-Fashioned Christmas'. "I Heard The Bells, I find depressing. "Make Believe" I found to be very weak, along with "Now" and "Ordinary Fool". I wasn't expecting much, but "Prime Time Love" and "You Baby" really stood out, along with "Sailing On The Tide" and "At The End Of A Song".

"As Time Goes By" I special ordered in 2002, when the album showed up on my local CD store's order list as an import title. I remember getting it in June, as "Spider-Man" with Tobey Maguire had just come out. I was excited to get it as it was the only studio album to have been released during my life (although Old-Fashioned Christmas and Lovelines had been released when I was very young, but ATGB was the only one released when I was of age to be buying albums). For me the stand-outs were "Dancing In The Street", "California Dreaming", "The Rainbow Connection", "Nowhere Man", and "I've Got Rhythm". The "Close Encounters/Star Wars" instrumental was nice, but I wish Richard had recorded the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture/TNG" to go along with those other two themes.

I enjoyed your narrative, TomSwift. It's interesting that we all have our tastes, preferences, opinions, likes and dislikes. Almost all the songs you listed as the stand-outs, I described in my post as being the weakest and the ones you didn't like, I thought were the best! I agree with you that 'The Uninvited Guest' is appealing, that 'Do You Hear What I Hear' is great, that 'At The End of a Song' is one of the fantastic recordings on 'Voice Of the Heart' and that 'Ordinary Fool' is a bit weak.

Every time I hear the line, "Carols being sung by a tree" in 'An Old Fashioned Christmas', I think, "Why would a tree be singing carols??" It must truly have been an enchanted Christmas.