Your Single Favourite Carpenters Studio Album*

Your Single Favorite Carpenters Studio Album

  • Offering

    Votes: 3 7.3%
  • Close To You

    Votes: 7 17.1%
  • Carpenters (Tan)

    Votes: 2 4.9%
  • A Song For You

    Votes: 12 29.3%
  • Now & Then

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Horizon

    Votes: 10 24.4%
  • A Kind Of Hush

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Passage

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Made In America

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Voice Of The Heart

    Votes: 2 4.9%
  • Lovelines

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • As Time Goes By

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • Total voters
    41
I'm with you, James, in loving Horizon and Hush. If you're a fan of her voice, it's hard not to be.
Horizon has always toggled with CTY as my favorite. The way Karen is recorded has never been as good previously or since that album. Even though I play Hush a lot (its my go-to for some happy music), 3/5 of Side One are not great. But Side Two- wow. Among their best, I'd say.

Forgot to mention why I chose Close to You. It's somewhere between raw (Offering / Ticket to Ride) and dare I say too refined (Tan album). Full of innovation and multiple flavors of song. Karen sounds stunning throughout. And some of my favorite album cuts are here alongside two major hits I love: Love is Surrender, Reason to Believe, Maybe It's You, Baby It's You. Plus WOJB started my lifelong love affair with the duo. (More here.)

Hey Mark:

I remembered that we share a fondness for Horizon and A Kind of Hush. I appreciate what you've written here about your absolute favorite album, Close to You. As I say, it can be difficult to quantify rankings when you enjoy (love) virtually everything they recorded.

Thank you for including the link to your fantastic blog! If I may be so bold, I would like to give it a plug here...

I went to the link and read your recap/review of Close to You. I was impressed by the picture you painted of the excitement you felt upon hearing "We've Only Just Begun" on the radio and how you followed your local radio station's weekly Top 30 countdown to track the Carpenters' ensuing single releases. (It was also enjoyable to read tidbits about your family's history.) I have read other essays at your site as well, and I admire your writing, insights, dedication, and effort. For anyone who hasn't been to Mark's website, it is a boundless treat. The articles are chock full of trivia and pictures, some of which were previously unfamiliar to me. And there are links to other such articles. So much to enjoy there, Mark, and it comes across as a labour of love. Sincere gratitude and salutations to you!
 
Thank you, James. You're very kind!

You are right. The blog is a labor of love, and when I began writing, I did not expect it to last for ten years and counting. Confession mode- I've been rather uninspired lately in my writing, so any new readers from here may want to search "Carpenters" and go from there. I do have many many articles on our beloved duo including two sets of album reviews, rare photos, etc. Enjoy- and please do let me know what you think.
 
Yep. I was right. Today I've changed my vote to OFFERING. It's always been a desert-island favorite of mine from the first time I played on Christmas morning 1970.
I, too, first played “Ticket To Ride” on Christmas morning, but in 1984. I remember checking the speed of my turntable, because I thought Karen’s voice sounded draggy (and wondered if my turntable wasn’t working?). There are real moments of “THE VOICE” sprinkled throughout that first album, and Richard captured the musical zeitgeist of that moment in time. It’s a go-to favorite album of mine, but the Tan Album won my vote. It’s the duo at the very height of their cultural impact and youthful optimism. I always imagine Karen so very happy in 1971.
 
I went with Lovelines. The older I get, the classier I think that album is. Chock full of gems. The dark, introspective cover matches the autumnal mood of much of the album.
 
^^Great choice.
I really did not pit the post-Made In America albums against the pre-1983 albums.
In coming to my decision, I only compared albums from 1969-1981, and only non Christmas.
Otherwise, I would be hopelessly undecided.
As it was, I ultimately settled between three:
A Song For You, Horizon, Passage.
Then, to decide between those three, it came down to which album
had spent the most time with that voice, Karen's vocals.
(I confess, deciding between ASFY and Horizon is almost impossible--
having the instrumental song on ASFY decided that one for me).

Now, I love
We've Only Just Begun,
I believe it to be the best Carpenters' song there is, period.
But, even that great one did not cement the album Close To You as my favorite.
 
I chose A Song for You, because I think it is the strongest album. If the question was, "What album do you listen to most often," I would have chosen Horizon or Close to You. I don't listen to SFY much, because I get most of songs from that album listening to compilations or the playlists I create.
 
Well it has to be for me Voice of the heart. I play this most but Lovelines and A kind of hush aren't far behind.
Voice of the heart is my escape after a busy week.
One song tempts me to skip it on Voice( but I cave in and listen to the entire album:)).
Horizon would have been there but it's like part of the house fixtures now.Like a cosy blanket.
 
It’s interesting, right now the album order is:

ASFY (9)
Horizon (8)
Close To You (6)
Lovelines (4)
Carpenters/VOTH (tied at 2 a piece)
Offering/ATGB (tied at 1)

&

Then,

Now & Then
AKOH
Passage
MIA

at zero.
 
Well it has to be for me Voice of the heart. I play this most but Lovelines and A kind of hush aren't far behind.
Voice of the heart is my escape after a busy week.
One song tempts me to skip it on Voice( but I cave in and listen to the entire album:)).
Horizon would have been there but it's like part of the house fixtures now.Like a cosy blanket.

I love how you describe Horizon :love:

Voice of the Heart
is one of my most listened to albums too. I find it very calming and often play it in the car (where I do much of my listening). Out of interest, which song tempts you to skip it?
(Feel free to tell me to mind my own business if it’s personal.)
 
This poll is very similar to the individual album polls. The four albums that have the highest 5 star ratings are Christmas Portrait (78%), A Song For You (71%), Close To You (55%) and Horizon (49%). These were the only albums where the percentage of 5 star votes was larger than the percentage of 4 star votes.
 
I always find myself having a different favourite album and song. A while ago it was Lovelines but the one that never changes and is always stable in my liking os Horizon - a masterpiece
 
Wow, that's like saying which one of your children do you like best. Each is unique in its own way, and perfect.
Can't decide which one is the most attractive. :bnb: :bnb: etc

So in order to join the fun, and quote myself. I have decided to pick an album by going to my phone, which tracks the number of plays for each song in my library, and total each albums number of song plays. That should tell me my favorite album. At least over the last two years which is the time I've had the phone and been a fan. I have an idea what that album is but I wont reveal until its empirically tested.:shh: I may be surprised.

I challenge those members who can, to do the same. It will be interesting to see the impact of a single song in an album that is played often. So stand by it will take a little time.

(PS. I used to hate emojis, obviously becoming a member of this board has affected my intellect.):help::edthumbs:
 
After complex calculations performed by Price Waterhouse (not really) I can announce my favorite listening album is Offering (reference the post above). With AKOAH, Horizon, VOTH close behind. Its interesting to me that Offering, and AKOAH were last two albums I purchased. So they had least opportunity to be played.
 
I went with "Offering". It's the most fun-sounding Carpenters album. The sense of "let's try this" is all over it and it doesn't take itself seriously. That alone wins the day for me.

Ed
 
I went with "Offering". It's the most fun-sounding Carpenters album. The sense of "let's try this" is all over it and it doesn't take itself seriously. That alone wins the day for me.
Funny, those are some of my exact reasons why I like the A Song For You album the best. The sense of fun and variety, even amid the serious songs.
 
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