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Wed Mar 24 2021
1
“Close to You” by The Carpenters (1970)
I’m embarrassed to say how familiar I am with this album.
For most of my adult life these delicacies topped the grocery list of songs ‘most likely to make me change the station’.
With starchy and otherwise unremarkable instrumentals, lyrics and melodies mostly snatched off the plates of others, and a compulsion to sample everything on the arranging buffet, these siblings offer high calorie fare for mass indulgence.
Karen’s voice, a syrupy contralto, is spiced with touching croaks. Richard’s easy-to-imitate keyboards and backing vocals are like gravy on quaaludes.
The opening track, “We’ve Only Just Begun”, is sugar-coated sugar, played at way too many weddings while bride and groom stuffed into each other’s mouths all that cake with extra frosting. The message is so unrealistically idealistic that many marriage veterans must have felt the urge to purge.
The other super-hit from this high carb collection is the title track, “Close to You”, which should be banned for metaphor abuse.
The rest is ear candy at best, if not intravenous sonic glucose.
This is an album that, unfortunately, will stay with us forever, like middle age paunch.
1/5
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Mon Apr 04 2022
1
Nope, they should have stuck to carpentry.
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Wed Jun 30 2021
4
It's hard not to love the Carpenters. Karen has a gorgeous voice, and their songs just have such a beautifully wholesome and melodic quality to them. Some of the duo's biggest hits, 'We've Only Just Begun' and 'Close to You' are here, but every track is worth listening. Their cover of The Beatles' 'Help' is inspired, and I've always been a fan of their somewhat less popular but still fairly well-known track "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".
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Mon Apr 04 2022
2
Best carpenters since Jesus
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Mon May 17 2021
5
An absolute masterpiece of an album. Every track on the record is laced with intricate instrumentation and lovely vocal harmonies, and to top it all off, you get Karen Carpenters stunning voice. Fantastic stuff👌🏽
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Mon Sep 14 2020
4
I absolutely love Carpenters, esp. Karen Carpenter whose vocals are hauntingly beautiful, but have to say I have never listened to a full album. 'Close to You' is a beautiful record, with the title track and 'We've Only Just Begun' as highlights. Of course it wouldn't be a Carpenters album without a Beatles cover ('Help') and some slower ballads to pad out the tracklist. 'Crescent Moon' and 'Another Song' were intriguing additions; especially the latter with its movement from pop to jazz in one song. If I wasn't such a big Carpenters fan I'd probably give this a 3, but as I love them so much and as the title track is just so stunningly gorgeous, it's gotta be a 4 from me.
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Wed May 26 2021
4
Warm, elegant, jaunty and sophisticated pop. Beautiful.
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Sat Apr 17 2021
1
Sickly sweet twee bullshit. This album lasts 2340 seconds and for ever single one of those seconds I wanted to switch this off. Devoid of any redeeming qualities. Wank.
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Wed Jan 27 2021
5
Great! Mostly the songs are very sweet, but also interesting. What struck me most was the drums and percussions and the use of weird instruments like flutes.
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Thu Mar 18 2021
5
Oh man I loved this album, such beautiful chords and harmonies.
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Mon May 31 2021
5
Just beautiful music and lyrics with perfect harmony, no biggie.
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Sat May 22 2021
5
The Carpenters is always a good one. It was nice to have an album I like on my birthday. ;)
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Sat Apr 17 2021
5
Saved Prior: None
Not Saved:
12. Help (Hard to outdo the Beatles)
11. Crescent Noon
10. Baby It's You
Cutting Edge:
9. (They Long To Be) Close To You (Crazy that this was their huge hit. I'm sure it'll grow on me)
Off Rip:
8. Reason To Believe
7. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
6. Another Song
5. Maybe It's You
4. Mr. Guder
3. I Kept On Loving You
2. We've Only Just Begun
1. Love Is Surrender
Overall Notes: This album made me go :). Happy music. Can't wait to take some summer drives to this.
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Thu Feb 25 2021
5
Sarah’s Mum’s favourite album 🤗🥰
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Mon May 03 2021
5
3 songs added to playlists
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Fri May 21 2021
5
It was memory lane
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Thu Mar 18 2021
5
Karen's voice & vocal range is amazing! Richard's musical skills are legendary! What a wonderful album!
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Thu Mar 18 2021
3
This is the beginning of superstardom for the Carpenters. Their mix of pop, soft rock and folk with some sweet harmonies is undeniable here. That being said, is this the best Carpenters album? Probably not. Will I constantly come back to this one? Also probably not. However, the influence of the Carpenters can be heard throughout the rest of the 70s and Karen Carpenter is a badass. Her story is a roller coaster if you’re ever interested.
Favorite song: Help (good Beatles cover)
Least favorite song: Mr. Guder
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Wed Jan 20 2021
3
Was really surprised by this one, ended up liking it a lot more than I thought. While not a fan of the sort of soft rock of the 70’s that they make, it pretty undeniable the level of talent there, and I honestly say it’s music that is catchy and sticks with you. I think I’d give it a 3.5
Standouts for me were We’ve Only Just Begun, Love Is Surrender, and (They Long To Be) Close To You
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Fri Feb 24 2023
3
Some good stuff (We've Only Just Begun, Close to You), some bad stuff (Crescent Noon). Didn't really like the covers of Help or Baby It's You. The last song (Another Song) was pretty cool/experimental, which bumps it up to a 3/5.
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Sat Apr 17 2021
2
No doubting the voice but god it’s so twee and sweet. I can still acknowledge that it contains some very well crafted songs though
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Fri Aug 20 2021
2
I can’t do this kind of ethereal saccharine music. It is what it is though, and it’s not inherently bad per se.
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Wed May 31 2023
2
This is a very pleasant album that I’ll probably never revisit.
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Sun Jan 31 2021
1
Kind of lame my grandma might like it
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Fri Jul 30 2021
1
Absolute shit. Hated every second
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Mon Apr 04 2022
1
During an interview with Time Magazine in 1982, Karen Carpenter revealed she had a major crush on upcoming football prodigy, Nigel Spackman. When asked about the revelation, Spackman is quoted as saying "I'd fuck the shit out of her ass 'til kingdom come, but unfortunately I'm dating my own uncle right now". It remains unknown as to whether the two did eventually fuck the shit out of eachother, but a close source tells us to "get out of my house you lunatics, before I call the police".
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Mon Jul 04 2022
1
Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple all owe royalties to The Carpenters. We were forced to listen to The Carpenters' dribble when AM stations were the only option. They are the main reason that our Christmas and birthday lists were full of requests for The Coop, Sabbath, etc.
Karen Carpenter's story is tragic and I sincerely hope that she rests in peace. But the music still sucks.
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Fri Sep 02 2022
1
I don’t understand how this album made the list. It had a few hits but overall I find it to be mediocre sentimental garbage. I found it to be generally boring and that “Help!” cover was particularly awful.
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Thu Jul 08 2021
5
Que gran disco. Wholesome. Me parece que nunca había apreciado lo conmovedor que suena el hitazo close to you, no tanto por la letra, sino que la instrumentación y la voz están muy chidas. Además de esa, me gustó bastante Mr Guder que contrasta con el resto del disco pues llega sonar algo creepy y el energético final another song, suena como a que un estado de felicidad tranquila y movidita a la vez al final del disco.
Mood: el día en el que tú naciste (the angels got together?) nacieron todas las flores
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Thu Jul 08 2021
5
Mejor que cualquier disco de Fleetwood Mac cocainómano pop.
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Wed May 12 2021
5
Expectedly pleasant.
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Tue Aug 17 2021
5
Really enjoyed it. Best album this generator has provided thus far. Karen’s vocals are immense 👍🏾
One of them albums where you’ve heard the songs already
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Fri Sep 17 2021
5
Loved the Beatles cover.
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Mon Oct 04 2021
5
Ша ла ла ла и ОУОУ
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Wed Nov 03 2021
5
Fav songs:
- Maybe It's You
- Help
- (They Long To Be) Close To You)
- Crescent Noon
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Mon Dec 06 2021
5
4.5
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Sun Dec 12 2021
5
Finally some real stars
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Tue Dec 14 2021
5
i mean... it's the carpenters
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Fri Dec 31 2021
5
slaps
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Fri Feb 25 2022
5
Perfect winter album.
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Sun Feb 27 2022
5
The album is psychedelic pop. It has elements inspired by the Beatles. My favorite tracks are “Help” and “Another song.” It’s very experimental.
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Thu Mar 03 2022
5
Whoa! These harmonies. There's also an interesting balance of these very familiar timbres paired with more challenging songwriting. It's like a really intimate, heavy ballet.
Favorite Tracks: Love is Surrender, Mr. Guder, I'll Never Fall in Love Again
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Sun Mar 20 2022
5
you can see the flares, and the inserting of the cassette into the beat up car heading on the road trip, and the singing of the school choir and it seeming a bit naff but the songs are great and its jazzier than you think
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Wed Apr 27 2022
5
Mom is wrong the Carpenters are good
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Thu Jun 16 2022
5
Naprawdę mi się podobało. Nie tylko głosy 2 wokalistów fajnie się łączyły, ale wiele piosenek miało niesamowicie chwytliwe melodie. Do tego te skrzypce niekiedy. Spoko albumik, myślę że nawet dam 5, bo choć muzycznie to nie jest rewolucja, to słuchało się bardzo przyjemnie
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Thu Jun 16 2022
5
A wonderful record. Beautiful voices and upbeat music make Close To You radiate with joy and optimism of the early 70s. Splendid.
Highlight: whole album, really
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Wed Jul 13 2022
5
I really enjoy the soft sound, catchy writing, and the combo of the pair's vocals. Plus, Help was a very welcome surprise well executed.
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Wed Jul 13 2022
5
For some reason I never seem to think "Oh boy, I really want to listen to The Carpenters today," but every time I do they draw me in like no other. The arrangements are just perfect, every texture and layer absolutely decadent. And Karen herself is a magnificent gem, of course. This was simply a delight.
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Wed Aug 03 2022
5
As the two singles compilations are perfect, I usually do not listen to regular albums of the Carpenters. However, some of these are excellent too, like this one. First half is perfect (5*). Second half has a decent share of 5* moments, but is perhaps a little inconsistent. Overall: 5*.
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Wed Aug 24 2022
5
Trop bon. Une decouverte pour moi aussi fou que ca peut l'être. 5*
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Fri Sep 09 2022
5
Great album. Loved every song. The vibe of this album was immaculate. I am glad I listened to it.
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Sun Sep 18 2022
5
5
I just love this album.
"Close To You" has been with me for a long time, and always makes me think of my mom, like a lot of other music on this list, but this song beats most.
Also "Reason to Believe" caught me off guard. I've listened to Tim Hardins song A LOT especially Karen Daltons and Rod Stewarts version and it hit me so hard the first time I heard it in "Every Picture Tells a Story".
Hadn't heard "Help" and "Another Song" before, and they both really positively surprised me. I was scared the whole thing was going to be way too sweet, but you can really feel both their musical presence, and it's so endearing.
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Wed Oct 12 2022
5
Mellow.
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Fri Oct 14 2022
5
Burt bacharachs writing and Linda’s voice
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Wed Nov 02 2022
5
I LOVED IT SM
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Mon Nov 07 2022
5
What can I say other than it’s filled with back to back Smooth Radio classics
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Mon Nov 07 2022
5
Wonderful album, amazing
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Fri Nov 18 2022
5
Lush and huge
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Fri Dec 09 2022
5
So, wasn't expecting to mike this as much as I did. Saccharine, maybe, but sort of perfect pop
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Fri Dec 09 2022
5
I thought the carpenters were just this lame band that exclusively played slow, boring love songs, and that Karen wasn’t that good of a singer. I was very wrong
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Thu Dec 22 2022
5
It's such a mellow album. Really like their chill energy
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Sat Jan 07 2023
5
nice
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Sun Jan 08 2023
5
One would think that the sound of the Carpenters would be from meticulous plodding in the studio for perfection. However, this was thrown together to capitilize on the strength of the title tracks release and success as a single. It also happens to be their best album. Sometimes inspiration is more important than perfection and can lead to the second without all the planning.
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Fri Feb 03 2023
5
Fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥 straight heat
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Mon Feb 20 2023
5
Great soft, light rock
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Tue Feb 28 2023
5
Timeless.
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Fri Mar 03 2023
5
Started off feeling like a classic folk album, but the ability for almost every song to peak in the middle of it was so good. Her voice is amazing and left me wanting to just keep listening, and felt like great music.
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Sat Mar 04 2023
5
Rating: 9/10
Best songs: We’ve only just began, Love is surrender, Reason to believe, Close to you, I’ll never fall in love again, Crescent noon
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Mon Mar 06 2023
5
A very beautifully sounding album. Cannot go wrong with this one! Such a nice listen all the way through. One of the most powerful drummers to exist and was forced to tone it down for this one but did it so well, not having Karen on all drums is a crime but it didn’t take away from the softer sounds of this album and brought her beautiful voice to front and center. Great album and great listen!
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Mon Mar 06 2023
5
This is an extremely good post cry listen, feels very soft and comforting. Love her voice, definitely adding this album to my music.
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Mon Mar 13 2023
5
I did not know how much I’d enjoy this. Karen Carpenter is incredible and I never knew that or anything about the tragedy that was her early death.
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Thu Mar 23 2023
5
It's the Carpenters, absolutely for me.
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Mon Apr 03 2023
5
Fun album! Little Bit of baroque pop, little bit of folk rock. Great harmonies. That last song is bizarre but not unwelcome!
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Mon Apr 03 2023
5
It’s really good.Close to you is such a good song.I also like the opening track and mr guda. Karen’s voice is amazing.It never gets annoying as well which is crazy because how happy and airy the album is.But there is so much complexity and different parts to the songs it’s crazy.
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Sat Apr 22 2023
5
Massively underrated band. This is the evolution of what Brian Wilson was doing on Pet Sounds and deserves recognition as such.
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Fri Jun 02 2023
5
I was incredibly excited to get this album today. I enjoy a lot of soft rock, but somehow, I've never listened to this album. I've heard "We've Only Just Begun" and "Close To You," but I've never really kicked back and actually listened to them.
I've heard that Karen Carpenter has one of the best voices of all time, and after listening to this album, I would strongly agree with that statement. Her vocals were absolutely perfection on every track, and each song here was a joy to listen to. Richard Carpenter's vocals, when they seldom appear, are also really nice, but he definitely can't compete with his sister. The instrumentation here may not be much, but that's exactly what this album needed, so that Karen's vocals could shine. I usually like it better when people write their own music, but that didn't bother me here.
This isn't the type of album that I'm likely to listen to frequently, but when I'm in the mood for something gentle and pleasant, I'll have no problem firing this up. I had a wonderful time listening to this.
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Wed Jun 07 2023
5
How can you not like The Carpenters? Didn't know they covered Help! though.
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Wed Jun 07 2023
5
5/5 I'd give this 5/5 just for CTY and WOJB. Two of the most perfect songs ever recorded.
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Mon Sep 07 2020
4
Close to You is one of the best love songs. Very pleasant album.
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Mon Jul 05 2021
4
Karen Carpenter's voice is the most comforting, lovely sound. Very fun, very 70s arrangements. I like this.
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Thu Jan 14 2021
4
Soft rock, classic album.
Pretty good, enjoyed listening to it.
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Thu Feb 04 2021
4
This was fun for sure. I liked the vocals and the covers were enjoyable
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Thu Apr 01 2021
4
Liked it more than I expected. Karen has a great voice
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Thu Jan 14 2021
4
Album is a little sappy, but killer vocal harmonies and sax.
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Thu Jul 08 2021
4
Este me parece un disco muy apropiado, por sus sonidos, para un locus amoenus. La voz, siempre dulce, de Karen Carpenter le da a algunas canciones un toque casi sublime y la instrumentación acompaña esta impresión. Por ahí se escuchan flautas, aunque el piano, las percusiones pues y las cuerdas, todo se usa creo de forma que se construye este mood. Quizá muy cursi a momentos, pero tiene el rolonononón "(They Long To Be) Close To You", eso sí, el cover de "Help" me parece un poco inane. Las otras favs son ese gran inicio "We've Only Just Begun", muy fastuoso para lo que viene después, y "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". 9/10
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Fri May 14 2021
4
Lovely stuff
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Mon Jun 14 2021
4
4/5
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Mon Apr 12 2021
4
Thoroughly enjoyable Sunday morning listening.
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Fri May 14 2021
4
Да это ж почти полностью кавер-альбом, что за подлянка! И это что, каждый раз теперь проверять надо, в каждом ли альбоме исполнитель не поленился хотя бы большинство треков запилить сам? Благо, это были те странные времена, когда кавер-версии затмевали оригиналы и оставались в веках. В случае с Help, конечно, тягаться с оригиналом смысла особо не имело. В шоу "Хованский разрулит" мы слышим именно версию The Beatles. Ну а с заглавным треком фортануло, именно эту версию мы несколько раз слышим в Симпсонах.
Несмотря на разброс авторов, в целом альбом чувствуется цельным. Ладно, разве что та же Help! для уха выбивается. Но собственные треки, что есть, интегрированы гладко. Да и звучит всё славно. Как раз тянский вокал сюда давно не завозили.
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Fri May 14 2021
4
Интересно. Ну в целом не то чтобы сильно выделяется на фоне поп-музыки того времени (хотя уже 70 год, уже это все на спад шло, и всякие Walker Brothers клитором не командовали), но душевно и кропотливо сделано, видно что с саунд-дизайном работа хорошая проведена. Про Карпентерс я раньше слышал в основном в разрезе того, что Sonic Youth на них надрачивали, и это мне сильно портит восприятие, ибо их творчество теперь воспринимается практически исключительно в разрезе довольно трагичной смерти Карен Карпентер (впрочем, если там в комментах на ютубе посмотреть, то не у меня одного). Вот есть у этих песен какой-то такой привкус, какое-то ощущение, что больной человек переживает нервный срыв, и тебе не следует на это смотреть. Действительно же очень грустные песни по сути, даже в целом мажорная Help битлов звучит как-то зловеще и безнадежно. В общем эмоционально не самый простой альбом, не уверен, что захочу слушать его ещё раз когда-то. Но песни сами по себе хорошие, голос сильный, аранжировки более чем приятные. 8/10
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Mon Jul 19 2021
4
This is actually truly fantastic pop. And I'll admit I have a huge soft spot for Karen Carpenter. (By the way, check out videos of her playing drums...amazing!)
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Sun Apr 11 2021
4
Close to you and never Fall in Love kennt denk ich jeder
Schön arrangiert alles in allem natürlich sehr ruhig
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Sat May 08 2021
4
Nice
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Tue Jun 15 2021
4
Enjoyed this more than anticipated considering it's an album of love songs, most of which aren't original
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Sun May 23 2021
4
Easy listening
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Wed Jul 14 2021
4
more certified bangers on a single album than most musicians have in three lifetimes
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Tue Sep 07 2021
4
On one hand this isn't really my preference but it's undeniably great as inoffensive easy-listening and who doesn't know at least some of these songs?
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Thu Sep 16 2021
4
Nice.
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Sat Oct 09 2021
4
Good stuff, they have a special place in my heart because my mom was a fan when I was young and would play them sometimes.
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Fri Nov 12 2021
4
VERY good. I was surprised at how much I liked it. It could get a little schmaltzy, but I didn't really mind. I'm almost tempted to give this a 5. I'd probably give it a 4.5 if I could. It's pretty solid. Karen Carpenter is a great singer, and Richard is an amazing arranger.
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