(11.) “Ticket to Ride”- Adventureous first album. Standouts: title song, “All of My Life”,
“Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”
10. “Passage”- When it’s good, it’s great.
When it’s bad, it’s awful. Standouts: “Bwana She No Home”, the underrated “All
You Get From Love is a Love Song”, “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina”, “Sweet, Sweet
Smile”
9. “Made
in America” – Same as above. Really- At first listen, I
despised the “Wedding Song” long before I knew the behind the scenes story. No love for the Broadway style. Standouts
“Strength of a Woman”, “Somebody’s Been Lying”, “Touch Me When We’re Dancing”.
8. “Now & Then” - Mixed bag. The Oldies did not wear well over
time. Standouts: “This Masquerade”, “Yesterday Once More”, “Our Day Will Come”.
7. “A Song For You” - Great singles mixed with toss away tracks
(“Intermission”, “Crystal Lullaby”, “Piano Picker”) which move it lower in
ranking. Standouts: “Hurting Each Other”, “Goodbye to Love”, the title song.
6. “Voice of the Heart”- Sentimental
favorite. Would be ranked higher if not for chorale vocals. Gorgeous photo of
Karen. Very tasteful presentation under
the circumstances. Standouts: my favorite Carps song of all time “Ordinary
Fool”, “Now”, “Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore”, “Look to Your Dreams” (an exception to the Broadway rule), “Sailing
on the Tide”.
5. “Carpenters” – Warm, by the fireplace
music. Would rank higher if not for the barrel bottom “Druscilla Penny”.
Standouts: the three single releases plus “Let Me Be the One”, “Hideaway”, “Sometimes”, “Bacharach
Medley”.
4. “Lovelines” - Strong and Weak. Standouts: “Lovelines”, “If
We Try”, “Where Do I Go From Here?”, “When I Fall in Love”, “Kiss Me the Way
You Did Last Night”, “If I Had You”.
3. “A Kind of Hush”- Best overall package,
music and art. Very soft but beautiful. Second place for “Worst Carpenters
song: Goofus”. But it comes with the award
for “Happiest Personal Memories
Associated with an Album”. Standouts: “Boat to Sail”, “I Need to Be in
Love”, “One More Time”, “I Have You”, plus the title song is my ultimate guilty
pleasure.
2. “Close to You”- the one that started it
all for me. Still stunning after 40
years. Standouts: “We’ve Only Just
Begun”, “Baby It’s You”, “Love is Surrender”, “Maybe It’s You”, “I’ll Never
Fall in Love Again”.
1. “Horizon”- elegant, classy, best
recorded sound of Karen’s voice ever. Standouts: “Only Yesterday”,
“Desperado”, “Solitaire”, “I Can Dream, Can’t I?”, “Aurora/Eventide”, “Love Me
For What I Am”.
See my individual reviews of each album, starting here.
See my individual reviews of each album, starting here.
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