Current Events > My favourite album is probably the Carpenters singles collection 1969-1983

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's really well structured, and they make a little outro for Won't Last A Day Without You that leads directly into Close to You. The song before that is I Know I Have To Be In Love which gives off the big ending vibe, before ending with Won't Last A Day, Close To You and a reprise of the first song on the album

Picking a 'best of'/singles complication as a favourite is normally frowned upon, as they don't have the flow and structure that the very best albums have.

But, you know what? I don't hate your choice one bit. That's a legit pick.

ai123 posted...

Picking a 'best of'/singles complication as a favourite is normally frowned upon, as they don't have the flow and structure that the very best albums have.

But, you know what? I don't hate your choice one bit. That's a legit pick.

It's the only Best Of that I would ever pick.

Like I like Elton John and Billy Joel and - as much as I've grown out of them - Queen, but I wouldn't put their myriad of Best Of albums on a list of my favourite albums ever. But this collection is so well composed, and they do that bridging thing by adding a little outro to one of the songs to lead into the last song in the album, that I just have to give it to them.

It's one of those situations where you can't help but reflect on the tragic death of Karen Carpenter, and you see the album as a journey through her life and the highlights that she brought. It's rare that you get that; as beloved as he was, you don't get that with Freddie Mercury because Queen have three (well-deserved) Greatest Hits albums and they played very contemporary, boundary-pushing rock music. The Carpenters were always a nostalgia act, and the untimely death of Karen invites a more morose, emotional connection with the music. And an album that spans that entire gamut of her professional life just has that emotional weight to it that other bands don't.

I feel kind of bad feeling like this, because I think she was royally fucked over by their label and by Richard Carpenter. They shelved her solo album for years, she *called them* and asked about releasing it a couple weeks before she died. But they didn't budge. They released it three years after she died. They made her the face of the band when she just wanted to drum, and when she took control of her image, they denied her the fruits of her labor because they feared that she'd outshine the Carpenters and leave Richard behind. It's so unbelievably fucked.

All of those emotional loose ends come together with this collection. Richard still profits, as does the label. But it's such an emotional, cathartic experience that I don't care. You can't do that with anyone else, but it's different for Karen.