40/40

I've been listening to all sorts of music since around 1962, from bluegrass to death metal and much in between, and while there have been countless female singers in those years, not a single one of them had the voice of Karen Carpenter - only she possessed that one in a million voice. There was always something haunting about it, as if it were more real that reality. These have been remastered so they do sound cleaner than before, but fortunately, it doesn't appear as if they consciously tried to change the "mix" of the songs. Thank goodness for that. They were great to begin with. If you want to hear something that will find its way into your heart and live there with you the rest of your life, then pick up this compilation. You will be much the richer for it.

Some things just get better with age, and the Carpenters music ranks up there with cheese and wine! Can you really go wrong here? All the classics and remastered to sound better than ever.

It was a wonderful surprise to find out that A & M recently released 40/40 on Oct. 20 to celebrate the 4Oth anniversary of the Carpenters -one of my ultimate favorite acts of all time. I grew up with their music and I have a collection of ALL their cds whether in original or remastered form. Up to now, I still keep my vinyl copies of their records (45 RPM and 33 RPM!) which I played over and over again in our phonograph as a kid growing up in the 70s. Even if I have all the songs in this compilation in their other albums, I still immediately pre-ordered a copy of 40/40. For some reason, I never get tired of their timeless music and each compilation released is an event for me and a must-own. When I played 40/40 on my cd player, it was like a new experience hearing these songs all over again. Although their songs were recorded in the late 60s to early 80s, their music still sounds fresh and current and never outdated because of the timeless quality. The songs in this compilation especially the ballads are testaments to the late, great Karen Carpenter's incomparable vocal prowess. Karen's voice was truly God's gift - beautiful, original and truly distinct - and she used this voice to touch the lives of millions of people through the songs we can hear in this compilation. No one by far has had that voice. Karen indeed possessed the gifts of a truly great singer - distinct voice, flawless delivery and raw emotion. In 2019, I would like to see 16 gorgeous Carpenters ballads in a 50/50 compilation which were unfortunately not included in 40/40. If 2019 is too far away, why not a collection of their best ballads or a Love Songs double cd?

The 16 ballads I would like to be included in 50/50 are:

1. I Can't Make Music - from Now and Then
2. Love Me For What I Am - from Horizon
3. (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You - from Horizon
4. Desperado - from Horizon
5. I Can Dream Can't I - from Horizon
6. You - from A Kind of Hush
7. I Have You - from A Kind of Hush
8. Sometimes - from Carpenters
9. (A Place to) Hideaway - from Carpenters
10. One Love - from Carpenters
11. Two Sides - from Passage
12. I Just Fall in Love Again - from Passage
13. Make Believe It's Your First Time - from Voice of the Heart
14. Slow Dance - from Lovelines
15. Honolulu City Lights - from Lovelines
16. You're The One - from Lovelines

These 16 songs may have been album cuts only but they are some of very favorite Carpenters songs and certainly rank among their very best so I would like to see these songs in a future US 50/50 compilation in time for their golden anniversary in 2019 - has it been that long? Their music is classic pop and truly timeless! Long live the Carpenters!

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