Carpenters Gold - 35th Anniversary Edition

This is the strongest Carpenters collection available. All of the hits, including, FINALLY, the single version of "Solitaire" on a domestic collection! The album cuts are well chosen, with such old favorites as "Let Me Be The One" and "A Song For You" holding their own against the singles. There's also a few previously unreleased efforts, most notably "The Rainbow Connection." At 40 tracks, it easily surpasses their previous double-disker (released at different times under the names CLASSICS and YESTERDAY ONCE MORE) which only contained 27 songs. My only regret is that Richard continues to tinker with the hits, altering classics that were more than fine in the first place. The biggest offenders are "Maybe It's You" which sounds radically different from the gorgeous, stark version found on their CLOSE TO YOU album and "Hurting Each Other," whose additional, lusher background vocals slightly deaden its highly dramatic impact. Fortunately, Richard cannot alter the Carpenters' biggest asset, which is Karen's one of a kind voice. It continues to haunt and tingle the spine 35 years later. Listed below is the lineup with the changes Richard has made to the recordings. You can still get the original versions on their respective albums.