Harry Gene Neyhart | Sunny Central Florida, USA | 01/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Originally released in 2000, SINGLES 1969-1981 itself was an update to the older SINGLES 1969-1973. Confused? Well, this update actually has three different "layers" on the CD: a standard stereo layer playable on any CD player, and two Super Audio CD (SACD) layers, one in 5.1 surround, one in stereo. The two SACD layers are high-resolution layers playable only on SACD-capable players.
The track listing has also changed on this edition, eliminating a few tracks (For All We Know(reprise), All You Get From Love Is A Love Song, I Need To Be In Love, and Those Good Old Dreams) from the 2000 release and adding a few different tracks (This Masquerade, Bless The Beasts and The Children, Merry Christmas, Darling, and Calling Ocupants of Interplanetary Craft).
Carpenters fans will be happy to hear two exciting new mixes of "Superstar" and "Top Of The World" along with some other sonic enhancements."
Beautiful enhancement with multichannel SACD
Fredpulm | Davie, FL USA | 01/16/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The music is well known to us, but the icing in the cake is the excellent job done on this remastering. The surround sound is balanced, crystal clear and sonically impressive. This body of work certainly led itself to this beautiful treatment. If you have multichannel SACD, you will NOT be dissapointed."
Satisfactory SACD
Cesar | San José, Costa Rica | 05/23/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Overall, I found the sound in this SACD to be very good, as expected. The sorround sound is very well done, and Karen's voice is presented clearer than ever.
I have to disagree with some other opinions expressed here. For instance, I read beforehand that the album should have been called "remixes", and that "Superstar" was a particular case of "new version". Reading that, I thought I was going to hear a very altered version of that song and everything else. But to my surprise, "Superstar" sounded as faithful as the original, within the circumstances (all mixes for 5.1 imply some changes in the original stereo output, no matter how careful they have been to keep the original sound. In this SACD, you will notice stronger bass and drums in the songs). I agree that in the final part, "Superstar" may seem to have lost the sound in the drums that we somehow are used to hear now (mostly because it's a different "take" of drums), but that way this song's sound is closer to the original version that appeared in the original LP in 1970. And by the way, this is the first time in a long while that this song isn't crossfaded with "Rainy days and Mondays". In fact, no songs are crossfaded, they are complete.
My only 2 complaints would be that "All you get from love is a love song" has been left out. Being a song with a "faster" tempo, it would have provided balance to a compilation full of ballads. And it would have been interesting to hear it in sorround mix, because of its instrumentation. And my other complaint is that the grand chorus in the end of "Calling Occupants" is barely heard, when I hoped that in the new mix was something that I was going to hear louder and all around me.
Those minor complaints make me rate this compilation with 4 1/2 stars, downgraded to a 4 because there's no half star qualification. If you like the songs listed, consider this SCAD rated 5 for you. :-)
"
State of the Art all the way!
Jay L. Rudko | Pembroke Pines, FL USA | 02/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Karen Carpenter possessed one of the most beautiful voices in popular music, but playback technology being what it was when these songs were first committed to tape, we never got to hear the true magnificence of her pipes. Never, that is, until now. Thanks to the Super Audo CD, and the loving remix by Richard himself, we can finally hear and appreciate what a wonderful singer she was. This SACD includes all of my personal favorites by The Carpenters. "Top of the World" never sounded so good; in fact, I was on top of the world as I listened to it. I was thrilled that they reduced the reverb in her voice that was present on the stereo (and quadraphonic) recordings, and the clarity of the instrumental backup made it clear that listening only in two-channel doesn't allow all of what was recorded to be heard. I was also blown away by "Only Yesterday". Heck, my socks were knocked off by every track on this disc! And the sound... well, if you haven't experienced music in full 5.1 discrete surround sound, you're in for a treat. And if you don't own a player for SACD, word is this disc will be soon available on DVD-Audio. All I can say is run, don't walk, to your computer (Oh, you're aleady there!) and ORDER THIS DISC!!!"
CARPENTERS SACD at it's Best!
Patrick Driscoll | Litchfield Park, Arizona | 01/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here's my take on the new SACD... I am thrilled!! Just finished listening to it on my 5.1 SACD system. Wow!!!!! ALL of the tracks are awesome...purists and remix fans alike will love this collection!
You can hear a difference on EVERY song. There is no comparison to 2 channel stereo vs. SACD Surround with 5 speakers.
Here's my take on a few of the songs that really stood out to me...
The first track that REALLY stood out to me was "I Believe You". Oh my...how awesome is that! Does anyone else besides me think that an alternate vocal take was used on the first two verses? So clear, so beautiful and with sounds coming from all 5 speakers, I was blown away by this mix! You can really hear Karen a lot more on the background vocals on this one.
"Ticket To Ride" really really shines...especially when the cymbals come in after the opening piano intro. Really gets your attention!
"Only Yesterday" ...wow...great surround mix!
"Touch Me When We're Dancing"....awesome awesome awesome!! Richard brought up the background vocals on the fade out, giving the song an extended feel (even though it's still 3:20) which really pleases me since this is my favorite C's track!
"Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" Fantastic! What an experience this one was! All the instrumentions brought to full life and Karen's stunning vocal make this track one of my 'new' favorites!
Overall, on the disc as a whole, Karen's vocals are less reverbed, upfront and really shine on every single track. Not many 'new' instrumentations added (some are original, some are the previously remixed versions) although there are a few new instrumentations...or we can just hear them now.
It's like you have been let 'inside the music' so to speak...you can hear so much more and it's truly awesome.
Karen Shines. She would have loved this disc! Richard's talents become more obvious. WHAT AN AWESOME AND TALENTED MAN HE IS!!! What a great sound!
Well worth the wait....and a GREAT job done by Richard!