The Carpenters The Carpenters

"The Carpenters" (originally released as "Horizon") is the sixth consecutive platinum-certified album by American musical duo Carpenters. It was particularly successful in the United Kingdom and Japan, topping the charts and becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1975 in those countries. Horizon also reached no. 3 in New Zealand, no. 4 in Canada and no. 5 in Norway. An American duo consisting of sister Karen Carpenter and brother Richard Carpenter. Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to as "The Carpenters", their name on official releases and press materials was "Carpenters". During a period in the 1970s when louder and wilder rock was in great demand, Richard and Karen produced a distinctively soft musical style that made them among the best-selling music artists of all time. No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers, and by 2005 combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units.

Usually the name Gold: Greatest Hits means "avoid this album." Many times small labels will buy the rights to some obscure songs by a big-name artist and then release it under that very title. But despite the name, this collection keeps the crap in the middle of the album, buried between the good stuff. In fact, this is a really good retrospective of this band. The dark and lonely ballads that Karen Carpenter sang take center stage, pushing brother Richard's pop contributions to the background. The album starts strong enough, featuring several of their biggest hits, including "Superstar," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Goodbye to Love," and "It's Going to Take Some Time." And the album ends with more big hits, such as "Top of the World," "(They Long to Be) Close to You," and "We've Only Just Begun"; even their Klaatu cover, "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," makes it. But the middle is a danger zone of filler, featuring forgettable tracks like "Please Mr. Postman" and its ilk. But this collection has the requisite amount of good Carpenters songs to make it worthwhile, and anyone who does not have these songs on album should give this a listen.

The album combines the group’s original vocal and instrumental tracks from their 100-million-selling catalogue with new orchestral arrangements by Richard Carpenter, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London.