I also agree that this album didn't really showcase Karen's talent. It's not to say that it should have sounded like a Carpenter's album. But the quality that made Karen one of the greatest singers ever is not on this album. You don't get the sense that wow, I've never heard a voice like that. For example, with Close to You, For All you Know, Superstar, Only Yesterday, etc. etc., the magic and incredible talent and uniqueness of Karen are undeniable. Listening to Karen's solo album, I feel she is a good singer but not the greatest.
My favorite solo album song - Last One Singing the Blues
I agree with Richard, that Karen was singing too high on some songs like Remember When Loving Took All Night. Many have said that the anorexia affected the richness and timbre of her voice. But I also get the sense that Karen also was changing her singing style over the years deliberately. In one of the pre-Carpenter songs that Karen sang as a teenager called "And When I Die", Karen was a powerhouse. Karen in her early days had a huskier sound and it was clear she didn't like it. As the years progressed, she was trying to achieve a more delicate, feminine sound. Recall that she re-recorded songs for releases that originally were perfectly fine like Ticket to Ride, Merry Christmas Darling, and Top of the World. Comparing the originals to the newer re-recordings, you can clearly hear how she was trying to sound more delicate. I think as she got older especially on the solo album, she was trying to sound more and more light. But it was the depth that people loved about Karen's voice. Perhaps the anorexia also altered her voice. But I sense in Karen overall, a young women always striving to be more perfect even when she already was. It's a classic anorexic trait.
I completely disagree with you. There are at least a good four songs on Karen's solo album that were potential hit singles. "If I Had You," "Guess I Just Lost Me Head," "If We Try" and "Making Love In The Afternoon" were all very much in tune with what the music buying public was buying in 1980. People were not buying songs like "We've Only Just Begun" or "Rainy Days and Mondays" and Karen's solo album did not have those types of songs on it. The songs on her solo album were perfectly crafted to the ears of the music loving public of 1980 and I very much believe that it had a good 3 to 4 hits on it.
ReplyDeleteNow "Made In America" is an album that really did not have any hit singles from it, that's the album Richard and Jerry Moss should have been concerned with. Yes, "Touch Me When We're Dancing" reached the Top 20 in the US, but it failed to be a hit anywhere else in the world and just reaching the Top 20 in the US is not saying much considering it was their first single release in near 3 years, it should have been a Top 5 hit, that being said even "Touch Me..." was not a legitimate hit.
I respect your opinion on the album. I think it was well done and I like all the songs. I didn't hear anything that I thought was a smash (but then again most people don't like every Top 40 song). I agree that her solo album was better than Made in America. It's odd that Jerry and Herb didn't question that. It does make me wonder what their intentions were. I also am confused as to why Karen had to shell out $400K of her own money! Who does that?
DeleteAlso I disagree that the album did not showcase Karen's talent because it did showcase her talent quite well. Her solo album gave us an insight to just how versatile a singer Karen really was. True the songs were not deep and dark and mournful but a great song does not need to be a sad song to be great. a great song can be upbeat and jubilant as were the songson Karen's album. when I hear her solo song I am filled with a certain joy that I do not get from a Carpenters song. As for Karen singing too high on the songs on her solo album, that is a lie. she is not singing too high on those songs. if anything she is singing in her mid range on most of the songs. she is right there in her most comfortable mid range voice on songs like "Guess I Just Lost My Head,' "Last One Singing The Blues," "Make Believe It's Your First Time" and "Still In Love With you." As a matter of fact most of the vocals on Karen's solo album are cutting edge.
ReplyDeleteNow, if we want to talk singing too high let's talk "Made In america," in the chorus of "Touch Me When We're Dancing," Richard has Karen singing in an extremely high pitched vocal, higher than anything on her solo album. After a few choruses "touch Me..." becomes quite annoying with that high pitched vocal. Also on "Because We Are In Love" Karen is singing in that high pitched vocal again in some parts. many of the songs on MIA have Karen singing way to high that the album becomes annoying after a while, the same with many of the songs on "Voice of the Heart."
It's funny how Richard criticized Karen for singing too high on her solo album yet when it came to recording "Made In America," the following year he had her singing in a much higher range than what was on her solo album.
As it is it is not true Karen was not singing in a high pitched voice on her solo album, if you really take a good honest listen she is predominantly using her mid range on all the songs on her album.
Great point regarding the singing on MIA. You're right. Richard contradicted himself. On the solo album, the one line in Remember When Loving Took All Night towards the end, she sings 'We'll take all night again tonight'.. there's a part that sounds strained to me.
DeleteIn thinking about my original post, Karen was refining her vocal style more and more. I think this may have been part of the perfectionlist in her. I wish sometimes, she didn't think about it or try to be perfect and just sang however it came out like the early days.