Customer Reviews

A Kind Of Hush

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"A Kind Of Hush" is a delightful soft-ballad album that has that pleasing Carpenter multi-layered sound. Briefly, this album has so many good tunes on it, I'd have to mention them all, as there are no "weak" tracks at all. You will enjoy this album from start to finish, it is personally one of my favorites, and I own all the Carpenter albums. The multi-layered Carpenter sound is Richard Carpenter's genius, and the vocal sound is the incomparible voice of his sister, Karen Carpenter. When you hear her sing one word, you know that voice is hers and hers alone. What a gift of song she had! Karen Carpenter was one of the most talented and pleasing female vocalists in the 20th century, and that is saying a lot! In my opinion, no one compares to the pure vocal talent of Karen. And she truly shines with the vocal and instrumental arrangements of brother Richard. He knew what key to produce the music in to maximize Karen's best vocal sound. It is Richard's arrangements with Karen's voice that constitutes that instantly recognizable Carpenter sound.

Some particularly good tracks on this album are the title-tune, "A Kind of Hush", the beautifully composed love ballad "You", the very pleasing and soothing "Sandy", the jaunty and funny "Goofus", "Can't Smile Without You", "I Need To Be In Love", and the tribute to Neil Sedaka, "Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do".

"A Kind of Hush", released in 1976, achieved "gold" status but failed to peak as high as previous Carpenter albums. The singles released from this album surprisingly did not track as high as previous efforts, with "There's a Kind of Hush", peaking at a very respectable #12, "I Need to Be in Love" at #25, while the novelty song "Goofus" failed to reach the Top 40 entirely - their first single to not crack the top-40 since they began recording in 1970.

This aside, the album is sure to please all Carpenter fans and I very highly recommend it!

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

In 1976, as Karen's anorexia was taking root, the Carpenters recorded their 7th studio album. This album breaks no ground musically and seems to mellow out at times. However, Karen's voice redeems it and I still must give it 3 stars. "A Kind of Hush", the group's #12 hit is not as creative as "Please Mr. Postman", and the ending "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" is not worth hearing. "You" is lovely, and so is "Can't Smile without You," but clearly the best song is "I Need to Be in Love." Although it charted only at #25, the song is sung very heartfelt by Karen, and it carries the album. The songs on the second half all seem to sound the same, and clearly, one can see the Carpenter's slide down the charts beginning. The single "Goofus" charted at #56, making it the group's lowest charting single to date. However, the album deserves to be heard as it does have the greatest vocalist of all time.

This album by the Carpenters isn't bad- not by a long shot- yet its overall presentation fails to fully satisfy due to a lack of top-notch material. The arrangements are more restrained than usual, often featuring Karen's gorgeous alto all alone with no overdubbing or harmonies. The standout tracks, in my opinion, are the stunning "One More Time", "I Have You" and of course, the album's masterpiece, "I Need To Be In Love". The remaining tracks are mostly very nice, but nothing exceptional. By the way, the fact that the moronic track "Goofus" was ever released as a single is beyond me. Almost any other song on this disc would've been a far better choice (as a single) for a hit record, and that includes their tepid remake of the classic "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do". Sigh. We miss you Karen, but have much to savor.

This is not the Carpenters best album, but certainly, one worth listening to. Karen's voice is a appealing as ever, Richard's arrangements are nice, but the material doesn't seem up to par with the Carpenter's standards. There are some strong songs, such as "I Need to be in Love," "One More Time," and "You." Unfortunately, there is a bland version of "Breaking up is Hard to Do" and "Can't Smile Without You." I read that this album "marks time" and I would agree. Nothing new and exciting, but a pleasant collection of love songs sung by one of the most distinctive voices in music.

I guess with the understanding that this great singer is no longer with us on this planet, there is no other rating of 5 for this album. Yes, it would be great to have had them sing perhaps other material, and I agree that I would prefer to hear Karen sing a lovely ballad (I Need to Be in Love) than "Goofus", but I have to say that I would prefer to hear Karen sing "Goofus" and hear the purity of her voice, albeit a weird song, than to listen to most other pop singers whose voices do NOTHING for me, however pretty the song they are trying to sing (Brittany Spears, for example). So, this is a fantastic album with great moments,and some less-meaningful ones, but ALWAYS great singing.

I agree with the other two reviewers; this album doesn't have the spark that most other Carpenters' albums do. But Karen's voice rises above that. The best songs are "You", "Sandy", "One More Time" and the title track.

This album although not as good as other Carpenter's album, still allows the listener to once again enjoy the beautiful sound of Karen's voice. My only complaint is about the remastering of this album. The mix does not do this album justice. The bass is mixed to high, the strings and background vocals and instruments are mixed too low. The mix on the original album was a whole lot better. The vocals and instruments were more balanced. I rated this album three stars because of the remastering.

At at time when the Carpenters were falling out of the mainstream in terms of public acceptance, they were in the studio making this, their seventh original studio album. Perhaps their personal problems, relentless touring and other outside influences (such as their spat with Neil Sedaka) had something to do with the rather lackluster theme of the album. Amongst such oddball cuts as "Goofus" & the cloying "Sandy" the listener will find a few gems and one masterpiece: "I Need to be in Love"- Karen's personal favorite. Written by John Bettis w/ assist from Al Hammond, the song stands out as anthemic and more than true to life. How many of us can share the sentiment as Karen sings "The hardest thing I've ever done is keep believing there's someone in this crazy world for me..."? Beyond this, two stand-out tracks include the beautiful "I Have You" and the soulful "One More Time". This album is really for Carpenters completists, not the casual fan. Look for a compilation with "I Need to be in Love" and you'll be fine.

I love the mellowness of this album and perhaps, the omission of "Breaking Hard to Do" and replaced it with either, "Two Lives" or "Ordinary Fool" (which was recorded around the same time) would have made it a better set.

I was twelve when this album was released (1976). My instant favorites were, "I Have You", "Can't Smile Without You", and of course, the incredibly beautiful "I Need to be in Love" which has stood the test of time.

Like what Mr. Robert L. Colvin wrote in his review, you just can't find any other singer that can carry any of those songs the way Karen did to provoke the listener's inner senses. She was incredible and her voice still brings magic to my soul when I am down, up, or whatever I am feeling. There will always be a remedy somewhere in one of those Karen Carpenter songs!

Lastly, the jacket artwork was way ahead of its time and for those who have the original LP would know what I meant (Unfortunately, the printing for the CD booklet doesn't do much justice unless you have a Japanese copy or the limited edition copy that was packaged like a miniaturized LP jacket. For the limited edition copy, like the original LP jacket, the underside of the jacket was printed with the Carpenters logo, incredible!).

Despite Herman's Hermits having had a huge international hit with the song less than a decade earlier, the title track (first recorded by the New Vaudeville Band, themselves famous for Winchester cathedral) also became successful for the Carpenters.

Other classics can be found here including I need to be in love and Sandy. Other highlights include You (a Randy Edelman song), Can't smile without you (first recorded by David Martin, who is otherwise unknown to me, this song was later covered by Barry Manilow, who made the song his own), Boat to sail (a Jackie DeShannon song), Breaking up is hard to do (a Neil Sedaka song) and One more time.

Following this album, the Carpenters started experimenting with different sounds and styles, as you'll find on their next album Passage. With hindsight, this album marked the end of an era for the Carpenters and it was certainly a good way to do so.