Customer Reviews

Live in Japan

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

 

 

I feel Live in Japan is a great In Concert Album. I strongly disagree with the above reviewers that said it is just OK. Karen's Vocals soars and adds an extra excitement to the classic hits without taking away from the original studio recordings. The opening Superstar and Close to You are my favorites on this album. The Oldies Melody contains some great additions to the songs that are on the Now + Then Album. I do agree with the reviewer that said the low point is Pete Henderson on the Oldies Melody. It is a distraction because his singing takes away from the Carpenter Sound. Richard + Karen announcing the Band members at the end of different cuts of the first Cd adds a nice personal touch too. It's worth every cent of the high cost if you love the Carpenters. The back up band does their usual great job and are a pleasure to listen too.

Karen Carpenter sounds just as good live as she does on the regular studio albums,sometimes even better. My favorite track on this double CD is "Sing" where Karen sings the voclas bi-lingually in both Japanese & English. I also liked CD#2 which contained other oldies medlies which were not prevously released on their 1973 American NOW & Then release.As a very big Carpenters fan it is now nice to gain access via amazon.com and in the internet some Carpenters tracks that were never released here in The U.S. This is a great double CD for anyone who loves the Carpenters as much as I do.

The Carpenters sound absolutely wonderful on this 2 disc set of a concert recorded in Japan in 1974.

Karen sounds great live! I especially enjoy her performances of "Close to You" and the "Superstar/ Rainy Days" medley. We also get to hear her sing in Japanese on "Sing"! She does so with such ease!

There's also a great "Oldies Medley", which is slightly different from the one on their "Now and Then" album from 1973.

I've read that this concert it also available on video in Japan. I really hope that it'll be released on DVD in the US soon!

I recommend this CD to all Carpenters fans! It's a must- have! Their "Live at the Palladium" CD is too!

Since this is a live recording, you get the more personal feelings involved and some background info. not found just from a standard cd or record.
Richard and Karen will always be the greatest duo ever in my opinion.
The oldies series of songs is fun to hear and the japanese children's choir featured singing with Karen for the song "Sing" is especially beautiful.
This is a fairly rare cd since it is one of the few ever done live and to be recorded live.
You will definitely love it!
kat

I highly recommend this rather rare set of recordings and the video. This is rather rare because it is one of the very few live recordings available that the great couple ever recorded. Since it is a live recording, you know that the songs are still great, though not as "polished and perfect" you might say as the standard recording on a regular record. The video is very good, though since the audience is Japanese, they may not be as enthusiastic as an American audience since many may not be know ing what is being sung or said.
The show is a hurried one though and you wish it would go on as portrayed in one of their tv shows or specials.
The main guitar man, Peluso, is extremely talented, but in this recording, I think he overdoes it on a couple of songs.
Karen is beautiful and her weight appears to be quite normal in the video. The special Japanese children's choir featured singing the song "Sing" in their native tongue, along with Karen is very special.
All in all, I'm glad I have these for my collection. It does make me sad though, that Karen's no longer with us.

This is an album for Carpenters collectors only.I was disappointed to find that it has a guest singer(Pete Henderson)on a long medley and,although he sings OK,it's just not Richard or Karen.Most of the songs feature Karen on lead,including a very nice version of "Sing" where Karen sings in Japanese with the Kyoto childrens choir.Overall,it's a reasonable live album,but I would recommend the Carpenters "Live At The Palladium" CD over this as the Carpenters perform with an orchestra on that and don't on this album.The backing group is good but cannot compare with an orchestra.

"Live in Japan" is a double CD set released only in Japan - thus its expensive list price (generally over $50 dollars). Together, there are 24 songs; disc one consisting of a medley of their more traditional singles hits, and side two being a retro-rock salute to hit songs from 1954 - 1964. Similar to the "Yesterday Once More" medley from "Now and Then", this series of songs is different, with the new songs being "Little Honda," "Runaway," "Leader of the Pack," "Book of Love," "Shuboom," "Daddy's Home" and a rousing version of "Johnny B. Goode". Tony "The Bone" Peluso reprises his role as the radio disc-jockey who introduces each song.

For being a "live" ablum, the sound is remarkably clear. Karen's voice is wonderful as always, and surprisingly, the back-up vocals by the band are pretty good as well. The Carpenters are noted for their multi-track layered sound, which was the brainchild of Richard Carpenter, and all the studio album background vocals are sang in a multi-layered fashion by Karen and Richard. To duplicate this sound on-stage is quite a feat, and it is done remarkably well.

Unique to this album is Karen's Japanese version of "Sing". It is amazing how she is able to sing this song in Japanese even though she does not speak the language; of couse, she does it flawlessly.

I cannot rate this album higher than 3-stars because of the relatively short length of the combined CD's and the huge price tag. The entire set runs just over an hour in length. (I wonder if this was the entire concert, or if portions were eliminated?) In any event, it seems too short for a full concert. At over 50 dollars for the set, it is too costly, and I recommend it only for the die-hard CArpenter fan who wants every release of the brother-sister duo.

konedog

I have the VHS of this live LP, and it's even better than the LP, or CD. All though, I noticed some of the stuff they say and do is different. I don't know why that is. But, at any rate, the VHS is great, and so is the CD. Karen plays drums on Help, Mr. Guder, and Johnny B. Goode. I love it when Karen plays the drums. She has her own unique way. She really gets into it on Johnny B. Goode, and so does Tony Peluso. I think they all did. I really liked that band. Does anybody know what's happened to them? I've tried looking on the Internet, but can't find hardly anything. Thanks.

I love Karen's voice, but I find this collection very disappointing, particularly for the price. Both discs would have easily fit onto one cd. ...

The performance is okay but nothing to rave about. Buy 5 or so of their individual albums and enjoy yourself more.