Customer Reviews

Made in America

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4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(5)
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The June, 1981 release, "Made In America" is Richard and Karen Carpenters last album together. Karen would subsequently die of complications of anorexia nervosa in February of 1983, and although Richard would still continue to release additional unreleased recordings, "Made In America" represents the last album that the duo would make together.

"Made in America" is the first album to be released by the Carpenters since "Passage", released in 1977, a drought of 4 years. Both Karen and Richard went through a period of personal crisis that began with Karen's descent into anorexia nervosa and Richard's addiction to prescription sleeping pills. While Richard made a successful withdrawl at the Menniger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, Karen continued to spiral downward. Karen also married Tom Burris in August of 1980 and this delayed the album as well.

"Made In America" was not a colossal commercial success for the Carpenters compared to their other string of huge hit albums. It went to #52 in the charts and spawned one top-20 hit, "Touch Me When We're Dancing". Yet, don't let the album sales fool you, this is a terific album and represents a return to their roots - producing beautiful touching musical ballads as only the Carpenters could.

The album shines brightly with many other strong Carpenter-brand ballad songs. There is the heartwarming "Those Good Old Dreams" and "When You've Got What It Takes", the touching and tear-jerking "Somebody's Been Lyin'" and "I Believe You", as well as "When It's Gone", and finally the lively nostolgic "Beechwood 4-5798", (which the Carpenters turned into a "fun" music video). Then there is the special song that Richard specifically wrote for Karen's marriage day, "Because We Are In Love". What makes this album so good is that once again the songs have that Carpenter signature to them, that unique sound that is theirs alone. Everyone will find a wealth of material that they will find to their liking.

It saddens me that "Made In America" is the last original Carpenter album. Karen's premature death meant that her beautiful melodic voice would not entertain and charm us fans again. I can only think of what might be had Karen survived her heart attack and conquered anorexia (some friends say she did conquer it and was planning to help others by getting the word out through her personal testimony about this tragic mental disorder). But it was not to be, and all we have of her are her recordings and our warm memories of a beautiful woman with the magical voice of an angel. I miss her still, over 20 years after her death.

"Made In America" will please you immensely, and will help you recall the girl with the signature voice and sound.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

When I first heard MADE IN AMERICA, it struck me as a "fun" Carpenters album, one that is more guilty pleasure than breath-taking beautiful. As with A KIND OF HUSH, this album would almost have you believe that Karen and Richard Carpenter really were as happy as they appeared in public.

While VOICE OF THE HEART and CLOSE TO YOU will probably always be my favorite Carpenters CDs, there IS something special about MADE...perhaps because it's the first Carpenters album I actually remember seeing in the record store when I was a kid, the one that produced a top 40 single I wanted to request on my local radio station even though I was too embarrassed to say "touch me."--Imagine thinking a song with that title was racy:)!

In college I started a belated CD kick and tried to get all the Carpenters albums in that format. It took a while before I was able to track down "Made in America" after my cassette fell apart. Once I found it, though, I was thrilled (and a little dismayed) to rediscover songs such as the adorably catchy "Beechwood 4-5789" and the sexist "Strength of a Woman" (no woman in her right mind would have such an attitude toward a cheating man!)

Lightening up, I took a second look and realized that MADE IN AMERICA had more ballads than I thought it did and that it was
not nearly as fluffy and commercial as I had previously imagined. Yes, "(Want You) Back in My Life Again" and "Touch Me When We're Dancing" are pleasant by-products of their attempts to ride that early 80s pop bandwagon and "When You've Got What it Takes" is just a bit too precious, but all the other tracks hold out just fine 25 years later, especially the bittersweet "When It's Gone (It's Just Gone)"--a song that took on an even sadder edge after Karen Carpenter passed away.

The three songs on the album most true to the Carpenters' classic sound are "Because We Are in Love (The Wedding Song)," "I Believe You," and "Somebody's Been Lyin.'" The perfect balance between songs that are fun (if maybe a bit dated) and songs that are timeless may be why so many of fans believed the talented duo would have gone on to do so much more in the 80s.

With this album, after a three year hiatus, the Carpenters seem to go back to their roots. The opening "Those Good Old Dreams" is pretty, but very disappointing as a single (#63). "Strength of a Woman" is average, and "Back in My Life Again" sounds feisty, but not good enough to be a single, although it was! (#72). "Somebody's Been Lyin" is gorgeous, the arrangement is sparkling and Karen's voice seems warmer than ever. "I Believe You" is the best track, although strangely it only went to #68 on the charts. I can't understand this, since this one seems to be the best song on the album. "Touch Me When We're Dancing", the Carpenters' last top twenty hit, (#16), is a high point on the album as well. In all honesty, I don't understand why "Beechwood 4-5789" was released as a single (#74) or even recorded. So many other songs are better than this one, and could have charted higher, especially "When It's Gone." The album has its beautiful moments, but seems to lack the magic of previous ventures.

Granted, I have some sentimental reasons for loving this album. I had just gotten married when it was released and several of the album's songs spoke to the wonder of a new life with my wife.

However, it is the beautiful texture of the album in its entirety that makes this the Carpenters' best effort. The songs do not just sing out with catchy melodies and arrangements, they speak to the listener in quiet words that hide just below the surface of the actual recording.

This album is pure poetry and each session I spend listening to it reminds me how great our loss was when Karen died just a short while later. And frankly, I was not that much of a "Carpenters" fan!

At a time when punk was ascendant and disco was waning, Karen and Richard Carpenter crafted an album that will endure long after the world forgets The Sex Pistols, Blondie, and Saturday Night Fever.

This is a gem that belongs in everyone's music collection.

As a Carpenters fan, I enjoyed this album.. It contains some upbeat selections (such as the cover of "Beechwood" and "Those Good Old Dreams"), as well as some wonderfully romantic numbers (such as "Touch Me When We're Dancing" and "Because We Are In Love"). The Carpenters were an immensely talented duo, and achieved great success with their music. Sadly, this album was their last, as within 2 years of its release, Karen had passed away. I wish that another such duo would come along, given the sorry state of American music today.

Yes, this was the last album completed by the Carpenters while Karen was still alive. In subsequent releases, including "Voice of the Heart", it was leftover material that Richard assembled by cutting and piecing together. Much has been said of "Made in America", it seems to divide the loyal Carpenter fan base. Even reading the postings by buyers and fans on this Amazon site, opinions are very mixed. Personally, this is the perfect "swan song" by the Carpenters. Who knew this would be their last completed issue? In less than 2 years, Karen would be dead.

Though the Carpenters were defined by their "hit singles", each of their albums could still be counted on for rewarding non-single tracks and this CD is no exception. Aside from the hit singles "Touch Me When We're Dancing", "I Believe You", "Those Good Ol' Dreams", there are some great album tracks here: "Beechwood" and "Want You Back in My Life" is fun, perky listening. Karen's mature melancholic voice gets a good workout on "Somebody's Been Lyin'" and "When You Got What It Takes". She turns dross material into gold; that's always been her gift as an unparalleled interpreter of pop catalog.

It's sad to think "What Could've Been...", which people are constantly asking themselves and the music industry in general had the sad events of February 1983 not happened. It seemed the Carpenters were on the verge of a comeback or at least on the trail. You can hear Richard's gifts as an arranger growing in scope on this CD and Karen was seemingly on the rebound trail recovering from the devastating effects of Anorexia. As a singer, she never lost her God-given gift. Maybe instead of wondering "What Could've Been....", we should be grateful and glad for what we have with their legacy of classic songs and recordings. We still miss you, Karen.

This was the last album that Karen completed before her untimely death in 1983. It didn't have the same quality of songs as in their early work, but this is a solid collection of pop songs. The biggest hit from the album is "Touch Me When We're Dancing." It climbed to number 16 on the pop charts in the spring of 1981 and stayed there for four weeks. There were several other tracks released, but they failed to crack the top 50. Strangely, the best song on the album, "Stregnth of a Woman" was never released. This scorcher of a song had Karen singing in that rich lower register of hers about a woman holding on to her man, even with his infildelity. It was a classic Carpenters' song and I think could have taken them back to the top 10. Other highlights on the album include the uptempo "(Want you) Back in my life again" and beautiful yet tragic "When It's gone (It's just Gone)." Unfortunately, there was a remake of Beechwood 4-5789, which pales in comparison to other remakes the Carpenters did, and "Because We are in Love (The Wedding Song)" which is an over produced track that almost drowns out Karen's incredible voice. This was somewhat of a musical departure for the Carpenters. It had some of the same sounds as before (ie Karen's strong vocals and the harmony backgrounds) with an experimental musical side that should have paved the way for years of great music to lie ahead. Unfortunately, on February 4, 1983, Karen's voice was silenced forever. We are left with thinking what might have been. This album is pointer to what might have been and should not be listened to for that reason alone, but because it is a good album in its own right.

It's difficult not to compare "Made in America" with Karen's solo album, since the latter was shelved in favor of producing the former. While I agree that "Karen Carpenter" should have been better, there's no question in my mind that it's superior to "Made in America" -- which, in my opinion, was an absurd anachronism for a 1981 release. Whereas Karen solo tried to be contemporary (without losing that Carpenter magic, as her exquisite solo version of "Make Believe It's Your First Time" proved), "Made in America" was indulgent sap.

"Those Good Old Dreams" brings a corny country arrangement to silly, cliched lyrics ("like a child's eyes on a Christmas night"). "When You've Got What It Takes" isn't bad, just not particularly interesting on any level. "Beechwood 4-5789" is as unnecessary as "There's a Kind of Hush" was -- the original versions were better. Easily the worst track here is "Because We Are In Love". Totally overblown, it drowns Karen in a ridiculous mush of orchestra and choir, while forcing her -- at this point a mature 30-year-old woman -- to sing about Mommy on her wedding day.

I remember liking "(Want You) Back in My Life Again" when the album was first released, but hearing it now, I just wish Richard had pushed Karen's voice to the foreground -- she's again lost in the arrangement, though it is a catchy melody. "Touch Me When We're Dancing" deserved to be a bigger hit than it was, with Richard's sublimely restrained arrangement perfectly suiting Karen's soft, warm interpretation.

My favorite track in 1981 remains my favorite today: "Strength of a Woman". I love Karen's sexy vocals on this one. Richard integrated the "Carpettes" (backup singers) particularly well, giving the Carpenters sound a new, exciting, very promising dimension. And there were echos of Carpenters-past...when the voices rise on the line "waiting for you to find your way back home", I'm reminded of the song "Road Ode" on "A Song for You". Maybe it was intentional, maybe not, but I like to imagine this was Richard (and maybe Karen) giving a nod to the past while also laying some new ground for the future.

To sum it up: There are three songs on "Made in America" that I love -- "I Believe You" (recorded in 1978), "Strength of a Woman", and "Touch Me When We're Dancing". Since "Strength of a Woman" has never been included on any other CD, for that reason alone this is one that belongs in a Carpenters fan's collection.

But considering that it replaced Karen's worthy solo effort, and that it ultimately was the last album released in her lifetime, I wish it had been much better.

I find the departure from the jazzier style refreshing for a Carpenter's CD. I love the production on "I want you back in my life again". OK, it's pure pop, but there's no pretense that it is anything but. Pure zeal and that beautiful layered vocal climax. Other highlights "When you got what it takes" "I believe you" and "Touch me when we're dancing".

The last Album made by Richard and Karen before her death. From the opening Song,"These good old Days," The Carpenters welcome you into there fantastic sound,to Karen's Wedding song,written by Richard for her wedding,this CD is filled with the Carpenters we know and Love. My favorite is,"When you got what it takes."I just love this song,and can't understand why it wasn't released as a single.I heard this song years later at the half time show during the Super Bowl. Five of the records from this tape made it to the Adult Charts in Billboard,and "Touch me when were dancing," was a top 16 hit on the pop charts. If Karen would have lived,I'm sure the next Album would have put Karen and Richard on top again. This is a must buy for anyone who loves the Carpenters like I do.