Customer Reviews

Now & Then

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Now and Then" is the Carpenters salute to the golden age of rock and roll, the hits of the 1960's. This is the music that both Karen and Richard Carpenter grew up listening to and in this album, they make it their own.

The album begins with the "Now", by presenting their new smash hit of 1973, "Sing". Although criticized and condemned by rock purists of the day, "Sing" (originally written for Sesame Street!), captured the public's attention and became a big hit for the Carpenters. Also in the "Now" section is "This Masquerade", a haunting song about the break-up of a relationship, of course interpreted and performed flawlessly by Karen Carpenter. It amazes me how Karen, at just 23 years old, could put so much appropriate emotional inflection into her lyrics!

"Jambalaya", the hit 1952 Hank Williams song, lifts the mood with it's infectious foot stomping beat. Karen once again renders a flawless vocal rendering, which became a huge Carpenter hit in Japan, Germany, England, and Mexico.

The "Then" portion of the album begins with the colossal hit "Yesterday Once More", setting the stage for the eight 1960's classics songs that follow. Each song is an absolute delight in itself, with the band's Tony Peluso royally hamming it up as a 60's radio dee-jay introducing each song and hosting the all-too familiar "Guess the Song and Band Contest", that all of us (oldsters) once heard on AM Top-40 radio. It all comes together so neatly thanks to Richard Carpenters' inventive and unique musical arrangements.

This is an album that will have you laughing, smiling, and inflecting. It is as good a Carpenters album as any of their million sellers and will charm you endlessly. I highly recommend it.

Jim Konedog Koenig

Whomever accused The Carpenters of being icky sweet and being a brother-sister gimmick, never took a listen to this album, which was once a Number One LP back it's in day, selling over one million copies. Richard & Karen Carpenter show how versatile as musicians and performers they are, by doing one side contemporary and one side dedicated to the pop oldies of the Sixties, truly a first in those days. If you were never much a fan of the late, Karen Carpenter, you will be when you hear Karen do such songs as "Our Day Will Come," "Da Doo Ron Ron" and the Shelley Fabares hit "Johnny Angel." In addition to such classics as "Yesterday Once More" and "This Masquerade," there's the beautiful instrumental of a song called "Heather." Just gorgeous. This is the remastered edition of the original LP release from 1973, in which Karen played drums on all the tracks, including a different version of "Yesterday Once More." This was Richard Carpenter's first "official" credit as producer of their albums, and his arrangements are simply fabulous. While "Sing" may have been a Number One radio hit with the bubblegum crowd, "Now & Then" is a fine example of just how talented Richard & Karen Carpenter were in the studios. Buy this CD pronto, before it goes out of print.

Now and Then is a fantastic album. It shows off the talents of The Carpenters superbly. There are so many great songs on the album, and the musical arrangements are so tasteful. The suite of pieces originally put together for the second side of a gramophone record, beginning and ending with Yesterday Once More, includes some of the best interpretations of those old songs from the 60s you are ever likely to hear, and the recording quality is a lot better than on the original versions.

My favourite song is This Masquerade, which sounds great whether it is performed by the writer Leon Russell, or in a great guitar version by George Benson. But The Carpenters version features Karen's unique voice and a terrific ensemble of musicians in one of the best musical arrangements I have heard.

I also love Heather: the Johnny Pearson instrumental. [Pearson also wrote the memorable theme to All Creatures Great And Small, the TV version of James Herriot's books.]

Highly recommended.

With this 1973 release, the Carpenters managed to hang on to the peak of their career. This album spawned two hit singles, "Sing" (#3), and "Yesterday Once More" (#2). Even though there are only two big songs, "This Masquerade" is a masterpiece and is one of their greatest hits although not released as a single. "Jambalaya" is fun, and was a hit song in the U.K. The second half of this CD is an oldies medley that serves to reveal just how awesome Karen's voice really is. Her vocals on "The End of the World" and "Johnny Angel" make the originals pale! Masterfully done, this album is worth the cost for any music fan of the 1960's.

You don't get any better than this Album. What work went into this Masterpiece. When this Record came out,radio stations played the whole second side with the oldies but goodies medly. Starting out with Richard's song,"Yesterday Once More," and then,the fun begins. I love Karen's voice,but I think Richard is fantastic singing,"Deadman's Curve" and "The Night has a Thousand Eyes." Then when you get to "Johnny Angel," and every voice you hear is Karen singing all the background,Wow,what a great job the Carpenters have given us with this Classic. "Sing" is one of the Carpenters biggest hits,but my favorite has always been,"This Masquerade." This is my Best Carpenters Album of all time.

It only took listening to one song to regret buying this CD as it has been REMIXED. I expected to buy just a remastered version of the ORIGINAL album/CD...wrong...take the song "Yesterday Once More"...not only has the speed been hiked up slightly, but it is a blatantly different mix...one example, at the time 1:25 on the track, a piano riff has replaced what used to be there.

I understand Richard Carpenter has a reputation for continually remixing songs, but do the fans a favor and at least advertise on the CD that these are remixes, not simply remasters. I want to hear the song I know and remember, but remastered for superior quality, THAT'S IT. I'm glad I kept my orginal CD.

This one is a keeper.
I like this cd especially for the Carpenter's rendition of Jambalaya. It is done really well, very enjoyable. Karen's voice is so smooth she lays the song down in satin!
The oldies re-do's are wonderful too! Nice to hear such a nice job done on some classic songs.

The Carpenters and their impecable musical talent were truly underated and much ignored by snobbish music fans during the seventies decade (Example: BETTE MIDLER making fun of the CARPENTERS to their face during the GRAMMY AWARDS).

However, their music has stood the test of time and this CD is the perfect example of their POP PERFECTION.

The musical arangements provided by brother Richard Carpenter are mind blowing and equal the level and quality attained by the BEACH BOYS on PET SOUNDS. The musical vocal styling of sister KAREN is timeless, honest and has become classic.

This CD contains the two genuine massive #1 Pop Hits of the summer of 1973; "YESTERDAY ONCE MORE" and "SING".

The later part of the CD musically displays a novel concept. It showcases classic pop songs from the 60s in a unique medley format (revealing how KAREN could easily sing anything and make it her own...you are going to want to hear more).

If you love Pop music and are a fan of POP VOCALS then do yourself a favor, purchase this gem of a CD.

Its a song for adults who like to remember how it was to be children. And its a masterpiece, if you can make the paradigm shift required to listen to it without prejudice.

The song 'I Can't Make Music' is something else - its one of their best, and if you haven't heard it then you are missing something fabulous.

The limitations of CD, in terms of sound quality, greatly diminish the emotional impact of this album compared to the original vinyl release, but the hopefully an SACD version will remedy this before too long. On CD, the gulf that separates Karen Carpenter from the likes of Mariah Carey appears far smaller than it does when you hear the vinyl recordings: because with CD you are hearing far less of everything. SACD should remedy that. Moreover, Karen could follow a melodic line without wavering all over the place, and without embellishing her performances with all manner of meaningless melodic digressions or ugly nasal whines, groans and whimpers. So if you value impeccable singing, then try the Carpenters.

This is one of Carpenters' better albums, I think. It's true that there's not much of it (The first half includes five whole songs, one of which is an instrumental, the second is, apart from 'Yesterday Once More', entirely composed of a hits medley), but what is here is loads of fun. Of all their albums, with the possible exception of Passage and A Kind of Hush (I know many will disagree with me about those), I think this is the most fun to listen to.

On the first half, there is the hit 'Sing', which may not be the greatest song, but it was a hit for a reason; it's very listenable. Then there is their sultry, jazzy version of 'This Masquerade', which is lovely, and predicts the direction their music will take by the end of the decade. The aforementioned instrumental, 'Heather', might be taken for filler, but it's actually very good. The upbeat 'Jambalaya (On The Bayou)', which was a hit in the U. K. and the Netherlands, is another fun, feel-good song, in true Carpenters fashion, themed around a celebration in the Deep South. 'I Can't Make Music' is a very good song about disappointment and lonliness. Then, there is the mostalgic mega-hit 'Yesterday Once More', which is beautiful, and bookends a medley of classics from the early 60s, including the Beach Boys' 'Fun, Fun, Fun', the Crystals' 'Da Doo Ron Ron', and the Chiffons' 'One Fine Day'. I think it works well, and it's great to hear those songs in the Carpenters' sound. For those who have suggested the existance and length of the medley imply that they were short on things to record, I'm pretty sure the medley was intended from the beginning. My only regret about it is that it is just that, a medley. It would be great to her them do the songs in their entirity, and maybe a few others ('Be My Baby', 'Up On The Roof', for example).

All in all, this is a good album for anyone interested in Carpenters. Good songs, great singing by Karen (Particularly on 'This Masquerade', 'I Can't Make Music', and 'Yesterday Once More'), and lovely backup arranged by Richard. However, be warned that the tone is pretty light and upbeat throughout the album, and if you're into slow, serious ballads, I'd check out Horizon or A Song For You, instead.