Time

Richard Carpenter | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bmg Music
• ASIN: B00000DNAK
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,609 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Departure, November 2, 2006

By 

James Fenos "music freak" (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time (Audio CD)

Richard started recording "Time," his first solo lp, in 1985 two years after the death of Karen. Richard held up production for a year because A&M was being remodeled. The resulting album was released in August of 1987 to mixed reviews. This lp served as a departure for Richard, indeed while he was a Carpenter he wouldn't have allowed a track anything like the opener "Say Yeah" to be released. I bought this cd when it was first released in 1987 and I hear that a remastered version is available in Japan, where the Carpenters still rule. Aside from the upbeat songs, there are a handful of songs best described as "Carpenteresque." The beautiful "Something In Your Eyes" featuring a subdued lead by Dusty Springfield with Richard handling the multi-overdubbed background vocal, the Dionne Warwick sung "In Love Alone" with the same background treatment, and my favorite Richard sung album closer "I'm Still Not Over You" which should have been culled as a single over the country tinged "Calling Your Name Again," also a Richard lead. Interesting about "In Love Alone," it was written especially for Karen and the arrangement is similar to "Hurting Each Other." The song was written about the time the Carpenters were working on what ultimately was Karen's final album, the yet unnamed "Voice Of The Heart." Richard and his long time writing partner John Bettis finished the composition and called Karen by phone to asked her to drive from her Century City condo to Richard's to hear the piece and she declined because it was raining really hard and she simply didn't want to drive. She died before getting to hear the song and Richard shelved it, having to be convinced to let it go for his "Time" album and Dionne's lead. The collaboration indicates what an entire album recorded by the duo would sound like. Richard took actor Scott Grimes of "Critters" fame under his wing and Scott's debut recording "That's What I Believe" is pure bubblegum, an indicator of Scott's 1989 self-titled debut album produced by Richard featuring Carpenter-Oland originals and a techno (!) cover of Carole King's "You've Got A Friend." While the cd had it's moments like the slickly produced "You're The Voice," Scott's debut went nowhere and was relegated to the bargain bins. Ten long years would pass between Richard's solo releases, he gave up lead vocals in favor of instrumental versions of solo songs and Carpenters hits for 1997's "Pianist, Composer, Conductor" and as of this writing is working on a holiday album scheduled for release in 2007. Richard stated in an interview recently that he plans on releasing an album once every ten years wether it's needed or not, on the A&M label.

4.0 out of 5 stars WELL WORTH THE WAIT IN "TIME", October 22, 2008

By 

Cheryl H. Long - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Time [CASSETTE] (Audio Cassette)

I have been a big Carpenters fan since junior high school, and I have virtually all of their albums in my collection. I -- like many other Carpenters fans -- mourned the premature passing of Karen, and for a long time, didn't purchase any Carpenters albums until at least 5-6 years after her passing. One of the things I have always regretted was not getting Richard Carpenter's "Time" album before it went out of print.

In general, I don't like to blindly purchase albums without previewing them first -- something I couldn't do when this album was initially released in 1987. I couldn't picture Richard without Karen, which was one of the main reasons I didn't purchase it at the time. But when I started resuming collecting Carpenters albums, I looked for years in vain in used bins at various record stores for "Time" - and always came up short. Thank goodness for Amazon Marketplace! I decided to break my own rule and (finally!) bought the recording on a gamble.

The gamble was well worth it! Even though I was a little cynical when I heard the first track, "Say Yeah," I found the rest of the album to be quite enjoyable. While Richard does most of the lead vocals -- as well as all of the background vocals -- on this recording, he does use some "guest" vocalists, such as Dusty Springfield ("Love Alone"), Dionne Warwick and the then-15-year-old Scott Grimes ("That's What I Believe"). The background vocals on most of these pieces -- reminiscent of not only the Carpenters but also the Beach Boys -- are what really make this album stand out. The biggest highlights on the track were "When Time Was All We Had," which was Richard's touching tribute to his late sister (Herb Albert's Fluegelhorn solo effectively added to the pathos) and the all-instrumental title track, "Time." This album shows -- even without Karen -- what a musical genius Richard is.

I would highly recommend this album to your Carpenters set. I would also recommend Karen Carpenter's solo album -- produced by Phil Ramone -- which shows a very different side of Karen, as well as Richard Carpenter's all-instrumental "Pianist, Arranger, Composer Conductor" album, which does nice instrumental takes on many of the Carpenter's classic hits. They're all worth the "time" to listen to!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good first solo for Richard Carpenter, March 26, 2006

By 

cdmusicline "cdmusicline" (Fullerton, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time (Audio CD)

This album is definitely worth purchasing. I enjoy the entire album from beginning to end. My favorite track is the upbeat, I call it dance pop tune, "Say Yeah". It has a great rhythm and driving guitar chords. This could have been a hit single. I also like the song "Who Do You Love" with it's Beach Boys type harmonies. "When Time Was All We Had" is a beautiful and simplistic song featuring Richard's lead vocal and keyboard with Herb Alpert playing flugelhorn. The Song is a tribute to Karen. The album also had a top ten Adult Contemporary hit with "Something In Your Eyes" featuring lead vocal by the incomprable Dusty Springfield.