Customer Reviews

Voice of the Heart

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Released on October 13, 1983, just 8 months after Karen Carpenter's tragic death, "Voice of the Heart" debuted. How Richard could put together this album with the heavy grief of Karen's death hanging over him can only be answered one way - this was his tribute album to his beloved sister.

The album features a very gaunt but beautiful Karen Carpenter on the cover. The album is filled with many beautiful slow love ballads, which the Carpenters do so well. The first song, "Now", is the last song that Karen Carpenter recorded and is the most beautiful song on this album. Touching and beautifully performed by Karen, "Now" was just a vocal lead, not a complete song, but Karen's reading of the song was so precise and perfect (which was common for Karen) that Richard later added the instrumentals and made it into a complete song. It will touch your heart, as Karen sings it with such touching poignancy. "Now" was released as a single and briefly charted in the US, Brazil, and the UK. "Sailing on the Tide" is the only "upbeat" song of the set, but what a lovely number it is. Written by the group' guitarist, Tony Peluso, the song seems to be written for Karen herself, a woman seeking relief from the intense pressure she is under.

Since this album was put together after Karen's death, many of the songs included are tracks that never made it on other albums. For example, "Ordinary Fool" was originally recorded in 1976, "Make Believe its Your First Time" in 1981, "Prime Time Love" was recorded for the "Made In America" album in 1981, "Look To Your Dreams" a song composed by Richard and John Bettis (his favorite songwriter partner), was recorded in 1978. Despite not being included on previous albums, these are still wonderful compositions, and Karen's voice and interpretation is again incomparable.

Heavily promoted by Richard, "Voice of the Heart" did fairly well, selling over 300,000 copies in the US. It also did very well in Japan, and went to the top-10 in the UK. Unfortunately, the singles released from the album never cracked the top-100 in the US. "Make Believe its Your First Time" peaked at #101, and "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" at #104.

Don't let the singles lack of success fool you, this is a good solid Carpenter album that will please your ears and touch your heart. The beautiful Carpenter sound is clearly evident here and you will love it.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

I've owned this album in some form or another for almost twenty years. I remember the day my mom bought it for me I put it on the stereo, listened to it once and put it away. It wasn't until later in the 80s that I pulled the album out and fell in love with it. I'm not sure why I didn't really want to listen the first time, perhaps (like many other fans did) I had a hard time listening to her music for the longest time after Karen Carpenter passed away.

Time can allow you to reassess your first thoughts on something. In my early days as a Carpenters fan, I thought they musically walked on water. EVERY song by the Carpenters was a good song and anyone who disagreed didn't know any better. I feel silly about that now! Even great artists make clunkers or songs that instantly become dated (think "Prime Time Love") The only thing that can't be denied, though, is that Karen Carpenter's voice could make the blandest of songs still sound lovely.

I remember Richard Carpenter saying once that he and Karen should have done more standards like "I Get Along Without You Very Well." He was absolutely right because Karen had a classy voice that deserved better than fluffy pop. On VOICE OF THE HEART there are some absolutely gorgeous songs that any recording artist would be proud of:

"Now" (poignant and touching because we heard it quite often after her death, but also memorable because it is such a sincere love song and it just about breaks your heart with its yearning)

"Make Believe It's Your First Time" (another love song full of honesty..It's vulnerability perfectly captures that moment of wanting to be with just one person forever)

"Two Lives" (this is possibly my favorite Carpenters song of all time. It is an incredible portrait of how hard it is to let go of a love that ends badly and I think it's one of the few times Karen sang with an intense, intense passion!)

"Look to Your Dreams" (this is a simple song that could have been from a Disney film, but it is wonderful in its phrasing and tone. I love the way Karen sings: "To say I'm old-fashioned would be quite semantically true/But make-believe passion has fallen from fashion's milieu.")

"At the End of a Song" (I just like this track because it is so true and once again Karen sounds like she knows what she's singing about.)

Even the "silly" songs on here ("Prime Time Love" and "Sailing on the Tide") have their moments, especially the latter, which is quite infectious. Karen sounds different here (very wise and slightly jaded--which is great!) particularly when she sings: "No more calls begging my time/No more walls for me to climb."

I think one reason I've grown to love this album so much is that it (along with HORIZON and PASSAGE) prove that the Carpenters (and Karen in particular) didn't just rehash their stuff all the time as so many critics said they did. VOICE OF THE HEART (and even the very poppy MADE IN AMERICA) is still sometimes hard to listen to because it shows you where the Carpenters could have gone if they had regained their momentum and tragedy hadn't struck.

I love this album,and I thought it was the final record from the Carpenters untill "Lovelines" came out 6 years later."Now," the last song ever recorded by Karen in April of 1982 is a classic. I really don't care for the chorus singers,but Karen wasen't around to do her fantastic backup singing with Richard.I'm sure if Karen never died,this would have been a huge hit. I love "Sailing on the Tide." Its the only up-lifting song on this record.Its almost like Karen's telling us she's fine,but in a better place now. "Make Believe its your first time," from Karen's solo album that was released twelve years after her death, was the first single released.It was a big Adult Contemporary hit in billboard,and its much better on this album than Karen's. This is a sad album for the most part,and it came out not long after Karen's death."Look to you Dreams," with Richards slow piano playing at the end tears your heart apart.It just makes you think,what would have happened if Karen got it together. I could hear her singing Madonna's"Crazy for you," or any of the other great Ballads that came out in the 80's. At least we have all the Carpenters records to cherish forever.

This album is worth buying if for only one song..."Ordinary Fool".

If you're not sitting with tears streaming down your face after this song then you are one cold SOB, my friend!

I'm among the minority that finds this album disappointing. It's definitely not terrible. However, Karen's vocal is drowned in echo on almost all of the tracks and gets lost in the overproduced sound of the music, and many of the songs sound a little uninspired. To me, that's a shame.

In my opinion, there are two highlights on this album, and one of them is Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore. It starts off with a bassline not unlike the the opening of Superstar, and Karen's vocal is smooth, and in the chorus, she takes off and soars over the song. Also, there are some nice backing vocals on this track-- it's too bad Richard didn't use this style on some of the other tracks rather than the choir.

The other highlight is Ordinary Fool. Karen's voice absolutely sparkles here. I really wish Richard would have went with a plain old piano instead of that keyboard, strings, and flute in the intro, but that's just a nitpick-- after that, it transitions into a jazzy arrangement that's really quite nice. This song definitely should have been included on an earlier album, as was originally intended.

Alright, I know I'll catch some flak for this one, but I cannot stand the corn-syrupy version of Make Believe It's Your First Time found here. Don't get me wrong, I respect Richard, but I wish he could have learned that sometimes less is more, and that he doesn't need to heavily sugar over every damn song. Not to mention that Karen's reading here is not as nice as it was on her solo effort. I don't fault her for it. Can you imagine putting your heart into a recording, being told it's "unreleasable", and then being asked to re-record it? It just seems a little bit disrespectful that in the wake of her tragic death, Richard released this "revised" version rather than her original cut of the song. (But that has since been remedied.)

Now is a beautiful song, but I have a hard time listening to it because Karen sounds like she's in pain to me. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. I have the same problem with Two Lives. Maybe Voice of the Heart is a much more apt title for this record than I originally thought.

I agree with a reviewer below, that this is just a compilation of previously unreleased tracks. Richard Carpenter and A&M Records never should have hailed "Voice of the Heart" as the final Carpenters album, considering this fact. I also agree with so many others as this being regarded as the "funeral" album. I was a fan of The Carpenters and this posthumous release only served as a reminder of the great loss everyone was feeling at the time. However, there are many lovely recordings such as "Ordinary Fool," "At the End of a Song" and "Now." "You're Enough" is the only song I bag on, in which the intro always reminds me of a bunch of circus clowns and elephants for some reason. I love "Sailing On the Tide" which is the only upbeat song on the whole album. I could have done without the "fogie" chorus singers on some of the album's best tracks. This is The Carpenters and if you were a fan, you should add this to your collection. But be prepared to get very, very sad.

I have always been a big fan of the Karen Carpenter and I was sadden to hear of her untimely death. When I was growing up hearing her sing always made me happy and I use to dream of singing like her one day! This CD is just wonderful and I listen to practically everyday. I would highly recommend this CD to anyone who loves the Carpenters as much as I do!

That albumn really grabbed my heart from beging to end. The single "Two Lives" was magnifed by her untimely death. I always cry when I hear that song though I know it has a different meaning to it,I can't help but remember how she's touched all our lives. To try to decribe Karen's gift to this world would not do her justice. I've been an admirer of Karen since I was old enough to sneek a (am-fm transistor radio) under my pillow at night, to try and catch one of her songs and hear her angelic voice. Her's was truly a gift from GOD.

"Voice Of The Heart" was released by Richard in October 1983, months after Karen's death. Having a wealth of tunes to choose from, Richard turned to those that remained unfinished and bravely returned to the studio, alone, to finish whatever production needed to be done. The parts Karen didn't live to finish, mainly the backing vocals, are done by a choir. The album opens with what was Karen's last recording session, the song titled "Now." Karen was at the peak of her performance and "Now" is positive proof of the maturity and control in her voice. During this session which was recorded in one take, there was no hint of Karen's fate and if anything, she sounded like she was in the prime of her life. A few other songs were recorded in early 1982 during Karen's visits home from New York, where she was in full-time treatment for her eating disorder. Outtakes were used on this album, "Sailing On The Tide," the only song that features Karen performing backing vocals with Richard, was recorded for the "Horizon" effort, the saloon song "Ordinary Fool" was recorded for "Kind Of Hush" and hinted at the possible direction of their future career, and the rest of the album was filled out with outtakes from the massive and over-productive recording sessions for "Made In America." The most touching song is "Look To Your Dreams" recorded in 1978. Richard plays a solo piano fade after a showtune type song and he simply fades away, a touching euology. I don't think it was intentional, but the album in it's entirety is eeriely soul searching and has the feeling something was missing. The somber mood is completed by a cover featuring a close up of a relaxed and beautiful Karen half-smiling. She clearly wasn't finished living.

This album was released a few months after Karen Carpenters death and it's a beautiful piece of work....This was the album they were working on at the time of her death....My favorite track on the album is "Now"...it was Karen's last song she ever recorded...and it was one of the best....Another highlight is Make Believe It's Your First Time is a tear drop song...Another song is "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" which is a great song and the 2nd single from this album....