The Carpenters: Gold

They are iconic, why do the good groups always have to die.

great dvd

The carpenters are well loved by the whole family,reminds them of when they where young.

This was an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish. All the hits are here. What a huge loss to music Karen Carpenter was.You can’t imagine what music the Carpenters still had to give to the world. We’ve missed out on so much.

Just in case like me you thought you might be getting a video version of the 'Gold' CD, you won't. The DVD product description unfortunately doesn't list all the songs featured. These are, in running order:1. We've Only Just Begun2. These Good Old Dreams *3. Superstar4. Rainy Days & Mondays.5. All You Get From Love Is A Song *6. Top of the World7. Ticket To Ride8. Only Yesterday9. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft10. Beechwood 4.5789 *11. Touch Me When You're Dancing12. Hurting Each Other *13. Please Mr Postman14. There's A Kind Of Hush (All Over The World) *15. (They Long To Be) Close To YouIf you're particularly interested in music content then you might like to see a comparison with the two 19 track CD's of the same name and general appearance as the DVD which I also own. So:What Tracks Does The DVD Have That The CD Doesn't?There are 5 of these marked with a star (*) against the listings above.What Tracks Does The CD Have That The DVD Doesn't?There are 10 of these shown below:Yesterday Once MoreGoodbye To LoveIt's Going To Take Some TimeI Won't Last A Day Without YouFor All We KnowJambalaya (On The Bayou)I Need To Be In LoveSolitaireThis MasqueradeSingBetween the two products If you're wanting to buy a single item that provides the best range of Carpenters music, the CD offers better value than the DVD and features a lot more familiar hits. And incidentally if you've got a reasonably decent hi-fi set-up the sound quality from the superbly produced CD beats the DVD hands down, not because the DVD sound is bad, but because the quality of the CD production is just so good! (I've run both through the same hi-fi system).However, many would rightly say that the whole point of getting a DVD is for its video content. There have been a lot of comments referring to this in other reviews, some critical of the picture quality etc of what's shown. In my view it's not much use being critical of this aspect. After all, the videos were shot in the 1970's when High Definition pictures and the like were things of fantasy. If you put such concerns aside you'll find the DVD fascinating. The producers have made the most of the material and it's just great to see The Carpenters performing in all sorts of settings and yes, wearing the kind of outfits at times that would be sought as exhibits by a fashion museum. But it's part and parcel of the whole Carpenters and '70's experience.If you're an established Carpenters fan and have already got some of their music the DVD is well worth getting. If the music's the main thing and you just want to buy one product, the CD seems the best choice. If in doubt just get both!

My review can not do justice to what I have just heard and seen! But I can try and describe it to you - and hope I do it justice.First some preamble....Whenever I listen to anything by the Carpenters, I shed a little tear. Friday, 4 February 1983 was the day the world of music lost a truly great star. If I were Superman, I would want to reverse time to a few years before she died, to stop her from starting on the road to apparent self-destruction....but I'm not Superman, just a mere mortal who loved this group and lament the passing of a great voice.Anyway, onto the package! The first CD is GOLD - the single 20-song set of the Carpenters' hits. The second CD is Christmas Portrait, their first Christmas album. The DVD is really the video "Only Yesterday".I had all three in original format. So why did I buy this box set? Just as some climbers climb Everest - because it is there! The box-set is there to be bought and if, like me, you are a passionate, obsessive Carpenters fan, you have to have the latest release.Karen Carpenter looked fantastic for most of her short life (until she became too thin!). She ALWAYS sounded fantastic - for me, she had (still has) one of the greatest singing voices the popular music world has ever been lucky and privileged to hear. Richard Carpenter was a brilliant pianist, arranger and a darn good composer. Between them - and with a superb set of backing musicians - they produced the most glorious music I have ever heard.If you know the Carpenters, you know the music. You will also know the videos - unashamedly cheesey in places and slightly dated in the way Karen lip-syncs the words and holds the microphone in her left hand. The clothes also run the gamut from 1969 to 1982 - a lot of different styles.For me, the best track on the hits CD is "Close To You". In my humble opinion, it is the best ever debut single ever to hit the UK charts ("Ticket To Ride" was issued earlier in the States but later in the UK, I think), but the other 19 are all wonderful. I don't have a favourite on the Christmas CD - I just wish "Do You Hear What I Hear" from the "Old Fashioned Christmas" album was included). My favourite video on the DVD is "Beechwood 4-5789", a surprise song selection, but a major pleasure.All in all, this is a fantastc purchase, which all Carpenters fans should have. I also recommend this to anyone who wants to know what good songs sound like when song well.Although Richard put it all together, Karen was the face and the voice of the Carpenters - and her voice will never stop being heard.

Discovered and made famous by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss at A&M, wonderful partnership of Karen and Richard. DVD worth every penny!

lovely album with some tracks that I hadn't heard before. I had a carpenters cd with the usual hits like 'rainy days and mondays' 'only yesterday' and 'close to you' and presumed as they were the best sellers that thats as good as it got but how wrong was I ! with this album and the 40/40 cd that I also bought, NOW I think I have the best of the best. Karen's voice is even more stunning to me now hearing her sing beautiful songs such as 'Now','your baby doesn't love you anymore','I believe you' and 'let me be the one'.faultless.

Great music

Ohne Worte.... Zeitlos

J'ai redécouvert ce couple frère et soeur, que j'écoutais comme beaucoup, du temps des Beatles, et autres fameux groupes de cette époque. La voix de Karen Carpenter est magnifique. Les 2 CD sont bien enregistrés. Et pas de disque qui craque après quelques écoutes ( pour les nostalgiques du microsillon)

First off, while I am an "old-school music aficionado," I'll be the first to admit that I'm not much of a pop music fan. While my tastes in music are eclectic, for the last 11-12 years, my absolute favorite music has been Outlaw Country--the type and genre of Country music that is aired on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Channel 60--the Outlaw Country Channel.So, I even surprised myself when I purchased the "Carpenters Gold" 2-CD Set (40 songs total). When I told my kids I purchased a Carpenters 2-Disc CD Set, they thought I "went over the deep end." They just couldn't see their old man (me), a dyed-in-the-wool Outlaw Country music fan, listening to the Carpenters.But, ya know...to me they're still kids, even if they are in their 30s and 40s, respectively--so what the heck would they know?But, little did they know that even back in the 60s and 70s, when I was listening to almost nothing but classic rock-n-roll (Rolling Stones; Bob Seger; The Kinks; Jefferson Airplane; The Lovin' Spoonful; The Rascals; etc.), I had a very soft spot in my heart for the Carpenters--and especially for Karen. I never admitted it to my buddies, but I was totally enthralled and even hypnotized by Karen Carpenter's voice.While in my 20s I absolutely thought Karen Carpenter had the most beautiful singing voice I'd ever heard; and now, in my late 60s, I reaffirmed what I knew back when I was in my twenties--that Karen Carpenter had the most beautiful singing voice ever. I seriously doubt that her singing voice will ever again be matched. Karen had the innate ability to cross every range and octave with perfect pitch and the most melodic sound from a human voice I'd ever heard.I've read some jaded reviews from other purchasers of the "Carpenters Gold" 2-CD-Set in which their biggest complaint was that some of the songs had been remixed by Richard Carpenter, and that the remixing had somehow detracted from these songs' original sound quality.Please, people...quite a few of these songs are over forty (40) years old. Without altering the originality of the songs, I applaud Richard Carpenter for remixing them. I find nothing wrong with taking advantage of technology. Let's face it: we purchase CDs to obtain the clearest, highest quality listening fidelity, and if remixing helps achieve the best listening experience possible (which it does), then I'm all for remixing songs. Musicians and Record Producers remix songs all the darn time.As for Karen Carpenter's singing voice, I can best describe it as alluring, hypnotic, touching, and angelic--all rolled into one absolutely heavenly sound.This 2-CD-Set so touched my heart and soul that I found myself listening to it incessantly. So, I suppose I'm more of a pop music fan than I first thought. But the Carpenters' songs aren't just pop music; they're (at least they were) soft rock, and--at the time they were cut--contemporary crossover music.Singers and musicians like Karen Carpenter come along only once in the proverbial "blue moon." What makes Karen Carpenter even more utterly amazing is that, not only was she singing the songs on the 2-CD-Set, for many of the songs, she was also playing drums--which, in-and-of-itself is almost a feat unparalleled in the annals of music--any genre of music.A little known fact about Karen Carpenter is that not only was she a great drummer, she was a critically acclaimed drummer. Actually, when Karen Carpenter first became a professional singer, she considered herself "a drummer who sang lead."But when the record producers heard her melodic voice, they convinced her that her future lie in singing--and singing only. So, she turned her drumming responsibilities over to another outstanding drummer (I've forgotten his name, but perhaps someone who reads my review will recall it).In the final analysis, listening to the "Carpenters Gold" 2-CD-Set afforded me the opportunity to return to a much simpler time in my life--all the while providing me the opportunity to resurrect memories of my younger days that had been long ago stored in the deepest recesses of my mind. Perhaps that is why I've listened to these two CDs ad nauseum; Karen's inimitable voice touched me so very deeply that it resurrected recessed emotions that I thought were forever lost to age and non-use. And isn't that one of the gifts of music? That great, timeless music allows us to think, dream, and imagine, while forgetting about the crazy world around us for "a while."Thank you so much, Ms. Carpenter. When you passed at the much-too-young-age of 32, the music world--nay, the entire world itself--lost a beautiful, magnificent, glorious gift that may never be replaced. But thank the Good Lord that through the power of the electron--and the discovery of the semiconductor--what you've left behind cannot be erased. Your striking, touching, alluring voice will live on forever.In my mind, you were, are, and always will be the greatest female singer ever--nay, not just the greatest female singer ever, but the GREATEST SINGER ever, female or male, across EVERY genre of music. Thank you, Karen.

ケースもCDも非常に綺麗で音飛びもなく、懐かしい歌声を聴くことが出来て満足しています。ありがとうございます。