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Reviews: Carpenters: The Singles 1969-1973

Reviews: 3

Review by Espen R May 2, 2014 (9 of 10 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Universal japan SHM-SACD (UIGY 9542)

Remastered by Richard Carpenter and Bernie Grundman, at Bernie Grundman mastering, February 18, 2014.


As far as I can tell, this is as close to perfection you can imagine.

My reference for CD has been the A&M 393601-2 (POL899), digitally re-mastered be Richard Carpenter, November 1991, disc pressed in France by PRS.
I have always liked this CD issue, it sounds like a flat transfer. It sounds analogue to me. And it has none of that slightly "grainy" and grey sound that so many digital pressed discs has, to some degree. In my ears! I guess the CD in this case sounds very much like the 16/44.1 bit studio master.
This CD has that 1980 boosted re-mix version of "Yesterday once more".

The SHM-SACD has the original "naked" and dry version of "Yesterday once more". The tonality is very similar between the CD and the SHM-SACD, in my ears. The SACD sounds very much like a flat transfer, as I hear it (without hearing the masters).

The sound is much fuller on the SACD, it has lots of body and weight. The CD sounds thin in comparison. The tonality is perfectly balanced, the sound is extremely open with ultimate clarity. You can hear every little thing in the master tapes, but it never distracts you from the music. Tape hiss is very similar as the CD, but never distracting. You maybe have heard it before, the phrase…"listening directly into the master tapes"? Well, if anywhere in digital this can be experienced, here is a great example of that!

When I listened to one of my absolute favorite Karen Carpenter tunes…"For all we know", I closed my eyes, went deep into the soul of the song and got goosebumps all over me. Can it get any better?

Buy this SHM-SACD before it's OOP! You never know what versions will be on the internet in the future, as downloads.

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Review by cordobaman May 16, 2014 (8 of 8 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I've now listened to Carpenters The Singles 1969-1973 several times...I am addicted to this SHM-SACD. What a breathtakingly beautiful release. Vocally, you can actually hear her lips smack between lines, you can hear her breathe. So many nuances, so real. The backing vocals are very distinct, you can hear each individual. The piano resonates wonderfully. A few songs stand out as superior, however for the most part all are good. My only quibble is the lack of low end...sometimes my sub-woofer does not detect a signal or kick on until I turn up the volume considerably. This juuust may be my favorite "sounding" SHM-SACD for realism.

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Review by Mike Cidoni Lennox July 5, 2014 (7 of 7 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Most hardcore fans had been frustrated with Richard Carpenter's extensive tinkering with the original Carpenters recordings, with so many remixes here and alterations there, at points they were almost unrecognizable. Then A&M issued its "Remastered Classics" series in the late '90s, which took most of the material back to when it was first released on Lp. (Notable exception: the "Christmas Portrait" track "Ave Maria," for which a backing choir was originally recorded but the tapes misplaced. The tracks were rediscovered, placed where originally intended and kept there for all CD releases, excepting one: a West German issue.)
The "Remastered" stateside CDs were good, Japanese pressings even better, Japanese SHM-CDs debatably even better.
But none touch this, with its apparent flat transfer delivering a just-out-of-the-shrink wrap blast from the sonic past to anyone who got a first vinyl pressing just around Christmas 1973. All of the airy warmth and wonder (and, yes, glorious analog sonic flaws) are here, but without the surface noise, occasional pops and skips, and with no need to flip the thing over to get to side two.
Universal has even included mini versions of the original Lp's hype stickers and booklet insert.
Bottom line: You want it to be yesterday once more? Here's where to go.
Just for the record, I'm not against all of Richard's reimagining of his own work. In spite of the compression galore, I also love what he did with the multichannel "Singles: 1969-1981." See others' reviews of that release and you'll enjoy one great debate.

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