The Carpenters - Ticket to Ride
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Free Music Notes for Ticket to Ride
Free Music Review: An impressive beginning
Hit: 5 Stars
Many debut albums pale in comparison to later releases, and at first glance, this would seem to be the case with this initial work, particularly since it is less polished than the following albums. After listening several times, however, I feel that in many ways this is the most innovative Carpenters' album. The blending of harmonies on "Invocation" and "Benediction" are as good as any anything I have heard. There is a high level of enthusiasm and energy evident on "Your Wonderful Parade" and "Don't Be Afraid." "Someday," "All of My Life," and "Eve" reveal Karen Carpenter evolving into the excellent vocalist she would soon become though her voice was deeper at this time. "Turn Away" is similar in style to 60's groups like the Association, Mamas and Papas, or the 5th Dimension. "All I Can Do" is more jazz oriented, reminiscent of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. Richard Carpenter performs several lead vocals, which he rarely does in the later albums although he is quite a good singer. "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing " is a good cover of the Buffalo Springfield song. All in all this is an impressive debut album, which I highly recommend if you are a Carpenters fan.Free Music Review: if only
Hit: 3 Stars
I always find myself ripping my hair out when listening to the Carpenters. It is an increadibly frustrating experence.
Here was a band led by Richard, an incredibly talented producer and arranger, and Karen, who was indisbutably one of the best singers of her time. They also had access to Hal Blane and Joe Osborn and their cohorts; these guys were, arguably, the best session musicans ever. (Ok, Chuck Rainy and Bernard Purdie were as good, but that was a whole other kind of music.)
On this album, the band shows promise. The invocation and benediction that bookend the record show this band were willing to toy with new ideas, and were interested in making an album and not just a collection of singles. "All I can do" is a wonderful piece of vocal jazz, and swings as well as anything, say, "Flute Thing," by the Blues Project, or some of the best songs on Blood Sweat and Tears" first album. It is absolutely brilliant. You could make a whole album of songs like "All I can do."
But for every moment of insperation, their are five moments of soft pop mush and those all-American hijinks, such as the innane introduction on "Wonderful Prade." Maybe it 1969 cultural polorazation. Every time there was a musically provocative idea, it was as if the band caught themselves and said "oh no, we are the good guys, not like those dirty, experimental, drugged out hippies you hear on FM radio." Every good idea this band had on this album was crushed underfoot before it could really be developed.
This instinct got more pronounced with each album.
I read an article once where Richard Carpenter said he actually admired Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention. Obviously, Richard was, in his own way, a genius and a musician with an openess to new ideas and eclectic taste.
It is sad he repressed all these impulses only to make clean, compatent top 40 music. Really, it is a shame
Free Music Review: Love is a groovy thing
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an excellent album (CD) and a great example of how really good music is not only timeless but shouldn't be categorized or labeled. I mean Ticket to Ride could be stamped as folk or pop or sixties all of which would be partly accurate at best. The Carpenters first offering does have strains of The Mamas and Papas, Petula Clark, The Association or even early Jefferson Airplane but all tinged with a unique quality I suspect has everything to do with Richard Carpenter's older brother influence. Karen's voice is wonderfully genuine/unprocessed and the arrangements are fresh and vibrant. This is a marvelous album and if you think you know The Carpenters stuff and haven't heard this debut you really are missing out on something worth hearing. Free Music Review: EVEN NOT AT THEIR BEST, WORTHY ALBUM
Hit: 3 Stars
This was The Carpenters debut. At that point, they still had to work and find their trademark sound, but even so, the resulting debut album is a very good one, with some memorable moments. The title track is different version of the commonly known, and the main difference is the absense of guitar, which was added later in 1973 when they reworked this track for its inclusion on the Singles Album. Karen's voice and drums were also re-recorded in that version. This doesn't mean that the version on this album isn't very fine. But this song isn't the only good track. "Someday" and "Eve" are another good examples of their potential, in which Karen shows her golden voice. The rest of the album is filled with songs that, perhaps are not very known or often played on the radio, but without doubts, fine songs.
Overall, it was a very promisory starting.
Free Music Review: More like a master mess than masterpiece, but great.
Hit: 4 Stars
It's amazing how much better a CD sounds when it's gone out of print and suddenly the used ones are starting for almost three times what you paid for your new copy.
I'm a Carpenters fan but I don't feel the need to swoon over everything they ever recorded. This, their first album, shows that they had unusual (to say the least) talent that they could apply to many different musical styles. It's fun to listen to for that reason alone, but the beautiful rendition of "Ticket to Ride" and "Eve" give a foretaste of what the famous trademark sound of the Carpenters was to become.
This was once for Carpenters die-hard fans and completists only, and now it's for the ones with extra spending money too. Hopefully it will be released again someday.