A & M Records present for the first time, all of the Carpenter's most significant singles hits on a one CD collection. For any fan of the '70s, this Carpenters twenty-one song lineup is a collectors dream. Many would read this album as a soundtrack for the "Baby-Boomer" generation, but it's more than that. Three-time Grammy Award winners, including Best New Artist in 1970, many went gold with their timeless sound, others such as their previous hits collection - "Singles 1969 - 1973", released in 1974 and certified seven times platinum. As a special treat for fans, a reprise version of - "FOR ALL WE KNOW" from a British television special is included in this treasury of adult contemporary genre.

The Carpenters although considered too light for the era's rock cognoscenti, had won international fandom and the whole world fell in love with their gentle pop music that was instantly recognizable. Today, the songs of the Carpenters are contnually rediscovered and remain among the most beloved of their time and ours - "The Carpenters - Singles 1969 - 1981"!

Total Time: 71:43 on 21 Tracks/ A & M Records - 069 490 456 2 (2000)

...This is what I have to say about the Carpenters album: its false advertising, these are NOT the original versions, either by virtue of remixed beyond recognition or someones been slipping in other versions, basically they've been "remastered", code for completely different album colorized like a classic black and white movie with overdubs I've never heard before....NOT GOOD!. This is AWFUL!!! THE CARPENTERs 1969-1891, should be called "The Carpenters Cover the Carpenters Greatest Hits" ......"listen to Richard Carpenter do a live DJ mix of their old songs" " you'll be floating in MUZAK hell." As with the case of ZZ TOP entire discography, this album has been pilfered and hideously remixed, overmixed churned thru the schmalz syrup mill, drowned in syrup drenched reverb and overdubbed with I don't know what. Karen sounds as if shes in a buddist monk cathedral theres so much reverb, you lose all the pied beauty of her golden voice. ... I'm furious and from now on when I see the words "remastered" I'll read every review till I find out that either reverb has been added or overdubs have occurred. A true remaster should leave the recording untouched and simply digitized for CD transfer. This is like rewriting music history. Its abominable and I wish someone would stop it cause you can't buy the original mixes anymore unless you go vinyl, which leads me to believe that vinyl is going to go up in stock. Stay away from this if you're remotely interested in what you love about the Carpenters in your childhood.

Sure, Karen's voice is great, and a lot of these songs are great. Richard's contributions to their original recordings were also substantial. What's so disappointing about this release, however, is that many of these songs have been remixed with musical parts recorded after Karen's death. Richard has done this many times before. Despite the original album mixes FINALLY coming out on cd, I guess he just couldn't help himself here and felt he had to remix their singles, once again. Unfortunately several of their original singles differed from their lp versions, and in some cases those single versions have yet to see a proper reissue on cd. I anticipated that this collection would do so, since it came out just after the album remasters series. Very disappointing.

This is therefore a collection for two groups: Carpenters completists who want everything and those who just want most of the Carpenters' biggest hits but don't care if they don't sound exactly like the original singles.

Shame on the Carpenters fan who doesn't have this jewel of a compilation in his collection. To the non-fan, if you never buy another disc, this one is a must-have. Perhaps the most comprehensive compilation of bona fide classics and megahits, this 21-song production takes us from the earliest of the brother-sister duo's first hit to their last to make the charts in a reltively brief but spectacular career. They're all here: "For All We Know," the signature "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Top of the World," "Only Yesterday" and "Mr. Postman," et al. In the late '60s and through the mid-'70s, when Richard and Karen dominated the charts, the talk was that anyone into their brand of music was, like the pair, out of touch with reality because it didn't reflect the civil unrest ignited first by the Vietnam War and, later, by the Nixon administration's Watergate scandal. While few supposedly admitted to buying their music, though, the Carpenters were among the best-selling artists of their day, and little wonder. It is quite likely that the late Karen Carpenter remains among the best (if not the best) singer ever with a voice that harmonized the feeling of whatever song she sang. And brother Richard's musical arrangements, unique and noticed because they didn't follow the formula of the day, matched perfectly the emotional intent of whatever the song. Together, Karen and Richard wrote a significant chapter in the history of popular music, and their incredible talent is unarguably one of the reasons they remain a top-seller, even more than 20 years after Ms. Carpenter's truly tragic death. A songbird went to Heaven that day, but the harmonies were recorded for the rest of us to savor forever. Anyone who adds this to their music library definitely will not be disappointed.

Back in 1973, A&M and Carpenters put together a "greatest hits" package called SINGLES 1969-1973. It featured 12 of their top hits up to that time and has remained a top seller all these years. The year 2000 brings us an updated version of SINGLES, this time including later hits and has the tag line, 1969-1981. And there are a couple of "new" things to be found here. As a "thank you" to fans, Richard has included a reprise of "For All We Know" that was featured on an old television special, THE SPECIAL LONDON BRIDGE SPECIAL, and that reprise was arranged by Marvin Hamlisch. It's short -- only :46, but a treat nonetheless. The other "new" thing here is a piano solo lead-out from "I Won't Last A Day Without You" bringing the listener nicely to the next track, "Close To You." These two things, plus the expert remasters of all the tunes make this package a good one.

One other note here about the cover photo: the original issue of this album in Asia (fall of 1999) featured a portait photo of Richard and Karen. As this review is being written, that's the photo shown here on Amazon's page. But with the current release in the States and elsewhere, the cover photo has been changed to one shot for the Rolling Stone article on Carpenters, which features Karen with a hat and silly grin and Richard looking on. That's the picture on the album in stores now, and likely the one you'd get if you ordered this disc from Amazon. The original portrait cover has been retired.