Carpenters

Voice Of The Heart

Why the Carpenters never go out of style

Review Score:

(10/10)
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.

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