Ultimate Collection

This has about every song of theirs that you could hope for. Arrived and have been enjoying ever since.

Excellent audio quality. With a quality audio system, your brain will be fooled into thinking that you are just feet away from Karen recording in the studio. 3 songs on the CD are very obscure (not hits) and the space could have been better used for 3 more of the Carpenters well known classics. (Me thinks someone got lazy?) Purchased this collection for prosperity and very glad I did! When I'm very old, I will find a young and vibrant singer and give her all my Carpenters CDs and ask her to keep the music alive.Richard, if you are reading this, please release remastered cuts such as "One More Time" and others that were released in that same time period.

To review this cd collection is simple - short and sweet it has all the hits plus some added extras and the remastering is pure perfection. It seems that with every new collection that came out Richard tinkered with the orchestration, vocal intensity and the songs over time lost all their essence of beauty and power that was there when first recorded.These songs are all great due to the wonderful arrangements by Richard, the excellent song selection but foremost the rare vocal ability that Karen possessed. Her voice was always so pure with open, honest emotion and an ever constant tinge of melancholy/sadness. To change this in any way denies us of the gift that is Karen Carpenter. Her voice is one of the best of all times. Perfection cannot be enhanced as those other collections tried to do.These songs I can guarantee are the original versions remastered perfectly and it is very emotional to hear that voice come out so clear, so pure - the voice of an angel. These are the original songs in their original form as you remember them.All Carpenter fans - this cd will be a dream come true. Purchase it and Karen will live on for you forever.

Self

Karen Carpenter has never sung a song that she did not own....perfect pitch, perfect inflection, in every syllable. This compilation is indicative of her angelic presentation of music. The words in a lot of these songs tell you just how truly lonely she was. People do not wake up one morning and become anorexic..you are driven to this horrid disease by somehow believing that you are not perfect..my opinion does not matter, but with her perfect voice, it is impossible to believe that she, alone, put this kind of unending pressure on herself. A tragic waste of a lovely human being with yet untapped talent occurred when she passed from this place.As a rock and pop music historian of sorts, I miss her music very much.

The CDs are in new condition. The case is completely cracked and broken so it won't stay together.

Contains 35 hits of the Carpenters on two CDs. Some songs that are usually not on other CDs include: Bless the Beasts & the Children; Jambalya; Desperado; Sandy. One thing I really like about this set is that two of my top sad favorites are both near the end of Disc 2: Now; and "Where do I go from Here". I usually play Disc 2 on the cassette player on my nightstand and set it to 'repeat' so it plays all night long - and boy do I sleep good with that soothing voice of Karen Carpenter and those fabulous arrangements of Richard Carpenter.

There are SO many Carpenters Collections Out there? How do you pick one? I chose this particular "Ultimate Collection" for it's Smooth Easy-Going PLAY-ability! (*I listen to this CD almost as MUCH as my Father does!)Just Insert the 1st CD, hit PLAY then Forget. ~ SONG after SONG is yet another Favorite HIT after HIT! In my Opinion, this Builds an EXCITEMENT (tingle) for the Listener, especially when hearing this Awesome Collection for the very FIRST Time, wondering? if the next song could TOP the previous-one?.., then, sure enough, it DOES! (wow-factor!)A HOUSE filled with the sounds of the Carpenters, is truly a HOME! (*sweet-home)