20th Century Masters:The Millennium Collection: Best of The Carpenters

by Carpenters

Overview

It probably is not an oversight that the Carpenters entry in Universal Music Group's discount-priced compilation series 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection, unlike all the others, does not begin its title with the words "The Best of...." There have been plenty of Carpenters hits compilations, some of them still in print, and Richard Carpenter, who compiled this album, seems to have wearied of reconfiguring the group's hits one more time. Eight of the 12 tracks here were chart singles, including the number one hits "Please Mr. Postman" and "Top of the World," but there are also down-chart items like "Bless the Beasts and the Children" and "I Believe You," as well as album-only tracks like a cover of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" and "Love Is Surrender." So this is not the album to buy if what you're looking for is a single-disc Carpenters hits collection. (That would be Singles 1969-1981.) To the extent that it's a thematic compilation, the album seems to have a tone of nostalgia and looking backward, beginning with "Yesterday Once More" and also including "Only Yesterday," with the word "yesterday" turning up elsewhere as well. Richard Carpenter seems determined to demonstrate that there was more to the Carpenters than just the hits, and certainly some of the non-hit material sounds just as good, if not quite as catchy, as the hits. But it's not clear on what basis the potential consumer would buy this album, since it does not fulfill the 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection premise of providing an inexpensive, short collection of an artist's best-known material. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/24/2002
Label:	A&M / Universal Distribution
UPC:	0606949342128
Rank:	22553

Tracks

1. Yesterday Once More
2. I Need to Be in Love
3. Please Mr. Postman
4. Bless the Beasts and Children
5. This Masquerade
6. I Just Fall in Love Again
7. I Believe You
8. Top of the World
9. Love Is Surrender
10. Maybe It's You
11. Only Yesterday
12. Goodbye to Love

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Carpenters   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Bonnie Schiffman   Photography,Booklet
Annie Leibovitz   Photography,Credits Director
Norman Seeff   Cover Art,Photography,Inlay Design
Ed Caraeff   Liner Notes,Photography
Steve Dorff   Composer
Bernie Grundman   Mastering
Barry De Vorzon   Composer
Jack Daugherty   Producer
Larry Herbstritt   Composer
Freddie Gorman   Composer
Don Addrisi   Composer
Robert Bateman   Composer
Dick Addrisi   Composer
Peter Knight   Arranger
Perry Botkin, Jr.   Composer
Ralph Carmichael   Composer
Richard Carpenter   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Photo Research,Compilation Producer
Mike Ragogna   Product Manager
Brian Holland   Composer
Georgia Dobbins   Composer
William Garrett   Composer
Gloria Sklerov   Composer
Bud Rehak   Composer
Robyn Flans   Liner Notes
Danny Wilde   Composer
Paul Riser   Arranger
John Bettis   Composer
W. Henderson   Composer
Leon Russell   Composer
Vartan   Art Direction
Karen Carpenter   Producer,Associate Producer
Albert Hammond   Composer
Stewart Whitmore   Assembly
Harry Lloyd   Composer
Jim McCrary   Photography,Inlay Photography
Eddie Rambeau   Composer
Scott Ravine   Licensing
Beth Stempel   Production Coordination