Close to You
When the Carpenters found themselves with a sudden radio hit ("Close to You"), their record company put the pressure on them to come up with a whole album. The album's glue is, of course, the unabashedly sentimental and corny title track and the subsequent chart topper, "We've Only Just Begun." However, their lush covers of now-classic songs such as "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" and "Baby It's You," and Karen's tragic plea on John Lennon's "Help," contribute to the strength of this collection. The band toys with bossa nova sounds on "Love Is Surrender" and explores deeper emotional terrain on the beautiful "Crescent Moon."Close to Youstands as a harbinger of the great things ahead for the Carpenters in the '70s.--Lorry Fleming