Lovelines

Last updated
Lovelines
Lovelines (Carpenters album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 31, 1989
Recorded1978–1980
Studio
Genre Pop
Length46:24
Label A&M [1]
Producer Phil Ramone, Richard Carpenter [2]
Carpenters chronology
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
(1984)
Lovelines
(1989)
As Time Goes By
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Lovelines is the posthumous thirteenth studio album by the American music duo Carpenters, the third Carpenters album released after the death of Karen Carpenter. It was released in 1989 and is a compilation album assembled by Richard Carpenter from unreleased Carpenters tracks along with selected solo tracks by Karen from her then-unreleased solo album. [6]

Contents

Background

The songs on Lovelines were primarily gleaned from Carpenters television specials. "When I Fall in Love" was originally recorded in 1978 for their TV special, Space Encounters . However, they chose "Little Girl Blue" for that special instead, and later used "When I Fall in Love" in their Music, Music, Music! TV special in 1980. Other outtakes included "Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night" and "The Uninvited Guest" from Made in America , the studio album released in 1981 and the last completed during Karen's lifetime.

Between 1989 and 2019, Lovelines was also the last Carpenters album to be issued in the vinyl LP format; in 2019 Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released on LP.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone wrote that Karen's solo tracks were "liberating. Ramone recorded her in leaner, decidedly unsaccharine settings and, in effect, got rid of her music's otherwise characteristic bad aftertaste. As Karen's cozy contralto pulses through the come-hither "Lovelines," the hearth-warm "If We Try" (both written by Rod Temperton, whose credits also include "Rock With You" and "Thriller") and the saltier "If I Had You," her vocals come damn close to soulful. Listening to them, it becomes apparent why singers like Chrissie Hynde, Madonna and Gloria Estefan have "come out of the closet" and admitted they were Karen fans...voices like Karen Carpenter's never really go out of style; Lovelines reveals just a few of the avenues that would have been open to her. But sadly, the Seventies never really ended for Karen Carpenter; she died before she could shed the goody-two-shoes image that shrouded her immense talent. As such, Lovelines becomes her essential epitaph. [5]

In their review of the album, Billboard stated that "one listen and it's clear that no one - the closest is Gloria Estefan - has filled the void left after Karen's death in 1983. There's a good reason why some of the syrupy material was never released, but other tracks, like first single "If I Had You," the classic "When I Fall In Love," and "Where Do I Go From Here," instantly recall why the duo was one of the most successful of the '70s." [7]

Allmusic noted that "When I Fall in Love" brings a tear to the eye as it captures that indefinable and completely unique quality that Karen brought to each song she sang. While the material in this compilation is not sensational or ground-breaking, it is definitely a sentimental selection of tunes that go easy on the ear." [8]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lovelines" Rod Temperton 4:28
2."Where Do I Go from Here?" Parker McGee 4:24
3."The Uninvited Guest"
4:24
4."If We Try"Temperton3:42
5."When I Fall in Love"3:08
6."Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night"
  • Margaret Dorn
  • Lynda Lee Lawley
4:03
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Remember When Lovin' Took All Night"
3:47
8."You're the One" Steve Ferguson 4:13
9."Honolulu City Lights" Keola Beamer 3:19
10."Slow Dance"
3:35
11."If I Had You"
3:57
12."Little Girl Blue"3:24

Singles

"Honolulu City Lights"

  1. "Honolulu City Lights"
  2. "I Just Fall in Love Again"

"Honolulu City Lights"

  1. "Honolulu City Lights"
  2. "Slow Dance"

"If I Had You" (issued as a Karen Carpenter solo)

  1. "If I Had You"
  2. "The Uninvited Guest"
  1. ”If I Had You” (no B-side)
  1. "If I Had You"
  2. "Lovelines"

"When I Fall in Love"

  1. "When I Fall in Love"
  2. "Remember When Lovin' Took All Night"

EPs

Four selections from Carpenters: The 12 Compact Disc Collection

  1. "You're the One"
  2. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
  3. "Goodbye to Love"
  4. "Merry Christmas Darling"

Charts

Chart performance for Lovelines
Chart (1990)Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC) [9] 73

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References

  1. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 200.
  2. "Karen Carpenter: She Had Only Just Begun : Pop: New Carpenters' album features four songs from Karen's ill-fated solo collection. The album suggests she might have had a career as a soloist". Los Angeles Times. November 7, 1989.
  3. "Lovelines - Carpenters | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" via www.allmusic.com.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. p. 204.
  5. 1 2 "Rolling Stone : The Carpenters: Lovelines : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone . February 13, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-02-13.
  6. The Rock Who's who - Page 92 Brock Helander - 1996 The posthumously released album Lovelines contained 10 unreleased songs, including 4 by Karen from a never-completed solo album.
  7. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. No. 29 October 1983. p. 72. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  8. "Album Search for "lovelines"". AllMusic .
  9. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 10, 2021.