DISC 1:
1. Superstar (additional recording in 1985, remixed in 1991)
2. Rainy Days And Mondays (1985 remix)
3. Top Of The World (1991 remix)
4. Maybe It's You (additional recording and remixed in 1990)
5. Let Me Be The One (original)
6. Reason To Believe (1987 remix)
7. Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (1991 Remix)
8. Leave Yesterday Behind (previously unreleased)
9. Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore (original)
10. Bless The Beasts And Children (1991 remix)
11. It's Going To Take Some Time (additonal recording and remix in 1989)
12. Rainbow Connection, The previously unreleased)
13. Only Yesterday (original)
14. Sweet, Sweet Smile (original)
15. There's A Kind Of Hush (1985 with some synth parts removed)
16. California Dreamin' (previously unreleased)
17. Solitaire (original single mix)
18. We've Only Just Begun (1985 remix)
19. This Masquerade (1990 remix)
20. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (1989 remix)

DISC 2:
1. Yesterday Once More (1985 remix)
2. Please Mr. Postman (1991 remix)
3. Hurting Each Other (1991 remix)
4. I Need To Be In Love (1990 remix)
5. Merry Christmas, Darling (1978 version)
6. Close To You (They Long To Be) (original single version)
7. All You Get From Love Is A Love Song (original)
8. Sing (1994 remix)
9. Make Believe It's Your First Time (original)
10. Ticket To Ride (1973 re-record first released on The Singles 1969-1973 lp)
11. Goodbye To Love (additional recording and remix 1985)
12. I Just Fall In Love Again (original)
13. I Believe You (original)
14. Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again (original)
15. For All We Know (additional recording and remix 1990)
16. Touch Me When We're Dancing (original)
17. I Won't Last A Day Without You (1991 remix)
18. Mr. Guder (1990 remix)
19. Song For You, A (additional recording and remix in 1987)
20. Karen's Theme (original)


Remastered & Remixed Collection Of The Carpenters Best!   February 19, 2004
highway_star (Hallandale, Florida United States)
53 out of 57 found this review helpful

Back in the late 60's, the sister and brother duo consisting of Richard and Karen Carpenter, known as The Carpenters were one of the seventies best loved groups. Their first hit "Ticket To Ride" (a Beatles hit), released in 1969 did moderately well for their label A&M, but it wasn't until 1970 that the song "(They Long To Be) Close To You" shot straight up the charts to number one followed a few months later with another hit "We've Only Just Begun". The following year produced yet more hits for The Carpenters with "Superstar", "Rainy Days And Mondays" and "For All We Know", establishing The Carpenters as one of the most popular groups of the early seventies. Throughout the decade the hits continued and The Carpenters had accumulated 10 gold singles and 11 gold albums in the United States. This 2-cd "Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition" includes all their great hits such as the above mentioned songs as well as "Only Yesterday", "Please Mr. Postman", "There A Kind Of A Hush (All Over The World)", "Top Of The World", "Yesterday Once More", and a rare version of "California Dreaming" (originally a hit for The Mamas & Papas) as well as a remake of the Canadian rock group Klatuu's "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" plus many more (40 songs total). This collection has been remastered and remixed and sounds great, the clarity of the instruments and vocals is astonishing. Also, included is a ten page booklet with a few colorful photos and a song by song breakdown and explanation by Richard Carpenter himself. Sadly, Karen Carpenter passed away in 1983 at age 32 and the world lost one of music's most gifted and beautiful voices ever. If you enjoyed the great music the seventies gave us from artists such as The Carpenters, Bread and Three Dog Night to name just a few, then this collection is a must have.


Stop ripping us off, Richard Carpenter   August 25, 2004
Compilation Collector (USA)
42 out of 53 found this review helpful

Sorry, Richard ... but enough with these compilations that blend the songs together and, worse, do not include the ORIGINAL versions of the songs the way we remember them recorded during Karen's lifetime. Why must you continue to revamp your hits for these compilations? Remastering is fine ... but, remixing is not. Some songs are lengthened with new instrumental passages (e.g. "I Need To Be In Love" is now 20 seconds longer) or feature added instrumentation (e.g. "We've Only Just Begun" contains more piano than when the song was on the radio). Some of these remixes are so horrible that they overpower Karen's voice making it sound as if she was standing too far from the microphone.

Your compilations should contain a warning on the outside of the package alerting the consumer that s/he is not getting what s/he thinks s/he is buying. The proper way for you to honor your sister's memory is by compiling the songs the way they were heard on the radio ... and the way Karen would know the songs.


Here's What I Need To Know...   April 24, 2004
25 out of 35 found this review helpful

This isn't a review... it's really a critique of the packaging of Carpenters products.

When I get a disc, I don't want the songs blending into one another. I want each song to be its own stand alone work. That's how it should be. The problem with the last two compilations created for Carpenters "The Singles" and "Yesterday Once More" is that they purposely blend the songs together. NO!

The other issue seems to be original versions of songs v. remastered material. It's all wonderful to go back to the master tapes and rerecord the tracks to make them sound fresh. However, if you start futzing with the arrangements and "improving" them by adding instrumentation, or whatever audio tricks you have in mind, you're tampering with the stuff that people are buying the album to hear!

Just based on other reviews, some of this is going on again. What do I do to get Carpenters' songs the way I want them?! Thank you.


When something is already the best don't change it   June 22, 2006
Catherine Saint (Prescott, AZ United States)
24 out of 26 found this review helpful

Just listening to the samples of this new remix of "GOLD:35th Anniversary Edition ~ The Carpenters" I found it to be in my opinion sadly remixed very badly. Certainly not a tribute to the excellent talent Of Karen Carpenter and Richard as well. I wonder what Richard was thinking when he remixed these songs? As another review noticed and I agree with, is the bass on some is so loud it almost drowns out the pure excellence of Karen's deep resounding truly perfect voice. This is not a CD you want to get if you really want to appreciate the true pure sound of The Carpenters. The older CDs (if still in production or if you can find them used) "Carpenters Classics 25th Anniversary" a 2 CD disc 98:04 minute Collection remastered digitally, is a much better pick. Especially for those who remember The Carpenters when Karen was still alive and the original arrangements were nothing to mess with. The other CD's worth finding of The Carpendters especially if you like the Talent of Karen's deep resounding perfect voice, would be The CD "Voice Of The Heart" This is a hautingly beautiful collection of Love songs by Karen who lets each song touch your Heart and Soul making you feel as if you were right there as she sings each song. The other one I would highly recommend, if Christmas is your Holiday, would be "Carpenters Christmas Portrait"... "Special Edition digital version....Celebrating 70 continuious minutes of the Seasons best..." with Karen and Richard. There are 34 Carpenters songs as timeless as their sound,and 11 performances heard on this Holiday CD for the first time. These CDs are all the songs you fell in love with the first time you heard Karen sing. These are the arrangements so beautifully done with her and Richard. This new remix maybe OK if you have not been familiar with how wonderful the original songs The Carpenter's recorded and later remastered-Not Remixed- sounded. For this reason I give this 35th Anniversary remix a 2 star rating. These older CDs are how The Carpenders really won over their fans, took the Music Industry by storm and gave a generation of Music lovers reason to Love The Carpenders music and the sound they gave each song. Talent that can still win over anyone who truly appreciates the timeless talents only The Carpenters could deliver. As I more or less said in my Title for this review and taken from an old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it!" or in this case Don't Remix it!