Always nice to run across someone who feels the same as I do about the Carpenters, Wayne. First, that voice. I alternate between heartbreak over the loss of a voice that special and rage at her for depriving us of such a profound gift. If she stood before me, right this moment, I don't know if I would hug her and weep for joy or shake her silly.
Second, Richard was a much underrated keyboard player and arranger. Yes, their stuff was POP, and if you don't like POP, it's understandable if you don't care for The Carpenters. No problem. Just don't try to tell me they weren't talented and didn't deserve their success.
RE: Guitar work. Having been a musician all my life, I am not impressed by instrumental calisthenics (YMMV). To me, the measure of greatness is taste - i.e. what notes are played, and when, in the course of a song. Sometimes, speed and a thousand notes per second is EXACTLY the right thing. Often, it is not.
I remember being impressed by a 2 note riff that Jim Messina (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Loggins and Messina - another underrated musician) played in a Poco song, the name of which escapes me at the moment. At that particular moment it was the PERFECT thing to play. Just two notes. Brilliant!
Of course, taste is subjective. What would lift my heart and make my soul soar might bore you to death..............and vice versa. Doesn't matter. All that matters is that the music, whatever the genre and whatever the reason, touches something within YOU.
