Tapestry: Remastered

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Carole King was famous as a writer of girl group hits in the 1960s. In 1971, she became more famous. That's the year Tapestry became one of the biggest selling LPs of all time. It's easy to hear why--the music is loose, earthy, L.A. session-pop. King is casual, intimate, and tough; she covers all the emotional ground of the post-liberated woman with ease. She brings adult nuance to "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" and comes up with hits ("It's Too Late", "I Feel the Earth Move") whose white soul realism and maturity put pop hits to shame. --Steve Tignor

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-03-22 rating:
A Classic By Anyone's Standards
Of all the introspective styled singer-songwriters of the early seventies Carole King would perhaps seem a most unlikely candidate to adopt that genre - after all her success was at its peak a decade earlier when she was predominantly a songwriter alongside her husband Gerry Goffin penning a great many fondly remembered classics aimed at the teen market. Fortunately, her forte had always been strong melodies and 'Tapestry', her second album is no exception although its style is more intimate than the style of her early career.
Actually, it's not unrealistic to regard 'Tapestry' as one of only a handful of truly great albums because there are very few albums that are so consistently great from start to finish without the odd filler. 'Tapestry' certainly isn't amongst those groundbreaking albums often touted for in the best album polls but it really doesn't need to be because it's the album's simplicity that is its biggest asset.
Carole mixes a couple of her old songs with her newer efforts - 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' and 'Natural Woman' and although these versions are never going to eclipse the well known originals in terms of profile they are nevertheless both highly effective at interpreting the songs differently but also successfully. A number of the newer songs have also acquired classic status - especially 'It's Too Late' and 'You've Got A Friend' - best known through James Taylor's cover but it's really hard to imagine these original versions ever being bettered whoever decided to record them.
'Intimate', 'Sincere', 'Direct' are all words that have been used to describe 'Tapestry' over the years and they are all accurate. 'Classic' has also been used on occasions, too, and this term (despite being overused generally in popular music) is equally applicable in this case.
'Tapestry' is definitely a strong contender for the best album ever made.

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review by: Hotpurplekoolaid date: 2006-03-11 rating:
A tapestry made of fine durable fabric
This is a classic album that sounds as honest and sincere now as it did way back in 1971. Imagine an album staying in the number one spot for fifteen weeks and on the charts for over SIX YEARS.

With four Grammy awards under its belt, and songs like “I Feel The Earth Move”; “It's Too Late”; “You've Got A Friend”; “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”; “Tapestry” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, this album belongs in any serious collection of ‘70s music.

See also the tribute album “Tapestry Revisited” where folk like Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Amy Grant, Richard Marx, Celine Dion, the Bee Gees and Bebe and Cece Winans, among others, pay homage to this singer/songwriter extraordinaire.

A must-have album for your collection.

Amanda Richards

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review by: date: 2005-08-10 rating:
If you haven't yet heard this, you are deprived!
This album is a musical miracle. All of the tracks are beautiful, and suit any occasion: whatever my mood, Carole King has a song to express what I am feeling. My particular favourite is 'You've got a friend' - nothing James Taylor can come up with can compare to this - a heart-warming rendition of a song, which could be cheesy and tacky but, thanks to the singer's unique voice, is quite simply just wonderful.

I would like to express my wish for this to be a must-hear for people throughout the country - maybe like Shakespeare: compulsory listening at school!

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review by: date: 2004-09-24 rating:
Prehaps the greatest love album of all time?
carole king, i feel is rightly hailed as one of the greatest singers of all time, her voice has a rustic, welcoming sound that envelops you. The tempo is perfect for the songs, it leaves the lyrics to sink in while the slow, rhythmic melodies are almost like a lullaby. Get this album


review by: earthtourist date: 2002-12-13 rating:
The dissenting view
I finally bought this album last month after years of almost buying it but always finally thinking - 'nah, next time'.

'Tapestry' is offically one of the All Time Classic Albums - so one's expectations are bound to be high.

And true, the quality of the songwriting is unsurpassed: 'It's too late' and 'Will you love me tomorrow' (a slower, more reflective version than the Shirelles famous pop hit of the 60s) rank, for me, among the most distinctive pop melodies of the 20th century.

But the audio experience is something very different.

First of all, it's her voice. Praised unanimously at the time for its 'earthy, heartfelt' quality - to me it sounds gravelly, grey and, well, plain ugly. Kind of like Ewan McGregor's...

Then there's the production:- the recording is umistakably locked in the early seventies. (Maybe its the electric piano that does it.) Now, you either like that or you don't, but certainly 'timeless' is an inappropriate term to describe the result. Furthermore, from song to song, the arrangement never changes, creating the result of aural narcolepsy.

The pace of the album is also very trying:- apart from the punchy opening track 'I feel the earth move' and the steady 'It's too late', the album sinks into a quagmire of tempo-challenged self-absorption. Maybe there's a mood for it, but what should feel intimate (her rendition of 'Will you still love me tomorrow' for instance) ends up feeling lumpen and flat - and, again, it's not helped by that voice.

'Tapestry' has won the hearts and minds of millions of listeners over the decades - and all power to them. I, alas, am not one of them - and maybe you won't be either...

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