Thoroughbred - CAROLE KING***

So Many Ways/Daughter Of Light/High Out Of Time/Only Love Is Real/There's A Space Between Us/I Like To Know You Better/We All Have To Be Alone/Ambrosia/Still Here Thinking Of You/It's Gonna Work Out Fine

Thoroughbred was the last Carole King album to enjoy a high chart placing. Her songs began to lack the distinctiveness which she achieved so brilliantly with her best compositions. (US:3)

“It was her last album for the Ode label and signalled the end to the mostly joyful, romantic, and honest songs that dominated her work up until that time. It all added up to a pleasant, if not very venturesome, King release. A solid album of good music, there were no real outstanding tracks that can be considered among her best, but on the other hand there were no clunkers either.”

“It is hard to imagine an album rivalling King's Tapestry in creativity and satisfaction, but Thoroughbred nearly matches. Carole sings some of her finest and most intimate songs here. The production is slick and unencumbered.”

“Thoroughbred is one of the finest romantic albums of the mid-1970s, joyful and sometimes painful in its directness and honesty. King wears her heart on her sleeve and puts everything on the table emotionally. This is the listener's first hint that change was in the air for King; there is a raw and urgent directness in her voice, which was missing from earlier albums. Thoroughbred has a rolling acoustical sound, and guitars play a heavier role, beautifully accentuating King's two-fisted piano style. This is a beautiful gem, hopefully not soon to be forgotten.”

“Once again, Carole does her own back-up vocals on most of the tracks, plays piano, and sings her plaintive heart out. It's a startling performance and one of her best.”

“While songs like So Many Ways, I'd Like To Know You Better and the poetic Ambrosia are all some of the best romantic pop of the era, all too much of this is off a piece and could easily be dismissed by the closed minded as soft rock. Her craft has become polished to such a degree that her songs are beginning to sound alike. In terms of an album that flows together almost perfectly this will do wonderfully. But it does lack a degree of variety.”