''A Kind of Hush'' is the seventh studio album by American popular music duo

Carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tra ...

. It was released on June 11, 1976. By the time of the album's recording, Richard Carpenter's addiction to sleeping pills had begun to affect him professionally, and he blames this for the album being, in his opinion, sub-par. All three excerpted singles became hits. " There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)", a cover of a 1960s song by

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

, broke both the UK Top 30Carpenters UK chart history
The Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2012. and US Top 20, as well as topping the adult contemporary chart. "

I Need to Be in Love "I Need to Be in Love" is a song written by Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter, Albert Hammond and John Bettis. It was released as a single on May 21, 1976. It was featured on the ''A Kind of Hush (album), A Kind of Hush'' album, whic ...

" hit number 25 in the US and number 36 in the UK. " Goofus" was only a minor success, stalling at number 56 on the ''Billboard'' chart, though it did crack the adult contemporary top 10.

John Bettis John Gregory Bettis (born October 24, 1946) is an American lyricist. He was originally part of the band Spectrum, which also featured Richard and Karen Carpenter. He wrote the lyrics for " Top of the World", a hit for both Lynn Anderson and Th ...

called "I Need to Be in Love" the favorite lyrics he ever wrote for

Karen Carpenter Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praise ...

. "If there was ever anything that came out of my heart straight to Karen's I would say that was it. I was very proud of it for that." Richard Carpenter recalled that the song "became Karen's favorite Carpenters song".Richard Carpenter's comments on ''A Kind Of Hush''
RichardAndKarenCarpenter.com. The album was also the first not to have Karen playing drums on any tracks, which were performed by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

session drummer Jim Gordon. Despite being certified Gold, the album was a relative commercial disappointment in the US, where its chart peak was outside the Top 30.''Complete Guide to the music of The Carpenters'', John Tobler, Omnibus Press Like its predecessor ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

'', it performed better in the UK, reaching number three in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The CD has been out of print since 2006 except in the Japanese market.

Reception

While noting that there are occasional highlights,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's retrospective review was generally negative, calling the album "pleasant, well-sung, and well-played, but basically bland". They particularly criticized the selection of material and the overt similarity of the album's formula to that of previous Carpenters albums.

Track listing

Singles

*"There's a Kind of Hush" **US 7" single (1976) – A&M 1800 #"There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" #"(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You" **UK 7" single (1976) – AMS7219 #"There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" #"(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You" **JP 7" single (1976) – CM-2001 #"There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" #"(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You" *"I Need to Be in Love" **7" single (1976) – A&M 1828 #"I Need to Be in Love" #"Sandy" **JP 7" promo (1976) – CM-2020 #"I Need to Be in Love" #"Sandy" **JP CD single (1995) – PODM-1060 #"I Need to Be in Love" #"Top of the World" *"Goofus" **US 7" single (1976) – A&M 1859 #"Goofus" #"Boat to Sail" *"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" **JP 7" single (1976) – CM-2025 #"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" #"I Have You" *"I Have You" **MX 7" single (1978) – AM-064 #"I Have You" #"Sweet, Sweet Smile"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kind Of Hush, A 1976 albums The Carpenters albums A&M Records albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios