Made in America
Made in America is the tenth studio album by the American music duo The Carpenters, released in June 1981. Karen Carpenter died less than two years later, making it their final album released in her lifetime. It reached number 52 in the US and number 12 in the UK.
The album yielded their last Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hit, "Touch Me When We're Dancing", which peaked at #16. The album's other four singles, "I Believe You," "(Want You) Back In My Life Again," "Those Good Old Dreams," and "Beechwood 4-5789," were only minor hits, peaking at #68, #72, #63, and #74 respectively.
Billboard stated that "the duo returns here to the mellow MOR-pop which has brought it 18 gold singles and albums since 1970. The LP is an about-face from the duo's last studio collection, 1977's Passage, which flirted with rock rhythms and failed to be certified gold.
Bruce Eder of AllMusic called it "very much a comeback effort, with a fair amount of energy on most of it, newly radiant arrangements ("The Wedding Song," etc.), one cute oldie cover ("Beechwood 4-5789," which was made into a video), and the best new songs they'd had since the mid-'70s ("Those Good Old Dreams," "Touch Me When We're Dancing")...the album as a whole was more energetic and memorable than anything they'd done since A Song for You."