The sprawling suburbs that sprang up south of Los Angeles during the postwar industrial boom gave white pop two of its most accomplished icons, Brian Wilson's Beach Boys, out of Hawthorne, and Downey's Carpenters. That geography subtly permeates the first disc of this four-CD, 89-track anthology, from the living room demos and indie singles that pushed them to a Hollywood Bowl battle of the bands victory while still teens to their first triumphs for A&M Records, just across town in Hollywood. Assembled, burnished, and annotated with loving care by Richard Carpenter, it's a collection that chronicles an expansive musical vision rooted in prerock pop, yet fueled by the ambitious, neo-baroque arrangement consciousness of the '60s L.A. music scene. Karen Carpenter's warm, inviting alto may have been the band's trademark, but it's Richard's perfect studio frameworks--and a far-ranging taste for material that spans standards, Bacharach's "Close to You," Leon Russell's "Superstar," "A Song for You, " and "This Masquerade"--that made the Carpenters' music considerably more than the sum of its parts. Filled with a wealth of rare outtakes, remixes, radio spots, TV performances (including a duet-medley between Karen and the great Ella Fitzgerald), and commercial spots, Essential is exactly that for a Carpenters fan. --Jerry McCulley