 However, in Japan, the "Pack Series" released the "Ticket to Ride" and "Close to You" CDs together.The album is far more self-contained than other Carpenters albums; excluding the orchestrations, bass by Joe Osborn and occasional guitar from Gary Sims, most of the instruments were played by Karen and Richard Carpenter themselves - drums and keyboards respectively - and 10 of the 13 songs were written by Richard and his lyricist John Bettis.It also stands out from subsequent Carpenters albums in that the lead vocals are evenly split between the two band members; on later albums, Karen Carpenter would perform most of the lead vocals and this is one of two albums where Karen provided virtually all of the drumming, the other being "Now & Then", released in 1973.