Hall & Oates - Home For Christmas- 2006-320k( A great festive album!!)

Please support the artists by purchasing their merchandise
Hall & Oates - Home For ChristmasArtist...............: Hall & Oates
Album................: Home For Christmas
Genre................: Festive Soft Rock
Source...............: NMR
Year.................: 2006
Ripper...............: NMR
Codec................: LAME 3.96
Version..............: MPEG 1 Layer III
Quality..............: Insane, (CBR 320kbps)
Channels.............: Stereo / 48000 hz
Tags.................: ID3 v1.1, ID3 v2.3Tracklisting1. (00:06:50) Hall & Oates - Overture/The First Noel
2. (00:04:16) Hall & Oates - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. (00:04:04) Hall & Oates - No Child Should Ever Cry On Christmas
4. (00:04:39) Hall & Oates - Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday
5. (00:05:09) Hall & Oates - Home For Christmas
6. (00:04:27) Hall & Oates - Christmas Must Be Tonight
7. (00:04:29) Hall & Oates - Children Go Where I Send Thee
8. (00:05:04) Hall & Oates - Mary Had A Baby
9. (00:04:24) Hall & Oates - The Christmas Song
10. (00:02:10) Hall & Oates - Jingle Bell Rock
11. (00:05:27) Hall & Oates - O Holy Night
Playing Time.........: 00:50:59
Total Size...........: 116.77 MB
NFO generated on.....: 14/12/2008 12:19:58
Daryl Hall & John Oates present Home for Christmas, a fascinating seasonal offering that is successful on many levels. Hall & Oates were originally primarily known for "Philly soul," a blend of rock 'n roll and R&B. When I picked up Home for Christmas for the first time, the black-and-white cover graphics (and the simple country scene they portray) had me thinking that perhaps this was a scaled-down acoustic presentation of Christmas fare, but this is not the case.

From the very first bars of the opening track (Overture/The First Noel), the lush production values and string orchestration turned me in an entirely different direction. This is adult contemporary music--smoothly delivered soft rock with some R&B stylings and vocals that sometimes deliver distinctly country flavors. This quirky blend provides something for everyone--this album could well appeal to a broad audience.

Although most tracks are well familiar, there are two originals, and even the holiday chestnuts receive wholly-new clothing here. For example, I really enjoyed the Hall & Oates interpretation of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, delivered with an unmistakable country twang, lovely acoustic guitars, and "midnight clear" as a cool choral refrain.

Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday is a great R&B anthem, pumped up with blue-eyed soul. Topping everything, however, is the gospelicious Children Go Where I Send Thee, which hops with power percussion and absolutely rockin' vocals; this cut alone is worth the price of admission. The heavily orchestrated close (Oh Holy Night) brings the album full circle stylistically, bringing back the full strings treatment of the first track.

I am not certain how die-hard fans of Hall & Oates' R&B stylings will receive Home for Christmas, which certainly strays into the unexpected. In many respects, the seasonal release plays as an adult contemporary/country offering, and it does have some terrific highlights.