Leave it to the talented men of Home Free to do something that usually kind of annoys me, but doesn't when they do it. You see, Full of (Even More) Cheer is more or less a re-release of their album Full of Cheer. My issue with re-releases is that most of the time, they throw on a few new songs without doing anything to the rest of the album. In those cases, I'd rather they just put out an EP of the new songs. I do recognize that there are various reasons for doing this and I think a lot of the time, it's out of the hands of the artist. Even still, I usually end up giving your average re-releases the side-eye.
"White Christmas". Most people tend to go for a more tender version of this song, but Home Free puts a little giddy up in theirs. If you're reading this without having heard it, that might sound odd to you. It'll make more sense when you listen. It brings to mind the Riders in the Sky. If you don't know who they are, they're a wonderful group who sings Western music. I've had the pleasure of seeing them at the Grand Ole Opry a fair amount of times. This is right up their alley and now I really want to see Home Free do something with them.
"Colder Weather". This beautiful song, originally by the Zac Brown Band, has long been a Home Free staple. There was a live version of it on Full of Cheer and now they've finally done a full studio version for this album. Did I say finally? I think a lot of us have been wanting this and I'm so delighted that they've done it. Rob starts off on lead and, man, do I love listening to that man sing. His voice is all things beautiful and soulful. As is Chance's, albeit in a different way. I had never realized that until I listened to this. That's Chance you hear singing the second verse. I'd call Rob's voice angelically soulful while Chance's voice is lower and a bit grittier. He brings a little more of an edge to the group that I love. I also can't help but feel like we've only gotten a taste of what he can do vocally. Beautiful track.
"I'll Be Home for Christmas". Speaking of beautiful tracks, here's another. As you may have gleaned, that's one of Home Free's things. If it's slow, it's going to be gorgeous. It just will be. The harmonies are, as always, luscious and wonderfully full. Chance and Tim add some lovely richness to the track. I love how the rest of the harmonies more or less float around the lead vocal.
"Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". One of the best things about Home Free is their sense of humor. These guys could never be accused of taking themselves too seriously and this track is a great example of that. My favorite part of this is when Tim sings "should we open up her gifts or take them back?" and the answering "send them back?!" They way they do it makes me giggle. Just a fun track all the way around.
"Angels We Have Heard On High". Have I said I love listening to Rob sing? Because I do. Granted, I love listening to them all sing, but it's Rob who gets the gold star on this one. Gorgeous harmonies here. Really, outstanding vocals by all. Lovely track.
"How Great Thou Art." I did a video spotlight on their stunning video for this earlier this month. Definitely go check that out, if you haven't already. If you forced me to pick a favorite track, it would be this one. In all honesty, this is seriously one of my favorite songs of theirs overall. I don't feel that I can properly do it justice. The video speaks for itself. Beautiful version of a much beloved hymn. Absolutely beautiful.
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" The most fascinating arrangement on the album, in my opinion. Vocal percussionist Adam Rupp did this one. What, did you think I forgot Adam? Never! I think that Team Rhythm absolutely shines on this track. Team Rhythm, by the way, would be the combined talents of Adam and Tim. I often find myself tuning more into what they're doing when I listen. I love the way that this track feels and it's largely because of them. That said, it's like Austin, Rob and Chance were just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. I'm really not trying to downplay their talents. Truth be told, they all sound great in this. They have some really interesting harmonies. Definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album.
"Full of Cheer". There are some songs that are so beautiful and heartfelt. Songs about heartbreak and loss. Songs about the pain that comes from trying to move on after a relationship ends. This...is not one of those songs. I mean, it is about a relationship that's ended. Only our hero isn't all that sad about it. Actually, he's not even remotely sad about it. In fact, he's pretty dang thrilled about it. To say the least. This song always makes me giggle. The lyrics are amusing by themselves, but Austin's delivery sends it over the top. Classic Home Free. Fun song to sing along with, I must say.
"Silent Night" featuring Taylor Davis. This is the only track on the album that is not a cappella. As you might know, Taylor Davis is a wonderful violinist and that's her beautiful playing that you hear. I think this is the perfect song to close out the album. It leaves you feeling so at peace and calm. I love that Home Free is open to doing things with instrumentalists. It doesn't happen very often at all. The only other time I can recall is when they did "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", which is on their fabulous album Country Evolution and features Taylor again and the great Charlie Daniels. But I think it's great that they're open to it. I think that it was the right way to go, though I know it would have been lovely a cappella as well. The violin just adds a little extra that I appreciate.
This album, however, gets a nod of approval from me instead. Partly because I love Home Free too much to ever give them the side-eye. But mainly because they actually changed things up. Bless 'em. The first big change? Well, Full of Cheer came out before Chance joined the group. So into the studio he went so that this new album would reflect the current line-up. It's so interesting what a difference one voice can make. That right there makes for a good change. They then took off a few of the songs that were on the last album, put a couple of new ones and changed the order of the tracks around a bit. Thus, side-eye successfully averted. Nicely played, gentlemen. Nicely played.
Full of (Even More) Cheer is a wonderful album, from the very first note to the very last. It's Home Free; you know it's bound to be good. Honestly, I don't think they could make a bad record if they tried. The arrangements are fantastic and the harmonies are out of this world. It's worth every penny and so I hope I can inspire you to buy it. How about we look at it track by track?
"O Holy Night". It seems like artists will usually put this song closer to the end of an album, probably because it's one of those songs that call for what we'll call the big guns. Most like to kind of build up to it. Home Free, on the other hand, just goes for it right off the bat and I love it. I mean, if you can sing it like this, why not lead with it? It's such a great vocal by everything, but Austin gets the gold star for this one. What an incredible voice; he has like the textbook definition of a golden throat. His voice is so pure and so beautiful. Can we talk about the very last "divine" though? Holy smokes. That chord was divine! There's a reason why they've become one of my favorite vocal groups of all time, people.
"White Christmas". Most people tend to go for a more tender version of this song, but Home Free puts a little giddy up in theirs. If you're reading this without having heard it, that might sound odd to you. It'll make more sense when you listen. It brings to mind the Riders in the Sky. If you don't know who they are, they're a wonderful group who sings Western music. I've had the pleasure of seeing them at the Grand Ole Opry a fair amount of times. This is right up their alley and now I really want to see Home Free do something with them.
"Colder Weather". This beautiful song, originally by the Zac Brown Band, has long been a Home Free staple. There was a live version of it on Full of Cheer and now they've finally done a full studio version for this album. Did I say finally? I think a lot of us have been wanting this and I'm so delighted that they've done it. Rob starts off on lead and, man, do I love listening to that man sing. His voice is all things beautiful and soulful. As is Chance's, albeit in a different way. I had never realized that until I listened to this. That's Chance you hear singing the second verse. I'd call Rob's voice angelically soulful while Chance's voice is lower and a bit grittier. He brings a little more of an edge to the group that I love. I also can't help but feel like we've only gotten a taste of what he can do vocally. Beautiful track.
"I'll Be Home for Christmas". Speaking of beautiful tracks, here's another. As you may have gleaned, that's one of Home Free's things. If it's slow, it's going to be gorgeous. It just will be. The harmonies are, as always, luscious and wonderfully full. Chance and Tim add some lovely richness to the track. I love how the rest of the harmonies more or less float around the lead vocal.
"Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". One of the best things about Home Free is their sense of humor. These guys could never be accused of taking themselves too seriously and this track is a great example of that. My favorite part of this is when Tim sings "should we open up her gifts or take them back?" and the answering "send them back?!" They way they do it makes me giggle. Just a fun track all the way around.
"Angels We Have Heard On High". Have I said I love listening to Rob sing? Because I do. Granted, I love listening to them all sing, but it's Rob who gets the gold star on this one. Gorgeous harmonies here. Really, outstanding vocals by all. Lovely track.
"How Great Thou Art." I did a video spotlight on their stunning video for this earlier this month. Definitely go check that out, if you haven't already. If you forced me to pick a favorite track, it would be this one. In all honesty, this is seriously one of my favorite songs of theirs overall. I don't feel that I can properly do it justice. The video speaks for itself. Beautiful version of a much beloved hymn. Absolutely beautiful.
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" The most fascinating arrangement on the album, in my opinion. Vocal percussionist Adam Rupp did this one. What, did you think I forgot Adam? Never! I think that Team Rhythm absolutely shines on this track. Team Rhythm, by the way, would be the combined talents of Adam and Tim. I often find myself tuning more into what they're doing when I listen. I love the way that this track feels and it's largely because of them. That said, it's like Austin, Rob and Chance were just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. I'm really not trying to downplay their talents. Truth be told, they all sound great in this. They have some really interesting harmonies. Definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album.
"Full of Cheer". There are some songs that are so beautiful and heartfelt. Songs about heartbreak and loss. Songs about the pain that comes from trying to move on after a relationship ends. This...is not one of those songs. I mean, it is about a relationship that's ended. Only our hero isn't all that sad about it. Actually, he's not even remotely sad about it. In fact, he's pretty dang thrilled about it. To say the least. This song always makes me giggle. The lyrics are amusing by themselves, but Austin's delivery sends it over the top. Classic Home Free. Fun song to sing along with, I must say.
"Silent Night" featuring Taylor Davis. This is the only track on the album that is not a cappella. As you might know, Taylor Davis is a wonderful violinist and that's her beautiful playing that you hear. I think this is the perfect song to close out the album. It leaves you feeling so at peace and calm. I love that Home Free is open to doing things with instrumentalists. It doesn't happen very often at all. The only other time I can recall is when they did "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", which is on their fabulous album Country Evolution and features Taylor again and the great Charlie Daniels. But I think it's great that they're open to it. I think that it was the right way to go, though I know it would have been lovely a cappella as well. The violin just adds a little extra that I appreciate.
It's official: these guys just can't do wrong in my book. Not when it comes to music, at least. Listening to them is a treat and speaking as someone who has been lucky enough to see them live, I have news for y'all. You think they sound good on the record? They're better live. And I don't mean a little better. It's shocking how much better they are live. Especially considering that the live shows let them show off their oh-so-sparkling personalities. Seriously, these guys are hilarious and from all accounts, super nice as well. I've technically gotten to meet both Tim (in Nashville) and Chance (during The Sing-Off tour last year) and they were both very nice, though both of those meetings were very brief. I hope that I get to meet the other three at some point. I know this: they genuinely love and appreciate their fans. That and that money spent on their music is money well spent, indeed.
So, here's where you can keep up with them:
And if you want, you can keep up with me on Twitter & Instagram, both @countrymusicatk. If you enjoyed this, please think about sharing it and spreading the Home Free love. As always, thanks for reading!
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