Search - Rockapella :: Comfort & Joy

Diehard somewhat disappointed

SeanAltmanfan | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 11/15/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ah, the first album with all bass comepletely done with George. Now that I've heard the album all the way through I have a few things to say. First, George isn't HORRIBLE. He's got potential, however I just feel his technique doesn't fit in with the group. The bass in most of the songs is just way too thumpy and distracting IMO. It just doesn't give the music the strong backbone that it needs, and once had with Barry. One song he does decently on is Peace on Earth. The rest, I just don't feel he blends with the group. He has muych more of a Boys 2 Men sound than he does a Rockapella sound. This all surprises me because I thought he blended very well on Here Comes the Sun and after hearing that, I had high hopes.
As for the rest of the CD, It has its high points and a couple low points.
Up until now, I've never actually disliked a Rockapella song so much that I couldn't bear to listen to it, and was embarassed to let others hear it. That's all changed with Kevin's rendition of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." First off, the arrangement is pure cheese. Secondly, Kevin doen NOT have the right voice for this song. Another low point is the "snowowowowow" repetitions in Snowstar. I feel this song could have been one of the strongest tracks on the album, if it weren't for those parts.
On "I'll be Home For Chrismas," bassist George almost sounds like a lounge singer or something. His voice is just too smooth and again, sounds better suited for Take 6 or B2M than he does Rockapella. His voice doesn't convey much personality on this song either, leaving the vocals sounding very stiff. However, the intro to this song is some of the most beautiful harmony the group has *ever* done.

I did enjoy Love and Lights, Peace on Earth, Merry Christmas Darling, and Please Come Home For Christmas the most. Kevin and Jeff did wonderful jobs on Love and Lights and Peace on Earth, respectively. Merry Christmas Darling is beautiful and rich, definitely one of brightest points of the disc. Same with Peace on Earth, Jeff's contribution. This Christmas Day is a decent song, as is Little Mary Snowflake (which has a part that bears a striking resemblence to the "Legends of my youth" line in their song "All That Comes to Mind.)
While their arrangement of the song sounds decent, "Its a Small World" has nothing to do with Christmas and doesn't fit with their rest of the album. They definitely could have stuck another track on the album in place of that one. Also, I didn't really see the point in recording "Home For the Holidays" again, especially since the arrangement is IDENTICAL to the BASH version, right down to the horn solo.
Overall, I'd give this CD three stars out of five, due to the bass work."

Merry Christmas...sorta....

Britt Graves | Little Rock, AR United States | 11/17/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have a very hard time giving a bad review for Rockapella, so I can't give it a low rating, but I can't give it a high rating, as much as I'd like to, so I'll simply have to settle with 'It was good, but it wasn't.' Trust me, this review hurts to write. Rambling aside, I'll start with the good points."Little Mary Snowflake", "This Christmas Day", "Please Come Home For Christmas", "Snowstar", and "Peace on Earth". Jeff Thacher needs to be more involved in writing and arranging. Seriously. "Peace on Earth" is a beautifully written and performed song and I for one would love to hear more of his work done by Rockapella. Forgive me, Scott Leonard fans, I love his voice and his arranging skills which is why I included several of his songs on the "must have" list, but his songs make no sense. Even Sean Altman's songs, which were on the bizarre side to begin with, had a point. I like the melodies Scott comes up with and I could listen to him sing the phone book, but he obviously didn't take Songwriting 101: If You're Going To Write Lyrics, Don't Confuse Your Listener. I know it's hard to justify paying $$$ for a CD when you can only recommend 5 songs out of 12, but those make up for the other 7. And there's really nothing *wrong* with the other 7 songs, but I just don't like them enough to give them two thumbs up. My biggest disappointments were with "I'll Be Home For Christmas", "Home For The Holidays", and "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree". I disagree with people who say George Baldi isn't a good fit with Rockapella, because I think he is. He just doesn't show it on his solo song. It starts out very well, but it ends badly and went on a few chorus repeats too long. "Home For The Holidays" isn't bad, but it was already done on "Bash" (or was it "Out Cold"? I can't remember offhand.) and was done better. Besides, if you're going to try to imitate trombones, try to sound like trombones. Glenn Miller was turning over in his grave, guys. "Rockin'" has a rather odd tempo and while I adore Kevin, he just wasn't the right choice for this song. I'm not sure Scott would have been either, so I don't know who should have performed it."It's A Small World" is sweet and the addition of the PellaKids was great, and that's really all I can say about this one.Like I said, this review was extremely hard to write, more so as I loved "Smilin'" from start to finish and was expecting to love "Comfort & Joy" even better. Oh well, you can't be perfect all the time, and expecting to be blown away by every new CD is unrealistic. I'll still play this CD, but I'm afraid "Christmas" will probably get more time on my CD player."

Pretty Good Christmas Music

Sara | New York | 11/17/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the classic work of Rockapella for all those who know and love their music. However, it is not the best work that they done. I still prefer their album "Christmas" during the holidays. George Baldi's voice is very smooth and melodious, but I think that it will take more time for him to be truly integrated with their unique style. It does have a different sound than their previous work, but their origional songs such as "Little Mary Snowflake", "Love and the Lights" and "This Christmas Day" keeps with their tradition of wonderful music. It is fun to listen to and gets you in the Christmas spirit."