The Review
Don't Stop Believin' - soloist - Patrick Cento: Arranged by Brian Boshes; perfectly represents 80's stadium rock, right down to the extended and slightly pitchy (for effect, I'm sure) vocalization. "their shadows searching in the ni-ee-ight!". There are also funny little comments in the backs.
Collide - soloist Danny Park: The backs are different from what I've heard before. Maybe I just don't know the music enough. This was my first experience with Collide. Beautifully sung.
Silent Night - group: Simple. The song starts with 4 soloists each singing the first four phrases of Silent Night, and then the voices come and blend to finish the song. The second part isn't the traditional song. However, it's beautifully and solemnly sung.
I'll Be - soloist - Jonathan Yee: This is a desperate (in a good way) love song.The harmonies are so wonderful. The song is a little sad, but beautiful.
Runaround Sue - soloist - Zachary Bernstein: Kind of a rocky version, with the backs playing it for laughs.
Hail To California - group: It's a school song. Nice blending. T1 and Bass kill it (in a good way).
Mr. Grinch - soloist - Glenn Steinbaum: This one is a Christmas classic, and Steinbaum and the guys do it justice. Good voice acting in this version!
Is She Really Going Out With Him - soloist - Brian Boshes: Again, like the video without the laughter, and some of the backing humor. A fun song.
Always Something There To Remind Me - soloist - John Shumway: Another Octet video which can be found on YouTube. I kind of miss the guys dancing in the video, but there's nothing wrong with the song.
Fight For California - group - school song. Go Bears. Solid.
I Just Wanna Make Love To You - soloist - Jamie Pinedo: Bass love! After the smooth opening with Etta James's "At Last" the voices start low and get even lower! As one YouTuber put it. "This is baby makin' music."
Walking My Baby Back Home - soloists - Robin Kong, John Shumway: O my gosh, this is such a great song! It is kind of old-timey (which I've become accustomed to, as I spent about a year listening to old time radio shows.) The best part of the song is the sort of scatting breakdown (I don't know what else to call it) which gives it some great new life. It's kind of the musical version of a palate cleanser, and it's really cool.
Just My Imagination - soloists - Jordan Meyer, Parker Sims, Josh Chang: Great and funny parody of the Temptaions "Just My Imagination". But their imaginations tend to skew towards collegiate life.
Papa Was a Rolling Stone/Who Is He (group): This is probably my favorite song on this cd. It's cool, bad, sharp and the vocals cut me to the soul. More great T1 & Bass love.
The Scientist - soloist -Josh Chang: Another YouTube favorite. Smooth and soothing like chamomile tea. Excellent blending in the backs.
I'm Too Sexy - soloist - Max Cowan: This is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I hit repeat on this so many times. More bass love!
My Girl - soloists - Robin Kong, Parker Sims, Rafael de Leon Another YouTube hit on this cd. The only difference is that Jason Mabie's rocky ending is replaced by Rafael de Leon's more melidic one.
I have to say, though, that in preperation for this review, I listened to the cd about 800 thousand times. I listened to it on the road trip to Oktoberfest, and I listened to it every night before going to bed, and anytime I had to travel anywhere, I had my mp3 player playing the music over and over again. I even turned the music WAY up because I wanted it in my BRAIN. I'll probably go deaf from listening to these songs over and over agian, but it was worth it.
Also, I'm not sure if the review did the cd justice. I did the best that I could I really loved the cd, and I'm glad I finally got it.
(It's $16.00 + $2.00 shipping in the US. Not sure about overseas.)