Darius Rucker leaves his newly adopted country home behind for a bit of uptown swinging swagger on 2014's Home for the Holidays.
This 12-track collection of standards -- apart from "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful," they're all secular; apart from the nondescript original "What God Wants for Christmas," they're all well-known -- is all delivered in the mock-Sinatra style that has come to suggest Christmas in popular culture.
The production is clean and unfussy, sparkling just enough to suggest new-fallen snow but not enough to be tacky, and Rucker is amiable, perhaps a bit too digitally polished but possessing enough good charm to keep things moving at a nice clip.
Consequently, Home for the Holidays winds up as a perfectly fine Christmas record, suited for those Rucker fans who have stuck with him from Hootie to R&B to country.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | Darius Rucker | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 2 | Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 3 | What God Wants for ChristmasMonty Criswell, Frank Rogers, Darius Rucker | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | You're a Mean One, Mr. GrinchTheodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, Albert Hague | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 5 | Baby, It's Cold OutsideFrank Loesser | Darius Rucker, Sheryl Crow | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | I'll Be Home for ChristmasKim Gannon, Walter Kent, Buck Ram | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 7 | O Come, All Ye FaithfulGordon Mote, Frank Rogers, Bryan Sutton | Darius Rucker | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 8 | Winter WonderlandFelix Bernard, Dick Smith | Darius Rucker | Play | 02:48 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | Candy Cane ChristmasSteve Leslie, Frank Rogers, Darius Rucker | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | Please Come Home for ChristmasCharles Brown, Gene Redd | Darius Rucker | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 11 | Hark! The Herald Angels SingGordon Mote, Frank Rogers, Bryan Sutton | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 12 | White ChristmasIrving Berlin | Darius Rucker | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 43 mins | 99 MB | |||||
| 43 mins | 269 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 2 | Felix Bernard | Composer |
| 3 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 4 | Charles Brown | Composer |
| 5 | Sammy Cahn | Composer |
| 6 | Monty Criswell | Composer |
| 7 | Sheryl Crow | Primary Artist |
| 8 | Kim Gannon | Composer |
| 9 | Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel | Composer |
| 10 | Albert Hague | Composer |
| 11 | Walter Kent | Composer |
| 12 | Steve Leslie | Composer |
| 13 | Frank Loesser | Composer |
| 14 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 15 | Gordon Mote | Composer |
| 16 | Buck Ram | Composer |
| 17 | Gene Redd | Composer |
| 18 | Frank Rogers | Composer |
| 19 | Darius Rucker | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 20 | Dick Smith | Composer |
| 21 | Jule Styne | Composer |
| 22 | Bryan Sutton | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |