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It’s that time of year when some of my good friends get together and produce some Christmas cheer! One of my best friends, Michael Berry does it again by releasing his 2016 Christmas album, “Home for the Holidays: A Friends Group Christmas”. Even though this album includes a bunch of my closest friends, as always I will try to remain unbias. Though this year I did think, “Bailey, you should bring in new people to review. Why should you harbor all your friends’ talent to yourself?” So that is exactly what I did. I decided to enlist the help of my family. The review will mainly consist of me, my sister (Brooke), and my wonderful mother. I did get a couple of comments from my father and little brother (Cooper). My grandma got through the first couple of tracks, so there is also a blurb from her in store!
The Story: This is the tale of the great blizzard of 2016 (which never actually happens, but nonetheless a really cool set up). For those of you who don’t know what “Friends Group” is, it is a group of 8 boys from Raymore/Peculiar, Missouri who are just a bunch of fun. Since FG has grown up, they are spread around Missouri attending different schools. Michael, Drew, Mattathias, and Nate all attend the University of Central Missouri, Sam attends Missouri S & T, Jonah now attends Mizzou, Loar is off being a doctor at UMKC, and that leaves our Cameron still at RayPec high school. All the boys are trying to get home to Raymore to attend Cameron’s annual Christmas party, but the elements of winter won’t allow them to leave. Meanwhile, in Raymore, Cameron faces the task of patching up Brandon’s Christmas when they ruined it by making fun of him for believing in Santa. Cameron starts to realize that he wishes the guys were here to help him out. The boys start to think maybe they’ve hit that time where they need to grow up and that they might be facing the end of Friends Group.
The Album: This album stands at a whopping time of 1 hour and 38 minutes, so if you desire to listen to it, then set aside some time! This is a good album for anyone who has an open sense of humor and a love of friendship. Sidenote, this album was all made in good fun and I understand that. Not all of the people on the album are singers, just a lot of friends trying to record something to remember forever. I may not get to every track, but I’ll do my best.
Track 1- “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” by: Michael Berry, Jonah Desneux, Drew Brown, Cameron Perry, Nathan Endreshak, and Mattathias Davis
At this point in time, my family was still very confused on what I was having them do. My mom did giggle when they mentioned Jonah being alone in Colombia.
Bailey’s Thoughts: This is a classic way to start a Christmas album. Beautiful start to such a long album.
Track 2- “Silver Bells” by: Cameron Perry
Grandma: “Is he an actor? He sounds like an actor.”
“He’s a little tin ear, but I enjoy it!”
“This was done in a basement? It sounds really good!”
Mom: “Who usually sings this?” Me: “I think Bing Crosby.” Mom: “Okay because it sure isn’t Cameron.”
Brooke: “Mom, how do you feel about this?” Mom: “This is one of my favorite songs. They shouldn’t have.”
Cooper: *tries to sing along*
Brooke: “I just really love Cameron and this song made me hurt a little bit.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This is a hard song and didn’t showcase how much stronger Cameron has gotten as a singer. But it was cute, Cameron is cute.
Track 3- “Mistletoe and Holly” by: Michael Berry
Brooke: “THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE!”
*Michael does voices* Mom: “He sounds good normally, why did he choose to do it that way?”
Grandma: “The diction is very crisp!”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Michael just sounds so cool on this track. Like this track makes me very happy and nostalgic. Michael can sing, but really it is just talking with some funky rhythm and beats.
Track 3- “Winter Wonderland” by: Drew Brown, Michael Berry, Mattathias Davis, Nathan Endreshak
Mom: “Drew sounds good.” Brooke: “Do you like Mattathias?” Mom: “I like Drew and Michael better.”
Grandma: “MATHIAS?! What happened to normal names like “Bob” and “Jim”?
Brooke: “Drew had such a cheery start! I love Mattathias’s flair in this one.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This is just a feel good track. Everyone sounds so happy, except Mattathias, but it’s Mattathias. I find myself clicking on this one a lot.
Track 4- “Frosty the Snowman” by: Drew Brown
Mom: “I like Drew’s voice. He’s not trying that hard.”
Cooper: “I like it!” *dancing*
Grandma: “Old silk hat! Excuse me! He forgot his words!”
*Drew does his frosty voice* “I like this low shit he is doing.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Another classic and clean Drew Brown work!
Track 5- “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” by: Ian Flemming and Cameron Perry
Mom: “I like the girls in the background.”
“Cameron sounds better in this song, but the other boy is better than Cameron.”
“They are fantastic tappers!*”
Grandma: “Tap break! I like that! That is cute!”
(After the song they make fun of Brandon for believing in Santa)
Cooper: “That’s not nice!”
Brooke: “Ian sounds very Godly in this.”
*Disclaimer: They didn’t actually tap. It was all Michael and a pair of tap shoes.
Bailey’s Thoughts: Ian was such a good choice for Santa and did this song very well.
Track 6- “We Need a Little Christmas” by: Cameron Perry, Macee Blair, Logan Daniels, Trevor Diepenbrock, Kelley Shannahan, Jesse Turos, Ian Flemming, Nate Thurman
Brooke: “Trick or treat wasn’t funny.”
Mom: “Not the strongest song.”
“Oh god, they need to delete this one from the album.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This song wasn’t my favorite. It just felt very busy and was a lot, but still a cute part of the storyline.
Track 7- “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” by: Sawyer Bletcher
*Dad comes in for the first time* Dad- “Stupid. Gay.”
Brooke: “He’s an actual singer.” Mom: “I mean he’s good, but I wouldn’t say he’s going to be a star.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Always nice to have some actual singers on this album! Sawyer does a very classic version of this song and it was very pleasing.
Track 8- “Mele Kalikimaka” by: Bailey Pelland, Marie Kurucz, Emily Coffin
Mom: “I like this song. I hope they don’t screw it up.”
“I was waiting for it to be way worse. Those girls are good.”
Brooke: “Bailey Pelland: The man, the myth. the legend.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: I love me some Bailey Pelland.
Track 9- “Mistletoe” by: Nick Schneider
Mom: “Who is this?” Me: “Nick Schneider.” Mom: “I’m really enjoying this one a lot.”
“He probably isn’t as attractive as Justin Bieber.”
Brooke: “God… I wanted to hate this one.”
Bailey’s Thought: Wow. Nick did so well. Like Brooke said, I also wanted to hate this. Nick is so talented and this track is one I also click on a lot.
Track 10- “Hava Nigila” by: Nate Weber
Mom: “He does a really good job. He could be bullshitting his way through this, but he sounds very good.”
Brooke: “I heard them recording this one through the door and I was scared.”
Dad: “This is a Christmas album. What is this shit.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Nate does it again! Nate’s singing voice is a whole other person and I always enjoy how hype it is.
Track 11- “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grub” by: Austin Loar, Nate Weber, Mattathias Davis, Drew Brown
Cooper: “Is his name Thor?”
Bailey’s Thoughts: I loved this one because it was so creative. It really gives you some background on this group of friends, but if you already know them it is a classic joke. Funny material!
Track 12- “Jonah’s Holiday Medley” by: Jonah Desneux
Mom: “I could have done without this one. They should have saved these songs for a greatest hits album.”
Brooke: “I wish they would have done the National Anthem.”
“I told Michael to not do Vick Valentine and to just make it Cupid.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Okay, I’m indifferent about this one. While I am thrilled Jonah got a song after being nixed from the album last year, I’m not sure I loved this particular mix. I thought the songs were very funny, and the medley fits into the storyline. It was a little long, but I think it was also very well done and very creative. I loved the president song and Jonah killed “Monster Mash”.
Track 13- “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by: Parker Hauptman, Nate Thurman, Logan Daniels, Trevor Diepenbrock
Mom: “Who is this?” Me: “Parker, Logan, Trevor, and someone else.” Mom: “Oh wow.” Me: “Do you like it?” Mom: *Shakes head* This is kind of hard to listen to.
Cooper- *runs away*
Brooke: “I… umm… I wanted more from a Blue Star winner, but I could really see Parker’s personality shining through.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Wow. This reminds me of the one of “Where Are You Christmas” from last year’s album. It has its own feel and I think it is really fun, but in all actuality it is just some boys yelling into a mic.
Track 14- “Here Comes Santa Claus” by: Macee Blair, Cameron Perry, Jesse Turos, Ian Flemming
Mom: “I like the elves!”
Brooke: “One of the weaker tracks. They sure are trying!”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This one was okay! Jesse and Cameron as the elves was a silly touch. It was somewhere around this point that I started crying because if people ruined Brandon’s Christmas like this in real life I would be so sad for him.
Track 15- “Mary Did You Know?” by: Brandon Steele and Mattathias Davis
(Mattathias explains the birth of baby Jesus) Mom: “I mean… He is almost sort of right. Like he isn’t completely wrong.”
“All I can say is, God bless them both.”
Brooke: “Just a beautiful mixture of 2 different people.”
*We take a break to clean up Cooper’s Play-Doh*
Mom: “This gives me anxiety.” Me: “The fact Cooper mixed all of his Play-Doh or the album?” Mom: “Both.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Wow. What a showstopper. Brandon and Mattathias were just a dynamic duo. I also like how they worked this one into the story.
Track 16- “Little Drummer Boy” by: Austin Loar, Nate Weber, Drew Brown, Michael Berry, Mattathias Davis
Mom: “That Loar kid sounds good.” Brooke: “He’s a doctor.” Mom: “He’s not a doctor”.
Brooke: “This was a heartwarming moment.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This was a really cool version of this song. There was kind of a lot going on, but Loar did sound really good.
Track 17- “Jingle Bells” by: Sam Osborne and Jonah Desneux
Mom: “Woah that is a deep voice.”
“It’s nice to hear a halfway decent one after all of those.”
Brooke: “Sam glo’d up from last year’s album.”
“Why does Sam sing that low when he doesn’t talk that low?”
Bailey’s Thoughts: My first thought was “damn that is not how Sam sounds”. But then I remembered how much I didn’t like Sam’s song last year, but this one was such an improvement. So the winner for most improved goes to Sam!
Track 18- “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” by: Brandon Steele and Cameron Perry
Mom: “Brandon needs to not sing. I liked him silent in the musical.”
“I love Brandon so much. He is the Charlie Brown of the album.”
Brooke: “*deep sigh* he is loud.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This is the song that made me laugh the hardest. Brandon was so silly in this song and while the singing was not too strong, the humor behind it made it so much fun to listen to. Brandon is my best friend.
Track 19- “The 12 Days of Friends Group Christmas” by: Michael Berry, Drew Brown, Cameron Perry, Jonah Desneux, Nate Weber, Sam Osbourne, Austin Loar, Mattathias Davis, Brandon Steele, Macee Blair, Parker Hauptman
Mom: “Why is there a Sprite bottle of Cameron’s pee?”
“I don’t understand some of the references, but I like it. They are a really good group of friends. Group of Friends… Friends Group… I get it.”
Brooke: “This made me very happy. I like it because I’m their friend, but I could see where people who didn’t know them would skip it.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: When the first album came out I was so excited because I thought maybe we would get some original songs from it, but we didn’t. This was exactly the thing I was looking for. I do agree that if you don’t know the boys, then you might skip the track. I did have one huge issue with this track: I wish it was solely sung by the member of Friends Group. The fact that there are added people make it a little less exclusive. Nonetheless, the creativity was appreciated and I could really sense all of the boys’s individual personalities in this track.
Track 20- “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” by: Michael Berry, Drew Brown, Cameron Perry, Jonah Desneux, Nate Weber, Sam Osbourne, Austin Loar, Mattathias Davis, Bailey Pelland, Nathan Endreshak, Nick Schneider, Emily Coffin, Julienne Graebner, Marie Kurucz
Mom: “It’s a great song to end the album. And it isn’t too God awful.”
Brooke: “Michael Buble did it better, but this is okay.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: Michael told me that they did this song again because it is my favorite, but I think he might have been lying. It is a really great ending to any Christmas album and always makes me shed a tear.
Bonus Track- “Auld Lang Syne” by: Michael Berry, Drew Brown, Cameron Perry, Jonah Desneux, Nate Weber, Sam Osbourne, Austin Loar, Mattathias Davis
Mom: “What a cheesy group of guys.”
Brooke: “I didn’t know this was a Christmas song.”
Bailey’s Thoughts: This was so touching. It made me so happy that there are such good friends in this world and made me happy that I’m a weird branch of this odd group.
Overall:
Dad: “Stick to the Christmas tracks. No more non-Christmas. It was okay and horrible. How many of these guys are gay?” Me: “Ummm… I’m pretty sure none.” Dad: “Ha. Okay.” Rating: 4/10
Mom: “It was cute. There was a story and some good friends. I could have done without the medley. Only a mother could love Brandon.” Top 3 Songs: 1. “Mistletoe” 2. “Hava Nagila“ 3. “Auld Lang Syne”. Rating: 6/10
Cooper: “It was real good. I like it a lot!” Top Songs: 1. “Frosty the Snowman” 2. “The 12 Days of Friends Group Christmas”. Rating: 28/10 (He’s 3 years old)
Brooke: “This was a lot better than the first one. I am biased because I do know these guys. I just get really proud of everything Michael and Cameron do. I’d love to see this as a movie. ” Top 3 Songs: 1. “Mistletoe and Holly” 2. “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” 3. “Little Drummer Boy”. Rating: 8/10 (For the 8 members of FG!!)
Bailey’s Thoughts: Wow. What an album. It was very cool reviewing this because I was around a lot when Michael was making it. It’s hard to compare this one to “Michael and Cameron Sleigh Christmas” because both albums have such different feels. The first one felt raw and not trying so hard, while this one had such a put together feeling and a creative storyline. Production wise, this album really had it together. Minus a few volume issues, this one has a very clean sound. A lot of work was put into this album and it really shows. I’m endlessly proud of a lot of things Michael does, and this one doesn’t go unnoticed. I really enjoyed this album.
Top Songs: 1. “Winter Wonderland” 2. “Mistletoe” 3.”Mistletoe and Holly” 4. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” 5. “Frosty the Snowman” 6. “Mary, Did You Know?” 7. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
Overall Rating: 8/10
Happy Holidays!
mybaileylife 