Holidays!

Brave Combo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 8, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder Select
• ASIN: B000BFNZ8I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #309,031 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, chronological journey through our favorite days of the year, November 22, 2005

By 

J. Ross "a-music_fan" (Roseburg, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holidays! (Audio CD)

Playing Time - 53:55 -- When Brave Combo first formed in 1979 in Denton, Texas, they were called a New Wave polka band. However, a quarter century later, they've proven they are much more. Your hear influences of country, jazz, rock `n' roll, surf, blues, Celtic, Tex-Mex, Latin, Klezmer, big band, and salsa in their music. And there's a good measure of the novelty element too. So that explains Brave Combo's moniker and cryptic genre, but it's really not that baffling. Behind the scenes, I suspect that the band is very serious about their tunes. It shows in their arrangements and musicianship. For us, music is a rather personal thing, and we usually listen to it for enjoyment and stimulation. "Holidays!" succeeds because there's something for everyone. Brave Combo's prime directive is to "break down people's perceptions about what's cool to like in music.... to shake up people's ideas about what they label hip, or right or wrong." They also say that acceptance of polka and other dance rhythms can help bring about world peace. If people start dancing together, they'll also learn to respect each other's cultures too. So put your inhibitions and restraints aside...Get up and cut a rug.

"Holidays!" gives us a fun, chronological journey through our favorite days of the year. They begin with "Auld Lang Syne" and "New Year's Polka," then take us through 19 cuts to "Mambo in a Brand New Year." But what happened to Martin Luther King Day in January? That's one of my favorite winter days off from work. Hey guys, it's not too late to pen a song called "MLK Porter," a tribute to the homebrewed beer that was started in a friend's garage that day. And where is the tribute to Veteran's Day? How P.C. is it to jump right from Halloween ("Vampire Twist") to "Thanksgiving Day." While definitely eccentric, they have built a legion of fans who like the outlandish with a grooving, danceable beat. Dr. Demento would appreciate them too.

The package includes Larry King's liner notes about making the CD. As producer of the TM Comedy Central Network, he was on the lookout for good original songs that met their criteria for morning radio shows. Brave Combo is Jeffrey Barnes, Alan Emert, Carl Finch, Bubba Hernandez, and Danny O'Brien. Guests on Holidays! include Rob Avsharian, Joe Cripps, Milo Deering, and a whole host of background singers. With over a dozen albums out on the Rounder label, Holidays! is a playful phantasm of foolish and often frenetic festivity. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR)

5.0 out of 5 stars Holiday music, not just for Christmas anymore!, November 22, 2005

By 

D. Sloan (PORTLAND, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holidays! (Audio CD)

When I saw this on a random search for Christmas tunes on Amazon recently, I thought it was another Christmas album by Brave Combo (I saw Santa on the cover and looked no further, plus they had already done the excellent "It's Christmas, Man!" in 1992). But I ordered it anyway, because well, I'll buy ANYTHING the Brave Combo put out - they're that good. And I was very pleasantly surprised. It is a "holidays" album, emphasis on the "s," with songs from all year `round, like the swingin' "Groundhog, Groundhog," the goofy "Vampire Twist," and the boppin' "New Year's Polka." Nineteen tracks in all, most of them brilliant - some touching, most funny, and all with the high level of musicianship I've come to expect from these guys. My only thought is, "how will I use this?" I can't just put it on around Christmas like other "holiday" CDs, but instead I'll be pulling it off the shelf throughout the year, one song at a play, for anyone I can get to sit down (or dance around) and listen. I guarantee the kids will be loving "I'm A Bunny Rabbit" at the very least. Pick this up; you won't regret it! And if you're not already a fan, check out all their other releases, incredible fun for your money, always guaranteed to put a smile on your face. (And I'm not even a polka fan, I prefer hard rock!) As major band member Carl Finch says in the Editorial Review, "Have fun. Stop worrying so much."