Steve Perry's Christmas Album "The Season"

[Final Frontiers]

I can't believe no one else posted this. But Steve Perry is giving his best to you this holiday season.

I read about on Google News but now I can't find the original story with the interview.

https://steveperry.com/#traces

One of the most iconic voices in rock & roll history, Steve Perry has captivated generations with the sheer power of his range and extraordinary warmth of his tone. As the latest turn in a phenomenal career that’s included landing on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Singers of All Time list, fronting Journey during the band’s most massively successful era, and gaining entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the legendary singer/songwriter now returns with The Season: an exquisitely curated holiday album that reveals him as a flawless interpreter of the classic Christmas songbook.

Co-produced by Perry and engineer Thom Flowers, The Season embodies an immaculately arranged and richly nuanced sound inspired by such time-honored holiday albums as Nat King Cole’s The Magic of Christmas. “All the songs on this record were my favorites growing up,” says Perry, who hails from Central California. “I used to hear them on the Philco radio that my grandmother always had on in the kitchen when she was cooking the most amazing holiday food, and because of that they hold a very emotional place in my heart. I wanted to make sure to record them all in a simple way that honors how I first heard and fell in love with them as a child.”

Mainly recorded at Perry’s home studio, The Season came to life in collaboration with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa) and Dallas Kruse (a multi-instrumentalist who also worked with Perry on his acclaimed 2018 album Traces). While most of the album encompasses an understated sonic palette—piano, strings, upright bass—each track leaves an indelible impact thanks to the soulful sincerity of Perry’s vocal work. “One of the things I love most about those traditional recordings is they’re not coming at you like a rock song—they’re just sitting there quietly and inviting you in,” says Perry. “I’d never sung with that much simplicity before, and it was incredibly thrilling to bring that kind of expression to these songs.”


TRACKS
1. The Christmas Song (3:31)
2. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (2:46)
3. Auld Lang Syne (2:06)
4. Winter Wonderland (3:18)
5. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve (3:57)
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (3:02)
7. Silver Bells (5:03)
8. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (1:53)


Available November 5th.

Here's "I'll Be Home For Christmas"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9W27PBrd8


Former Journey frontman Steve Perry is releasing the holiday record The Season, which will arrive in stores on November 5th.

“I hope when people hear this record, they’re teleported in the same way I was when I recorded all these songs,” he says in a statement. “I hope it brings them back to those golden moments with their loved ones and gives them that feeling of joy and connection and comfort that we all need so much.”

The Season features eight holiday standards, including “Winter Wonderland,” “Silver Bells,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” You can hear leadoff single “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” right here.

Recording the album was a deeply nostalgic experience for Perry. “When I was recording vocals for ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’, as I was singing ‘Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree’ … I was emotionally thrown into standing in my grandmother’s house staring through the door that I always hung [with] mistletoe,” he said in a statement, “and then I saw her beautiful Christmas tree in front of her living room window. I had to stop singing because it felt like I was really there. I was a bit stunned. Back home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be!”



https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/journey-steve-perry-the-season-1223676/

I'm only disappointed that there isn't an original song listed. That's where the money $$$$ is on Xmas albums. Mariah Carey knows this. A nice bouncy uptempo party song is what's needed as the lead single.

[bellairepark73]

Actually it was posted in the JOURNEY thread of all places!!! And they were talking up a storm about it.

Glad you finally posted about it. For awhile I couldn't get back in here.

I can't believe no one else posted this. But Steve Perry is giving his best to you this holiday season.

I read about on Google News but now I can't find the original story with the interview.

https://steveperry.com/#traces

One of the most iconic voices in rock & roll history, Steve Perry has captivated generations with the sheer power of his range and extraordinary warmth of his tone. As the latest turn in a phenomenal career that’s included landing on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Singers of All Time list, fronting Journey during the band’s most massively successful era, and gaining entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the legendary singer/songwriter now returns with The Season: an exquisitely curated holiday album that reveals him as a flawless interpreter of the classic Christmas songbook.

Co-produced by Perry and engineer Thom Flowers, The Season embodies an immaculately arranged and richly nuanced sound inspired by such time-honored holiday albums as Nat King Cole’s The Magic of Christmas. “All the songs on this record were my favorites growing up,” says Perry, who hails from Central California. “I used to hear them on the Philco radio that my grandmother always had on in the kitchen when she was cooking the most amazing holiday food, and because of that they hold a very emotional place in my heart. I wanted to make sure to record them all in a simple way that honors how I first heard and fell in love with them as a child.”

Mainly recorded at Perry’s home studio, The Season came to life in collaboration with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa) and Dallas Kruse (a multi-instrumentalist who also worked with Perry on his acclaimed 2018 album Traces). While most of the album encompasses an understated sonic palette—piano, strings, upright bass—each track leaves an indelible impact thanks to the soulful sincerity of Perry’s vocal work. “One of the things I love most about those traditional recordings is they’re not coming at you like a rock song—they’re just sitting there quietly and inviting you in,” says Perry. “I’d never sung with that much simplicity before, and it was incredibly thrilling to bring that kind of expression to these songs.”


TRACKS
1. The Christmas Song (3:31)
2. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (2:46)
3. Auld Lang Syne (2:06)
4. Winter Wonderland (3:18)
5. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve (3:57)
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (3:02)
7. Silver Bells (5:03)
8. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (1:53)


Available November 5th.

Here's "I'll Be Home For Christmas"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9W27PBrd8


Former Journey frontman Steve Perry is releasing the holiday record The Season, which will arrive in stores on November 5th.

“I hope when people hear this record, they’re teleported in the same way I was when I recorded all these songs,” he says in a statement. “I hope it brings them back to those golden moments with their loved ones and gives them that feeling of joy and connection and comfort that we all need so much.”

The Season features eight holiday standards, including “Winter Wonderland,” “Silver Bells,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” You can hear leadoff single “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” right here.

Recording the album was a deeply nostalgic experience for Perry. “When I was recording vocals for ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’, as I was singing ‘Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree’ … I was emotionally thrown into standing in my grandmother’s house staring through the door that I always hung [with] mistletoe,” he said in a statement, “and then I saw her beautiful Christmas tree in front of her living room window. I had to stop singing because it felt like I was really there. I was a bit stunned. Back home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be!”



https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/journey-steve-perry-the-season-1223676/

I'm only disappointed that there isn't an original song listed. That's where the money $$$$ is on Xmas albums. Mariah Carey knows this. A nice bouncy uptempo party song is what's needed as the lead single.

[Final Frontiers]

Ahhh, The Journey forum, a land of contradictions. They want Steve Perry to sing, but "No, no that way"

[bellairepark73]

Ahhh, The Journey forum, a land of contradictions. They want Steve Perry to sing, but "No, no that way"

Precisely. "Oh Steve could sing the phone book and I would _____" fill in the blank crap.

By the way...pre-orders for Steve's holiday album are...sold out. Think about that.

[Memorex]

https://twitter.com/StevePerryMusic/sta ... cdUVg&s=01

[bellairepark73]

https://twitter.com/StevePerryMusic/status/1450516380202061828?t=1RPoBzIBT_V_1z-SacdUVg&s=01

He looks great there. He seems to be back, hustling. Signing postcards outside instead of being inside of whatever building the garage is attached to.

[bellairepark73]

Steve will be LIVE in a YouTube chat 6pm PST on his YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/fbjSrjOS4Zw

[indigo]

This reviewer didn't like Seasons at all. A lump of coal in his stocking this year.

https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/ ... he-season/


Does the world need a Steve Perry Christmas record? Beyond the shadow of any human doubt … no. It doesn’t.

The Season
Steve Perry
Fantasy Records, Nov. 5
5/10

His loyal fans–of which there are many–might think they need Perry’s new holiday record, cleverly titled The Season, which is fine. There’s lots of ways to celebrate the holidays. If soft, perfunctory, joylessness is your thing, buy away.

The holidays and the accompanying music are supposed to be fun. They’re supposed to make your heart leap and want to love humankind, not doze off.



But here’s the thing: On paper, this record probably sounded like a great idea. Let’s see what happens when one of the few human beings so truly gifted with an absolutely golden voice takes on a collection of songs that make us remember our fondest memories and ensure, at least once a year, we’ll be nice to one another.

That should make it even worse. Because Steve Perry has a voice so beautiful it can, theoretically, make one believe Jesus was born without a biological father. But its expressiveness works against him when he just doesn’t seem to care. That seems to be the case on 30 to 40 percent of The Season.

But that voice … after a while, his soft jazz approach to Christmas music just starts to work you over, like a relentless massage eventually relaxing stubborn muscles.



The former Journey singer and Bay Area legend–he is, he deserves that much–kicks off his holiday effort with “The Christmas Song,” barebones with piano and a cadence that makes it lilt sideways at times (Dean Martin gets away with it, but it doesn’t work here). “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” just sort of exists, with a new part thrown in to fulfill one of the necessary criteria of cover records: Do it differently or do it better than anyone ever did. It’s soft, but not in a sparkly George Michael pining for last Christmas kind of soft.

Perry’s version of “Auld Lang Syne” couldn’t do less in terms of evoking the hope that accompanies a new year. “Winter Wonderland” is just gross, adult contemporary music barely fit for a department store elevator.

But Steve Perry begins sounding like he cares a bit on “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” He stretches his voice some and sounds natural for the first time on the record. Then on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” a few musicians/arrangers must’ve stopped by with a bottle of eggnog and got Perry loose (yes, he sounds like Sam Cooke, an apt comparison he’s been getting since the ’70s whether we like it or not).



Perry delivers a fine “Silver Bells,” though he doesn’t seem to care much about his timing and isn’t jazzy enough to use that as an excuse. But for the lovers of that voice, it won’t matter.

Perry’s holiday effort ends with a slightly disjointed and short “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Again, you can question the effort, but the voice is still there.

[Andrew]

Soft jazz - devil's music

Christmas music - devil's farts

Christmas Jazz albums - the apocalypse.

[bellairepark73]

https://people.com/music/steve-perry-re ... mas-album/

[Aaron]

I have purchased multiple copies of every CD Perry has released forever. I'm just not sure I can pull the trigger on this one.

Soft jazz - devil's music

Christmas music - devil's farts

Christmas Jazz albums - the apocalypse.

[bellairepark73]

I have purchased multiple copies of every CD Perry has released forever. I'm just not sure I can pull the trigger on this one.

Soft jazz - devil's music

Christmas music - devil's farts

Christmas Jazz albums - the apocalypse.

You might be too late if you were planning on getting any version of it from Target. The signed CDs are sold out....again.. A lot of the albums are gone too.

[Andrew]

I have purchased multiple copies of every CD Perry has released forever. I'm just not sure I can pull the trigger on this one.

Soft jazz - devil's music

Christmas music - devil's farts

Christmas Jazz albums - the apocalypse.

Its a nope from me. The only hole in my Journey/Perry discography.

[Marabelle]

Did you ever think Andrew that a person needs to find their way back to where they want to be?

[Andrew]

Did you ever think Andrew that a person needs to find their way back to where they want to be?

Not sure what you’re talking about.

If you’re talking Perry Christmas, I still don’t know what you’re talking about.

[bellairepark73]

Album is at #80 on billboard charts as per official BILLBOARD Twitter account

[bellairepark73]

https://themusicuniverse.com/steve-perr ... ard-chart/

[Marabelle]

Wow! He should be very happy with this!

[bellairepark73]

https://www.facebook.com/10004444575922 ... 527924969/

[brywool]

This reviewer didn't like Seasons at all. A lump of coal in his stocking this year.

https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/ ... he-season/

Sorry PerryHeads, but I agree with this reviewer. NOT because it's a Christmas album, but because it really does seem so downcast. And I'm a huge Perry fan.

[bellairepark73]

Positive album reviews: https://michaelcavacini.com/2021/11/07/ ... he-season/

https://www.heraldstandard.com/entertai ... 52286.html

[bellairepark73]

Steve's album The Season is now being advertised on TV
https://youtu.be/BD5owRRHIUc

[Marabelle]

I think he’s enjoying and recognizing his talent once again. He seems in better spirits and experimenting with his voice.