Music Men review CHS choral department Christmas album "Sounds of the Season"

Gus Creter - Junior, Co-Editor / Parker Johnson - Junior, Layout Editor | Columns

This pandemic-full school year has caused difficulties among school programs all around the world, even here at CHS. One of the most prevalent programs affected is the Michael Choate-run choirs, especially Chamber Choir.

Twice a year -- at Christmastime and in the spring season -- the choirs present a concert for friends and family alike. In a time like this, hundreds of people filling an auditorium for two hours is not viable. Our choir’s way of combating this and avoiding the potential risk of infection was by releasing a Christmas album, rather than doing a live performance in December.

“Sounds of the Season,” presented by the Cookeville High School Choral Department, is an album of famous Christmas songs covered by the voices of CHS’s multiple choir programs. They cover popular tunes such as “O Come Emmanuel,” “Christmastime is Here,” and “O Holy Night.”

The album also includes more obscure songs like “Stars I Shall Find” and “Mary Had A Baby” which adds lots of replay value to the experience, especially for people who are tired of listening to the same basic Christmas songs every holiday season.

The album is composed of group vocals ranging from the Chamber Choir to the Freshman Choir. Features include the TTU Chorale, University Orchestra, and an excellent saxophone solo from CHS alumni Zach Smith. Two songs on the album, “Imagine” and “O Holy Night,” feature soloists, all of which perform very well on their respective songs.

A large reason for the quality of these recordings is a former Cookeville High School student, Ivan LaFever, who mixed and mastered the album. He received a degree in music business and is a music producer. The sound quality of the recordings shows how great of a producer he is, as the layered vocals and crisp sound are just one of the few examples on the album of what a great producer can do.

Most of the songs were recorded at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, a location known for its grand acoustics. It also hosts one of the biggest pipe organs in the Putnam County region, which was used by the head of the CHS Choral Department, Michael Choate, on the album as well.

The Cookeville High School Choral Department’s “Sounds of the Season” is packed with beautiful compositions and layered vocals from choirs with very clear talent. Our combined score for this Christmas time release is 80%.

More Reviews

- The Cookeville High School Choral Department - Sounds of the Season G: 80% P: 80%

- Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red G: 80% P: 65%

- Lil Durk - The Voice G: 65% P: 85%

- Paul McCartney - McCartney III G: 75% P: 75%

- Nana - Save Yourself G: 70% P: 70%

- Navy Blue - Song of Sage: Post Panic! G: 85% P: 60%

G - Gus, P - Parker

Reviewing Process:

We have two main forms of rating an album: by rating each individual track and averaging the scores or by rating the album based on the feeling given off by multiple listens. We may not have the same feelings towards the albums, hence the term “combined score.”

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