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Home for Christmas (NSYNC album)

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Home for Christmas
NSYNC members huddled together in front of a green background and red border with Christmas leaves on the corner. Underneath are the words: NSYNC Home For Christmas.
Studio album by
NSYNC
ReleasedNovember 10, 1998 (1998-11-10)
Recorded1998
Genre
Length55:36
Label
Producer
NSYNC chronology
'N Sync
(1997) 		Home for Christmas
(1998) 		The Winter Album
(1998)
Singles from Home for Christmas
  1. "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"
    Released: November 24, 1998 (1998-11-24)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyC[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Home for Christmas is the first Christmas album and second studio album by American boy band NSYNC. The album was released, exclusively in the United States, on November 10, 1998, by RCA Records following the success of their self-titled debut album. On October 27, 1999, Home for Christmas was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA for shipment of two million copies in the United States.[4][5] Home for Christmas was released on September 30, 2002 in the United Kingdom as The Meaning of Christmas on Ariola Express with an altered track listing.[6]

"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" was released as a single in the United States, and in Germany as well, due to its inclusion on the group's German seasonal album, The Winter Album.[7] As of December 2014, Home for Christmas has sold 2.8 million copies in the United States, making it the fifteenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991.[8]

Critical reception

[edit]

During its time of release in 1998, Home for Christmas was met with lukewarm to negative reviews from critics who derided the song lyrics as “sentimental-sounding non sequiturs”[2] and contended the group did not have the same charisma of fellow pop groups like the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls.[1] At Rate Your Music, a website where users submit reviews, Home for Christmas was given a very low rating: 1.43 out of 5.[9] However, critics also praised the album for having eleven original tracks, as well as for its “slickly produced adult contemporary ballads and lite dance-pop”.[1]

In the years since, the album has been commended for the strength of its five-part harmonies, displayed in songs like the group’s a capella of “O Holy Night.”[10][11][12] It is also known as a rare NSYNC album that gives Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass vocal opportunities to shine.[10]

Track listing

[edit]

Most of the lead vocals are provided by Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.

  • "Under My Tree", "I Guess It's Christmas Time" has lead vocals provided by Chris Kirkpatrick
  • "All I Want Is You This Christmas", "It's Christmas" has lead vocals provided by Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone
  • "The Only Gift" has lead vocals provided by Kirkpatrick, Fatone and Lance Bass


Home for Christmas — Standard version
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Home for Christmas"
  • Gary Haase
  • Rozz Morehead
  • John Poppo
  • Danny Madden[a]
4:28
2."Under My Tree"
Veit Renn4:32
3."I Never Knew the Meaning of Christmas"
  • Struken
  • Rogers
4:45
4."Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"
Renn4:12
5."The Christmas Song"
Gary Carolla3:16
6."I Guess It's Christmas Time"
  • Peiken
  • Peter S. Bliss
Carolla3:52
7."All I Want Is You This Christmas"
Renn3:43
8."The First Noel"TraditionalCarolla3:28
9."In Love on Christmas"
Renn4:06
10."It's Christmas"
  • Carolla
  • Ries
4:29
11."O Holy Night"TraditionalRobin Wiley3:33
12."Love's in Our Hearts on Christmas Day"HaaseRenn3:54
13."The Only Gift"
Renn3:51
14."Kiss Me at Midnight"
  • Renn
  • Kenny Lamb
Renn3:28
The Meaning of Christmas — Standard version
No.TitleLength
1."I Guess It's Christmas Time" 
2."Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" 
3."I Never Knew the Meaning of Christmas" 
4."Love's in Our Hearts on Christmas Day" 
5."Home for Christmas" 
6."In Love on Christmas" 
7."The Only Gift" 
8."It's Christmas" 
9."All I Want Is You This Christmas" 
10."God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" (Remix) 
11."Kiss Me at Midnight" 
12."The Christmas Song" 
13."The First Noel" 
14."O Holy Night" 
Notes
  • ^[a] signifies a vocal co-producer

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.[13]

NSYNC

Additional personnel

  • Troy Antunes — bass (track 7)
  • Lou Appel — drums and percussion (track 1)
  • Joey Argero — bass (tracks 5, 6)
  • Alan "Double A" Armitage — mixing assistant (tracks 2–9, 12–14)
  • Billy Ashbaugh — drums (track 7)
  • Adam Barber — engineer (tracks 2, 4, 7, 9, 11–14)
  • Johann Bast — strings (track 12)
  • Tony Battaglia — guitars (track 7)
  • David Bjella — strings (track 12)
  • Joanie Bjella — strings (track 12)
  • Scott Bliege — horns (track 6)
  • Gary Carolla — producer (tracks 5, 6, 8, 10), keyboards and drums (5, 6, 8), arranger (5, 8), vocal arranger (10)
  • Deborah Cole — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Tom Coyne — mastering
  • Frank Delour — drums and percussion (track 1)
  • Rob Dorsey — drums and percussion (track 1)
  • Lisa Ferrigno — strings (track 12)
  • Keith Fluitt — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Andricka Hall — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Lawrence Hamilton — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Matt Harris — assistant engineer (tracks 2–5, 7, 9, 11–14)
  • Al Henberger — engineer (track 3)
  • Ben Holt — assistant engineer (track 1)
  • Manfred Honetschläger — strings arranger and conductor (track 10)
  • John James — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Stephanie James — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Jürgen Kaiser — strings engineer (track 10)
  • Mark Kiczula — assistant engineer (tracks 1, 5)
  • Jim Kimball — engineer (track 11)
  • Steve MacAuley — engineer (track 8)
  • Danny Madden — vocal co-producer (track 1)
  • Pat McMakin — mixing (track 11)
  • Ann Mincieli — assistant engineer (track 1)
  • Frank Motnik — assistant strings engineer (track 10)
  • John Poppo — producer, arranger, engineer, and mixing (track 1)
  • Jim Porreca — engineer (tracks 5, 6), assistant engineer (5)
  • Jason Rea — assistant engineer (track 1)
  • Giles Reaves — assistant engineer (track 11)
  • Mia S. Rebel — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Veit Renn — producer (tracks 2, 4, 7, 9, 12–14), guitar (4), strings arranger and conductor (12)
  • Mike Rew — assistant engineer (track 1)
  • Nicki Richards — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Peter Ries — producer, engineer, mixing, keyboards, and programming (track 10)
  • Evan Rogers — producer (track 3)
  • Don Rogozinski — horns (track 6)
  • Jennie Rudberg — strings (track 12)
  • Peter "Ski" Schwartz — keyboard arrangements, string arrangements, and additional vocal arrangements (track 1)
  • Mark Silverman — assistant engineer (tracks 2–4, 7, 9, 11–14)
  • Andre Smith — additional vocals (track 1)
  • Joe Smith — mixing (tracks 2–9, 12–14)
  • Brian Snapp — saxophone (track 7)
  • Carl Sturken — producer (track 3)
  • Mike Tucker — engineer (tracks 3, 5, 6, 8, 10), additional vocal engineering (1)
  • Voices of Praise — additional choir vocals (track 4)
  • Rex Wertz — horns (track 6)
  • Robin Wiley — producer and arranger (track 11)

Charts

[edit]

Certifications and sales

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[20] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Home for Christmas - *NSYNC". AllMusic. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Willman, Chris (December 4, 1998). "Just Say Noel (Page 2)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  3. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 593. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Boucher, Geoff (April 15, 1999). "The Boys 'N Demand". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  6. ^ The Meaning of Christmas (2002) | NSYNC | MP3 Downloads 7digital United Kingdom Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Amazon.com: Home for Christmas: Music
  8. ^ "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side' Returns to Top 20". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  9. ^ Rohwedder, Kristie (December 1, 2015). "*NSYNC's Xmas Album Is Timeless". Bustle. Bustle Digital Group. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Top 4 Reasons NSync's 'Home For Christmas' Is Still The Best Holiday Album". Hot 104.7. December 23, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  11. ^ Young, Sage (November 9, 2018). "*NSYNC's 'Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays' Video Was Supposed To Be "Cheesy," According To Its Director". Bustle. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Saunders, Nicole (December 7, 2016). "Lance Bass Shares His Holiday Gift Guide & Memories of Making *NSYNC's Christmas Album". Billboard. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  13. ^ Home for Christmas (booklet). Trans Continental, BMG, RCA. 1998.
  14. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7053". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  15. ^ "'N Sync Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "'N Sync Chart History (Top Catalog Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  17. ^ "Nsync - Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  18. ^ "NSync Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  19. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1999". Billboard. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  20. ^ "Canadian album certifications – N SYNC – Home for Christmas". Music Canada. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  21. ^ "American album certifications – 'N SYNC – Home for Christmas". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
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