Home for Christmas (NSYNC album)

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. 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.

"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. 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.

Critical reception

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” and contended the group did not have the same charisma of fellow pop groups like the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls. At Rate Your Music, a website where users submit reviews, Home for Christmas was given a very low rating: 1.43 out of 5. 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”.

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.” It is also known as a rare NSYNC album that gives Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass vocal opportunities to shine.

Track listing

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

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a vocal co-producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from album’s liner notes.

NSYNC

• Lance Bass – backing and occasional lead vocals (bass)
• JC Chasez – lead and backing vocals (first tenor/melody)
• Joey Fatone – backing and occasional lead vocals (baritone)
• Chris Kirkpatrick – backing and lead vocals (countertenor/falsetto)
• Justin Timberlake – lead and backing vocals (second tenor/melody)

Additional personnel

Charts

Certifications and sales

References