I considered petitioning my fantastic editor to allow me to submit a one-word review for Back to Back, the latest release by The Hyannis Sound featuring two "classes" of groups with recordings of members from '21 and '22. I was going to write three capital letters in the middle of the page, possibly add a mic emoji and the hashtag #iykyk.

So here's the modified, acceptable version of that:

MAX

I mean, I really don't have much else to say about the album. I think there are other people singing on it, but I'm not completely sure. I flashed white behind the eyelids twice listening to Somewhere Over the Rainbow (which also has a completely separate importance as I got to sing it at my grandmother's 100th birthday party six months before she passed). So if I wasn't already a ghey, a musical theatre professional, and a Judy Garland fan, listening to Max Pinson put his stamp on the song would have been transcendental enough. He's joined the ranks of the phenomenal Sam Harris of Star Search fame. BUT THEN the boy lays us flat with The Scientist. I cried. So there's that.

I haven't been so taken with an HS guy's voice in a number of years, so here's adding Max P to the likes of Samrat, Alfredo, Roo, Micah C, Greg B, Victor S, Matt G and Jon S.

But there is a lot to love on the album and some to raise a chiseled left eyebrow on.

The Hyannis Sound is taking a wide swing by engaging in some of the most iconic women-led anthems of the past 60 years. Some completely grabbed me as they will you like the aforementioned Somewhere Over the Rainbow and the Dollified 9 to 5 which is in itself making a resurgence in 2024 with the recent Pitbull/|Dolly Parton collaboration. (Who knew that was what we needed?) I Feel the Earth Move is pleasant enough. It's never been one of my favorite songs but it's doing its thing. But I'm still grappling with I Will Survive. I know I should love it. Jarrell Green is a force and is living their best life in this song and the arrangement by Noah Berg is amazing. But I just don't for some reason.

Everything else about the album is pretty brilliant. Some of the tracks in the second half of the album are a little bit indulgent clocking in at the 5-minute mark or thereabouts. But when you have tremendous arrangers like Matt Goldstein and Noah Berg churning out the hits, Tim Bongiovanni and Ed Boyer producing, Alfredo and Jeff Eames editing, and David Sperandio taking the final project and going blahdow with his mastering genius, all you have to do is show up to show out.

And even though it sounds fine, the only track that seems out of place on this album is L-O-V-E. It's not bad — we find out that not only is Green a superb soloist, but an adept arranger as well. The song just isn't giving me the same vibe as the rest of the tracks working together.

Getting to experience Hyannis Sound music is such a treat, and Back to Back is just the latest in a long line of successful studio albums.

As a reviewer, these are the kinds of albums that are hardest to write about. Hyannis Sound is one of my favorite groups. This summer group from Cape Cod has delivered time and time again. Their formula is a combination of amazing musicians, stellar arranging, and a seemingly endless supply of crowd favorites sure to please listeners of all ages. However, as I'm listening to Back to Back, I'm constantly finding myself balancing between being impressed with the musicians and disliking the product. The award-winning formula is present, but there's just something missing that makes the album feel less shiny than other releases.

If you want original recipe Hyannis Sound, look no further than 9 to 5. This piece is just so much fun. Jacob Lamb paints a vocal masterpiece as the soloist, and alumnus Matt Goldstein arranged a soundscape that continues to grow and evolve. This song has the familiarity of the Dolly Parton original but is constantly filled with little twists and turns to make the piece almost feel original. Hyannis Sound elevates every element, making it explode out of the speakers with gumption and zest for life. This is a piece that is so fun, it makes me forget how much I like my job and want to quit it to jauntily walk around the downtown of a large city with excitement for the future.

On the opposite of the emotional spectrum, we have Unchained Melody. This piece captures all of the raw sincerity of the Righteous Brothers original. Alumnus Jared Graveley's arrangement is comforting and warm. The group provides a lush background for soloist Lamb (again) to lay their heart bare for the world to see. We also have Danny's Song, a tale of a father's unconditional love for a child. This piece is a bit of a slow burn, but Colin Watts sells every second of this solo. The final minute of the piece is transcendent — Watts belts some notes that mere mortals can only dream of. Every moment of this piece is uplifting and comforting.

However, the longer I listened to this album, the more I realized what I disliked about it. The back half of Back to Back is long, both metaphorically and literally. The average length of time for the last six tracks of the album is over five minutes. However, length isn't an indication of whether a song is good or bad. Each of these songs just has so many ideas thrown in those five minutes. Consider Summer of '69. This piece would have been my favorite on the album if it had stopped at about the 3:30 mark with a delightful pensive ending that perfectly mirrors the opening phrases. It has a sense of finality. Instead, we are greeted with approximately a minute of nostalgic background noise at a summer get-together. This is then met with a reprise of the chorus that revives the big energy of the piece before fading out into nothing at the end. It's like the group couldn't decide on which ending for the piece the arranger wrote, so they figured out a way to do both.

(I've Had) The Time of My Life is very vamp-heavy and features a call-and-response that doesn't add to the song. In fact, I dislike a large swath of the album because this release has so many ideas that would probably work much better with a live audience. A vamp is a great time for crowd work. However, it loses appeal without something driving the piece forward. There are so many ideas, but not always a good bridge between all of them. The result is good moments that somehow feel disjointed. Are any of these ideas bad? No, but when strung together over the length of an album, it can get a bit jarring. It took multiple full-length listens to understand why I was frustrated with the Back to Back, but we got there.

Overall, this album still has many of the things that make Hyannis Sound the musical powerhouse that it is. You have top-notch soloists and some unreal musical moments. However, the songs become oversaturated with ideas and lose some of that natural flow and storytelling. It's an album that I would find myself absentmindedly listening to for a little while before perking up my ears at the best moments, but not one I would seek out and listen to consistently and with full focused intent. Take a listen, find your favorite moments, and see if you agree.

Even a single score at RARB can have a decent range in what it may mean succinctly. A "5", for example, sometimes just barely makes the cut to "excellent" status, and sometimes the score feels simply undeniable. The Hyannis Sound has a history of albums landing in the latter category, and this status ironically can lead to a group receiving more scrutiny than up-and-coming ones. But even with all the scrutiny and cynicism I can muster, Back to Back is still undeniably excellent.

Every song on this album has vision, intention, and coherence. Livin' on a Prayer is an almost cinematic journey in a 4-minute track, while L-O-V-E is an unassuming and cheery bop that doesn't overstay its limited welcome. Somewhere Over the Rainbow has just enough flourish and crunch to differentiate itself from the pack of covers, while restraining itself enough to not step on the toes of the beautiful solo by Max Pinson. The Summer of '69 and (I've Had) The Time of My Life form a double feature that functions two purposes: (a) a reminder of The Hyannis Sound's ability to turn even the most overdone/unremarkable song choices into masterpiece performances, and (b) a possibly implied heartfelt tribute to the group's own fleeting time together every summer.

This is the standard of The Hyannis Sound. Back to Back isn't just a great default with standout tracks — every track serves exactly the purpose it requires at exactly the right time.

It's often much harder to review an album as consistent, polished, emotive, and breathtaking as The Hyannis Sound's release. I approach writing reviews through the lens of a coach — how does one pull improvement out of the project, so that the next project can top it? In Back to Back, there's almost nothing to say in this realm. It's hard to even recommend that the group not get complacent and keep pushing, because the group does manage to keep evolving and improving. Even my limited nitpicks on Detour are noticeably absent here. Maybe the intro to I Will Survive is a bit awkward and drags without development for too long. Maybe Danny's Song's lyrical content and context leaves just barely too big shoes to fill for Colin Watts's solo (albeit beautiful in its own right). Maybe L-O-V-E's final moments are just barely too big and pompous for what's otherwise a much cooler and more collected track. But overall, what more can be said here?

Actually, there is one more thing: the album can debatably go borderline too far in its grandeur. The group makes every one of these songs a spectacular, standalone epic where possible. This album is so full to bursting with ideas, that it could be (understandably) too much for listeners looking for a more focused project. None of this bothered me here — in fact, I loved it. Unlike Detour, where some individual songs started throwing in too many ideas at once, each song on Back to Back has a good sense of scope and limitations. This album chooses to be epic and is so successful at it that I was on board with how brazen it is as a whole. All that being said ... I'm not sure how I'll feel if the group's next album does the same thing again. That eclectic epic-ness can become stale if overused. Here, however, I am a big fan.

Back to Back may not be my favorite album I've reviewed at RARB, but it's certainly the one I've had the hardest time with which to find a flaw. There are too many soloists, too many arrangers, and too many production credits to shout out here individually for their work. But it shows — it takes an army to perform, record, and produce a project this good. And here, it clearly took one.