Heavy-Hitting Home Alone Covers to Enhance Your Holidays

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As I began my annual post-Thanksgiving dive into the year's new Christmas music, I chanced to discover these two JW covers within 24 hours of each other.

First up is a swinging big band rendition of "Somewhere in my Memory" by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, from their new Christmas album "A Big Phat Christmas - Wrap This." If you can handle jazz with a couple of meandering solos, you'll quite enjoy this comparatively high-energy version of the choral classic:

If you're feeling even more adventurous, check out this surprisingly faithful rendition of the Home Alone main titles by August Burns Red, a punk/metal band. I know absolutely nothing about punk rock or heavy metal, so I might be classifying this incorrectly, but whatever genre it belongs to, this strikes me as an extremely lovingly produced track. It's light-years from the Maestro's style, but also meticulously faithful in its way. Enjoy!

And finally, if you've ever wondered what the end credits suite to a John Williams score for the ultimate Christmas movie would sound like, check out this oddball effort from Michael W. Smith, a Christian music titan from the '80s and '90s whose success convinced him to try his hand at orchestral composition on one of his Christmas albums a few years back. This track, "It's a Wonderful Christmas," plays like a love letter to the Home Alone and Harry Potter scores, and its melodies and use of the orchestra strut right down Main Street in Williamsville. Great stuff:

Merry Christmas season! Keep the change, ya filthy animals!