Review: Pentatonix: On My Way Home

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I’m a big fan of a cappella, singing without instrumental accompaniment. (You may see it as acapella or a capella, but the correct form is the Italian two word phrase, meaning without music. Oh, and the second word is correctly written as  cappella — 2 p’s and 2 l’s.)

Our younger son, who was President of the Texas A&M Singing Cadets during his senior year, always thrilled me when he sang a cappella. Since he sings bass 2 and is talented at beat boxing, I was thrilled when I discovered Pentatonix with their combination of beat boxing, a cappella, and harmony.

Pentatonix: On My Way Home

I watched the film on Netflix. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it on Amazon, but it is on Vimeo On Demand so you can rent or buy it there if you don’t subscribe to Netflix. The Pentatonix official website has links also to the tour documentary, the group’s latest videos, and buy links to the online music stores.

The documentary, directed by Devin Chanda, Matt Mitchenor, and James Rothman, is an affectionate portrait of these Grammy Award-winners and platinum selling recording artists. The film follows them on their 2015 sold out North American tour.

Pentatonix–composed of Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Kirstie Maldonado, and Kevin Olusola–hit the public consciousness in 2011. They’ve sold more than 2 million albums in the U.S., and their YouTube channel has nearly 1 billion views. If you’re not familiar with them, watch some of their videos. (I’m just 1 of their 8.1 million+ subscribers to their YouTube channel.)

The documentary shows their journey from talented children to adults who have been called “unlikely rock stars.” Three of them were childhood friends, and two joined in their late teens. Avi’s sister is tour director. As Pentatonix, or PTX, they are bound by love of music, talent, friendship, and family ties.

By the way, their Grammy was for “Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella” for their “Daft Punk” medley. Not only are they talented singers, but they do their own arrangements. Now you can add song writers to their resume.

New Album

Released just last week, Pentatonix (Deluxe Version), their new album of original songs, is already #1 on Amazon music and #3 on iTunes. This is the album they worked on while on tour, and I’ve already added it to my playlist.

Since the holidays are approaching, now is a great time to pick up their holiday album, That’s Christmas To Me, which sold more than a million copies in the U. S. and became 1 of only 4 albums to go platinum in 2014.

Takeaway Truth

Have I raved enough about this amazingly talented group? Just watch some of their “evolution of…” music videos or sample their albums. I think you’ll be convinced to add them to your music library.