Music Is Better Than Words
Music Is Better Than Words is the debut studio album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane.[1] The album contains songs from the Great American Songbook, and features standards by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe, among other 1940s and ’50s-era show tunes.[2] The album features duets with Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles.[3] The album was produced and conducted by film and television composer Joel McNeely, who is also one of the composers of American Dad!, an animated TV series co-created by MacFarlane.
Music Is Better Than Words
September 27, 2011
December 10–13, 2010
48:29
On November 30, 2011, the album received two nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.[4]
Background[edit]
In 2010, MacFarlane signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records.[5] On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he announced he was working with Universal Republic Records in putting together a big band album after signing a record deal. MacFarlane explained, "It's rare in this day and age to have the opportunity to create an album that celebrates the classic, sophisticated sound of rich, lush swing orchestrations. It will be an absolute joy to sing this music, and I look forward to working with the entire team at Universal Republic on what we intend to make an exceptional project."[6] He also performed the song "You're the Cream in My Coffee" during this appearance.[7]
When Universal Republic Records asked MacFarlane what kind of album he wanted to do, he said "a classic Sinatra-style album". The production process for the album will reconstruct the techniques used in the 40s and 50s by utilizing a live orchestra and a big band playing together in the same room where MacFarlane will sing live. The album was recorded at the Capitol Records Building in the same room in which Sinatra had worked.[8] Moreover, MacFarlane recorded the vocals for Music Is Better Than Words with the microphone that Sinatra used on many of his classic albums. In an interview with Joseph Llanes from AOL he said, "That mic is over 60 years old and you can see it. But it has a really nice, dark sound to it. It really plays a significant part on how this stuff sounds. You don't want it to sound too crisp. We did a lot in the recording of this album to make sure it was not too perfect. We recorded to analog tape as opposed to recording digitally because we wanted a little bit of a hiss."[9] In addition, MacFarlane and McNeely wrote additional lyrics and melodies to "She's Wonderful Too". The song was written by McNeely for an episode of the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. George Lucas gave them his blessing, to make the song more new and complete.[10]