''Reason for the Season'' is the third solo studio album by American musician

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasal tenor and occasional bas ...

, co-founder of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

. It was released on October 26, 2018. The album contains traditional Christmas carols, new songs, and re-recordings of " Little St. Nick" (from ''

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album ''The Beach Boys' Christmas Album'' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released November 9, 1964 on Capitol Records. It contains five original songs and seven standards on a Christmas theme. The album proved t ...

'') and " Alone on Christmas Day", an unreleased song recorded by

in 1977. The album was released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

and clear

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

with red and green splatter. The album was primarily recorded in Love's home studio on Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It features Love's children — Ambha, Brian, Christian and Hayleigh — who provide choral voices on five tracks, and his sister Maureen as the harpist on "

O Holy Night "O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a well-known sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that co ...

". It also features a guest appearance by

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

on "Finally It's Christmas", the title track to their 2017 Christmas album. Earlier in 2018, Love collaborated with Hanson on a re-recording of The Beach Boys' " It's OK". Hanson also recorded "Little St. Nick" for their 1997 Christmas album, '' Snowed In''. The cover photo of the

Aurora Borealis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

was taken by Brian Love off an island in Norway. The back cover features a photo of Mike Love as a child playing with

Lionel Trains Lionel, LLC is an American designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads that is headquartered in Concord, North Carolina. Its roots lie in the 1969 purchase of the Lionel product line from the Lionel Corporation by cereal conglomerat ...

under a Christmas tree. Love released music videos for the title track and "Finally It's Christmas". The album reached #4 on '' Billboard''s Holiday Album Chart and #6 on the Independent Albums Chart. Kevin Coffey of the ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...

'' included it in his list of the best new Christmas music of 2018. Love and

Bruce Johnston Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...

’s Beach Boys touring band performed tracks from this album during their 2018, 2019, 2021 & 2022 holiday tours.

Track listing

Personnel

*Mike Love – vocals *

– backing vocals *

Scott Totten Scott Totten (born in Orange County, California) is an American musician, best known for his work as musical director, singer and guitarist in the current Beach Boys touring band, which features original Beach Boy Mike Love and later addition ...

– guitar, percussion, backing vocals *

Jeffrey Foskett Jeffrey Foskett (February 17, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as a touring and studio musician for Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys since the 1980s. Foskett was described as the Beach Boys' "vice principal" ...

– rhythm guitar, vocals *

John Cowsill John Cowsill (born March 2, 1956) is an American musician, best known for his work as a singer and drummer with his siblings' band The Cowsills. He has been a drummer and vocalist for The Beach Boys touring band, which featured original Beach Boy ...

– drums *Pete Min – 12-string guitar *Jebin Bruni – keyboards *Maureen Love – harp *

Kaveh Rastegar Kaveh Rastegar is a Persian-American Grammy-nominated songwriter, record producer, composer, and bass guitarist. Rastegar was born in Montreal and raised in Denver, Colorado. He currently resides in the Los Angeles/Pasadena area with his fiancé ...

– drums * Michael Lloyd – bass guitar, drums, guitar, harp, backing vocals *Brian Eichenberger – bass guitar, backing vocals *Tim Bonhomme – keyboards, piano *Abe Rounds – drums *Josh Edmondson – guitar *Randy Leago – saxophone, flute *Keith Hubacher – bass guitar *Christian Love – lead and backing vocals *Brian Love – lead and backing vocals *Hayleigh Love – lead and backing vocals *Ambha Love – lead and backing vocals *

– backing vocals on "Finally It's Christmas" *Matthew Jordan – arrangements, backing vocals, keyboards

References

{{Mike Love 2018 Christmas albums Mike Love albums Pop rock Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists BMG Rights Management albums Albums produced by Michael Lloyd (music producer) Albums produced by Scott Totten