Music Is Better Than Words is the debut studio album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane. 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. The album features duets with Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles. 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.

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.

Background In 2010, MacFarlane signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records. 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." He also performed the song "You're the Cream in My Coffee" during this appearance.

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 reconstructs 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 sings live. The album was recorded at the Capitol Records Building in the same room in which Sinatra had worked. 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." 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.

Promotion MacFarlane appeared as a guest on Conan on February 10, and performed "The Sadder But Wiser Girl". He also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 27, followed by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 28.

Swingin' in Concert In February 2011, it was announced that MacFarlane would be performing a one-night-only concert titled Seth MacFarlane: Swingin' in Concert at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles on March 26. The show featured a 39-piece orchestra and also a duet with Sara Bareilles. The special aired on September 24 on Epix.

The special earned an Emmy Award nomination in the category Outstanding Music Direction.

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews. Slant Magazine described it as "a novelty record" and wrote, "Collaborating with Joel McNeely on arrangements, MacFarlane casts Music Is Better Than Words as a tribute to the big-band swing and sterling pop of the Rat Pack, but he wisely avoids choosing songs that were recorded by his musical idols. There's a timelessness to the melodies of James Van Heusen's "It's Anybody's Spring" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Something Good," and McNeely's tasteful horn and string arrangements are flawless recreations of the sounds of Sinatra's mid-century records." The review continued with "...the album has nothing to offer beyond MacFarlane's attempts to preserve and honor this particular style of music" and concluded, "Music Is Better Than Words doesn't have any greater purpose than to allow MacFarlane the opportunity to indulge in his desire to record an album of standards."

Spin expressed a dissenting opinion, calling the album "alternately audacious and befuddling... devotees will search in vain for the necrophilia punch lines, while Sinatra fans will search in vain for a plausible explanation." AllMusic wrote: "MacFarlane and McNeely don't attempt to ape the pizzazz of Frank [Sinatra]'s Reprise years, nor do they spend much time with May's snazzy snap, they stick with Riddle and Jenkins, keeping things sentimental and lush even when the words crackle with wit. Then again, MacFarlane is so concerned about inhabiting Sinatra's silken suits he doesn't really care about the meaning of the songs; all that matters is sounding like Ol' Blue Eyes, which MacFarlane does about as well as any number of hotel lounge singers this world over."

Track listing

Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic:

Production

Joel McNeely — arranger, conductor, liner notes, producer Rich Breen – Engineer, mixing Dave Hage – librarian Frank Filipetti – engineer Mike Ging – engineer Gary Lindsay – arranger, consultant, score preparation Bob Ludwig — mastering Charlie Paakkari – assistant engineer Matthew Peak – illustrations Peter Rotter – contractor Paul Smith – assistant engineer David Sporny – consultant Aaron Walk – assistant engineer Autumn de Wilde – photography Booker White – music preparation

Musicians

Seth MacFarlane – vocals Richard Altenbach – violin Sara Bareilles – featured artist Chuck Berghofer – bass Wayne Bergeron – trumpet Alan Broadbent – piano Robert Brophy – viola Roberto Cani – violin Pete Christlieb – sax (tenor) Wade Culbreath – percussion Brian Dembow – viola Bruce Dukov – violin Stephen Erdody – celli Peter Erskine – drums Alan Estes – percussion Dave Everson – horn Chuck Findley – trumpet Marlow Fisher – viola Lorenz Gamma – violin Julie Gigante – violin Endre Granat – violin Adolph Green – composer Henry Gronnier – violin Clayton Haslop – violin Tamara Hatwan – violin Steven Holtman – trombone Dan Higgins – sax (alto) Steven Holtman – trombone Greg Huckins – sax (baritone) Alex Iles – trombone Norah Jones – featured artist Daniel Kelley – horn Larry Koonse – guitar (acoustic) Armen Ksajikian – celli Steve Kujala – flute Phillip Levy – violin Bill Listen – sax (tenor) Warren Luening – trumpet Andrew Martin – trombone Victoria Miskolczy – viola Kenneth Munday – bassoon Helen Nightengale – violin Cheryl Norman – violin Michael Nowak – viola Sid Page – violin Joel Pargman – violin Alyssa Park – violin William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr. – trombone Mark Robertson – violin Julie Rogers – violin Geri Rotella – flute Brian Scanlon – sax (alto) Andrew Shulman – celli David H. Speltz – celli Bob Summers – trumpet Tereza Stanislav – violin James Thatcher – horn Jo Ann Turovsky – harp Josefina Vergara – violin Dave Walther – viola John Walz – celli David Weiss – oboe Roger Wilkie – violin

Chart positions Chart (2011) PeakpositionUS Top Traditional Jazz Albums (Billboard) 2

Release history RegionDateFormat(s)LabelUnited StatesSeptember 27, 2011Universal Republic

References