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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that there isn't anything objectionable on this CD if all you care about is the content of the songs' lyrics. But unless you have an incredibly high tolerance for schlock, you'll find these tedious, overblown versions of "You've Got a Friend" and "Brown Eyed Girl" a little tough to take. "Flying By" describes the cycle of life -- including death ("Then it's hospital beds, last words said..."), but will probably go over the heads of young kids.

Families can talk about remaking songs. Why do artists feel the need to cover a song? Do you think it helps them or hurts them? Do you think it compromises original creativity or is it a compliment? Families can also listen to the songs "Ready, Set, Don't Go," "The Buffalo," and "Flying By," and talk about important milestones. Parents often have mixed feelings about their children growing up and finding independence, many families have to deal with unexpected layoffs and unemployment, and "Flying By" describes the life cycle in sentimental detail.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Kathi Kamen Goldmark

Billy Ray Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana's dad) gives us 13 family-safe tracks that are so overblown and unimaginatively put forth that it's hard to conceive of anyone making it to the end of the album. With a hard-hitting, thrash-heavy rhythm section and ridiculously over-produced arrangements, HOME AT LAST uses every musical cliché in the book, ultimately sounding more like a send-up of the modern Nashville sound than the real thing.

The album actually starts out with three or four promising tracks. "Ready, Set, Don't Go" describes a loving father's mixed feelings about his teenaged daughter's maturity and desire for independence, and families who like Disney's Hannah Montana show will enjoy it. "The Beginning" is a sentimental love song embracing family and family values. "The Buffalo" explores the painful surprise of getting laid off from a job, and "Flying By" is a guided tour of the life cycle from birth to that gravestone on the hill -- all typical, if unimaginative, contemporary country fare.

But then, Cyrus begins a resolute, heavy-booted tromp through some of contemporary music's best-written songs, turning "Brown Eyed Girl," "You've Got A Friend," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and "Put A Little Love in Your Heart" into pathetic, unintentional parodies. His vocal range covers about four notes, his emotional range is between 5 and 5.2 on a scale of 10, and his songwriting is obvious and pedestrian. Get that Van Morrison "Brown Eyed Girl" out of your head right now, and forget James Taylor's exquisite rendition of Carol King's "You've Got A Friend." Billy Ray Cyrus is here to reinvent the wheel, drive it over a spike in the road, and give it a flat tire.

Hannah Montana fans who feel some loyalty to her dad might want to download the first couple of songs. Then go out and buy great versions of the cover tunes by Van Morrison, Carol King, James Taylor, and Judy Garland. And, for a better country album, check out Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing.

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