Composition
Acoustic Hearts of Winter is musically based on Christmas music with pop, pop rock and teen pop inclinations. All songs were produced by Antonina Armato and Tim James. Aly & AJ, along with executive producers Armato and James, adapted and arranged most of the cover songs on the album. Many of the songs incorporate heavy instrumentation, such as guitar, cello, percussion, bass, and piano. The album is mainly composed of cover versions of Christmas carols and contemporary holiday classics, while two original numbers are included. "Joy to the World", "We Three Kings", "The First Noel", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "Silent Night" are religious traditional carols. Also included are the traditional "Deck the Halls", as well as "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "The Little Drummer Boy", originally performed by Harry Simeone and "Let It Snow", notably performed by Vaughan Monroe.
The album's opening number "Greatest Time of Year", the first of the album's two originals, was written by Aly & AJ, Armato, and James. The second original and closing track, "Not This Year" is a reflection about past Christmases, and how the current is different. According to the duo, the song is dedicated to their grandmother Carmen, who died on Christmas Eve a few years previous. On the 2007 edition of the album exclusively available at retailer Target, the traditionals "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland" were bonus tracks, as well as "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", originally performed by Brenda Lee.
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