Genre: Classical

Sometimes you just want ambiance – during a dinner party or a get-together where chatting is meant to take center stage. Either way, background music is the unsung hero that makes these events fabulous. What makes great background music? It has to be unobtrusive, melodic, interesting and memorable – but only slightly. The 5 Browns collection of Hollywood hits is a fine contribution to this often overlooked market.

Who are The 5 Browns? They are the first 5-sibling family to ever attend Juilliard at the same time. Impressive, right? The overall look of the quintet is slightly farmboy-heads-to-the-big-city, though I assume they are much cooler in person – a feel that translates to their overall sound quality quite easily. And, of course, there’s no denying the talent.

As far as individual songs are concerned, however, I wasn’t totally thrilled. The 5 Browns are good, but it takes something great to make a piano-based Stormtrooper really stomp in the ‘Star Wars Suite for 5 Pianos.’ Perhaps it was an issue with the CD, but I did not hear passion, urgency or anger. I heard pianos (I could never really differentiate how many were playing at once) trying to play a song never meant for them.

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The theme of too-soft CD-quality sound stretched pretty much throughout the ‘5 Browns in Hollywood’ CD for me. I had to crank it up to decibels never-before-used on my radio just to hear the lower notes only to have my eardrums blasted by the higher ones. I played it on my home player, my computer player, my car player and a full surround-sound system at (don’t laugh) my local knitting store. The ladies loved it because it was a sweet departure from the normal classic ambiance we were used to, but the latest episode of ‘Vampire Diaries’ sparked more attention than the CD playing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ or a collage of Disney Princess waltzes.

That’s not to say 'The 5 Browns in Hollywood' is bad at all. I could picture each of the 5 Browns smiling gently on their benches, gently fingering the keys and bopping their heads to the delightful beats. The performances contained an air of whimsy and playfulness, even when the songs did not call for them. While the 5 Browns don’t have that center-stage wow factor for me, they do have some pretty confident aspirations to even attempt to consider such song classics. I was impressed with the ability of their music to lighten my mood and relax me.

‘5 Browns in Hollywood’ faded into the background, which is exactly what good ambient music is supposed to do. It was unobtrusive and melodic, but it was not memorable in the way good background music should be. You have to notice ambiance in order to appreciate it. Perhaps in person, these 5 Browns are electric, engaging and powerful, but on a CD, they fall a little flat for my tastes.

Click here to listen online and decide for yourself: 5 Browns in Hollywood