Homecoming (America album)
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Homecoming
| type = studio
| artist = America
| cover = AmericaHomecoming.jpg
| alt =
| released = November 15, 1972
| recorded = 1972
| studio = The Record Plant, Los Angeles{{cite web | url=http://www.accessbackstage.com/america/album/album30a.htm | title=Album Information - Highway: 30 Years of America }}
| venue =
| genre = Folk rock, soft rock
| length = 33:06
| label = Warner Bros.
| producer = America
| prev_title = America
| prev_year = 1972
| next_title = Hat Trick
| next_year = 1973
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Homecoming
| type = studio
| single1 = Ventura Highway
| single1date = October 1972{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/16/mode/2up?q=Allman+brothers|title=Great Rock Discography|page=16}}
| single2 = Don't Cross the River
| single2date = January 1973
| single3 = Only in Your Heart
| single3date = April 1973
}}
}}
Homecoming is the second studio album by America, released on November 15, 1972, through Warner Bros. Records. Acoustic guitar-based, with a more pronounced electric guitar and keyboard section than their first album, their second effort helped continue the band's success, and includes one of their best known hits, "Ventura Highway".
Homecoming peaked at number 9 on Billboard{{'}}s Pop Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the RIAA. It produced three hit singles: "Ventura Highway", which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard singles chart and number 3 on the adult contemporary chart; "Don't Cross the River", which hit number 35 on Billboard and 23 on the AC chart; and "Only in Your Heart" peaked at number 62 on Billboard's Pop singles chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "To Each His Own", "California Revisited", and "Cornwall Blank".
For this album and the next six throughout the next five years, the group traditionally chose titles beginning with the letter "H" (the self-titled debut album became unofficially included in this distinction when fans started referring to it as the "Horse with No Name" album when that track was added to later pressings).
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{AllMusic |class=album |tab=review |first=David |last=Cleary |title= Homecoming > Review |id=r514 |accessdate=August 15, 2011}}
| rev2 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Charles R.|author-link=Charles R. Cross|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|chapter=America|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/16 16]}}
}}
In his AllMusic review music critic David Cleary called Homecoming "America's finest album" and despite citing sometimes banal lyrics, wrote that "each song here has something to recommend it. This top-flight album is a very rewarding listen."
Record World said of "Don't Cross the River" that it was a "more countrified cut [than 'Ventura Highway'] complete with banjos and all."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=January 20, 1973|accessdate=2023-03-24|title=Single Picks|page=16|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/73/RW-1973-01-20.pdf}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| title1 = Ventura Highway
| writer1 = Dewey Bunnell
| length1 = 3:32
| title2 = To Each His Own
| writer2 = Gerry Beckley
| length2 = 3:13
| title3 = Don't Cross the River
| writer3 = Dan Peek
| length3 = 2:30
| title4 = Moon Song
| writer4 = Bunnell
| length4 = 3:41
| title5 = Only in Your Heart
| writer5 = Beckley
| length5 = 3:16
| title6 = Till the Sun Comes Up Again
| writer6 = Beckley
| length6 = 2:12
| title7 = Cornwall Blank
| writer7 = Bunnell
| length7 = 4:19
| title8 = Head and Heart
| writer8 = John Martyn
| length8 = 3:49
| title9 = California Revisited
| writer9 = Peek
| length9 = 3:03
| title10 = Saturn Nights
| writer10 = Peek
| length10 = 3:31
}}
Personnel
;America
- Dan Peek – guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Gerry Beckley – guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass guitar on "Till the Sun Comes Up Again" and "Head and Heart"
- Dewey Bunnell – guitar, vocals, percussion on "Head & Heart"
with:
- Joe Osborn – bass guitar
- Hal Blaine – drums, percussion
- Gary Mallaber – drums and percussion on "Till the Sun Comes Up Again"
;Technical
- Gary Burden – art direction, design
- Henry Diltz – photography, banjo on "Don't Cross the River"
- Bill Halverson – engineer
- Lee Herschberg – mastering
- Chuck Leary – engineering assistance
- Mike D. Stone of the Record Plant – engineering
- Yoshiro Nagato – liner notes
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| Chart (1973)
! Position |
|---|
| scope="row" | US Billboard 200{{cite web|url=https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/Billboard_Top_Albums_1973|title=Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1973|website=BestSellingAlbums.org|access-date=16 February 2025}}
| 40 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Homecoming|artist=America|relyear=1972|type=album|region=Australia|award=Gold|certref={{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2001.htm|title=ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2001 Albums |publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association|access-date=August 4, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221131234/http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2001.htm |archive-date=December 21, 2008}}}}
{{Certification Table Entry |region=Canada|artist=America|title=Homecoming|award=Gold|type=album |relyear=1972}}
{{Certification Table Entry |region=United States |artist=America|title=Homecoming|award=Platinum |type=album |relyear=1972}}
{{Certification Table Bottom |nosales=true}}