Vocalist Josh Groban delivers his first Christmas themed album with 2007's Noel. Once again produced by longtime "man behind the curtain" David Foster, the album features more of Groban's dewy, supple vocals set to Foster's cinematic orchestrations. As per the holiday theme, these are primarily classic tunes of the season including such chestnuts ...
Simon Cowell's "man band" creation Il Divo bring their perfect hair and immaculate throats into the crowded holiday genre with the creatively titled Christmas Collection, a heavily decorated box of yuletide favorites that dutifully showcases each tenor's captivating voice. There's not much difference between this offering and the myriad of ...
For the most part, holiday-themed albums are about as memorable as what you had for lunch a month ago. As humans continue to evolve, there's a very good chance that we'll develop some sort of yuletide audio bypass valve that will allow us to filter the three-and-a-half million versions of every Christmas song ever made into one solid rendition ...
A couple of missteps aside, Mariah Carey's co-penned "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a well-crafted Phil Spector tribute, with Beach Boys-style harmonies, jangling bells, and sleigh-ride pace, injecting one of the few bits of exuberant fun in this Christmas album. ~ Roch Parisien, All Music Guide
Manhattan's 15-track holiday compilation Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration features traditional yuletide classics like "Away in a Manger," "Little Drummer Boy," "O Holy Night," and "Silent Night" sung by some of the genre's loveliest sirens and accompanied by the occasional harp, cello, violin, and keyboard. Fans of Enya and Clannad will find ...
As a fan of J.K. Rowling's massively popular Harry Potter books and the composer of some of the best fantasy/sci-fi film scores, John Williams was a natural choice to write the music for Chris Columbus' film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. His score captures the childhood mischief, magic, and adventure of the film and the ...
For those who prefer a jazzy Christmas or Chanukah, Kenny G may just offer the compact disc every collection needs. Miracles: The Holiday Album is a collection of songs that offers an alternative to the standard holiday fare. Kenny G's saxophone provides a pleasurable interpretation of many favorite holiday melodies, including "Winter Wonderland," ...
Well in advance of the Christmas season, Bette Midler, perhaps in her zeal to join the ranks of other artists like Bing Crosby, Elvis, and Johnny Mathis (the latter with whom she sings the duet here, "Winter Wonderland/Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!") with famed holiday work, has come out with her first-ever Christmas album, Cool Yule. ...
The Crown Prince of Christmas Specials, John Denver, probably did his best Yuletide work with the Muppets. There is some great fun here, particularly for kids, although the TV special has aged a little faster than most of the Muppet material. The songs use electric piano far too much and have a kind of dated sentimentality about them, but they are ...
Rhino's Halloween Hits delivers everything anyone could want from a collection of spooky, campy rock & roll novelty songs about ghouls, ghosts, goblins, and monsters -- namely, "The Monster Mash." Just kidding, folks -- it has much more than that, including Jumpin' Gene Simmons' "Haunted House," the Five Blobs' "The Blob," Ray Parker, Jr.'s ...
Danny Elfman, who has scored many of Tim Burton's imaginative films (Edward Scissorhands, his two Batman films, etc.), is a perfect musical partner for the somewhat macabre director, and never more so than here, where, in fact, Elfman gets not only to write the music but to play the part of the main character. The Nightmare Before Christmas is an ...
Longtime holiday favorite Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas Extraordinaire is yet another holiday collection by the group. It's not much of departure from Mannheim's other holiday collections. If anything, it aims to resurrect the spirit of preceding holiday releases by Mannheim. There's a good chance if you enjoy other Mannheim holiday albums you ...
Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz called on pianist extraordinaire Vince Guaraldi and his trio to compose and perform music that would reflect the humor, charm, and innocence of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the entire Peanuts gang for their 1965 Christmas TV special. It was a perfect match: Guaraldi strings together elegant, enticing arrangements ...
If you like your Christmas tidings with a dollop of good humor, then this batch of holiday tunes is right up your alley. The lineup ranges from cute and innocuous (the Chipmunks, the Singing Dogs, and Spike Jones) to satirical (Stan Freberg and Allan Sherman) and just plain weird (Elmo and Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and Tom ...
The Now series is known for crossing the boundaries of record labels in its attempt to provide definitive collections of hits -- usually from contemporary hits, but also of different eras and styles from the past (at least in its U.K. incarnation). Thankfully, the double-disc, 36-track collection Now That's What I Call Christmas! lives up to the ...
Joy: A Holiday Collection may surprise some Jewel fans, since it isn't a warm, intimate acoustic album. Then again, it may not, since it arrives on the heels of the exquisitely produced, unabashedly pop Spirit, which had lush musical backdrops for her folk-pop tunes. Joy is a full-bodied expansion of Spirit, however -- an unashamed classicist ...
Trans-Siberian Orchestra's second album, Christmas Attic, may not be as focused or serious as Christmas Eve, but it is just as enjoyable and maybe even more consistent, thanks to Paul O'Neill's increasingly impressive compositions and an improved musicality. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
The story of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's third Christmas CD deals with angels visiting New York City, which gives the rock group with orchestra and chorus a chance to draw upon a wide variety of modern music. The jaunty "Christmas Nights in Blue" sounds like Louis Jordan had some influence and is the coolest moment the orchestra has ever offered, ...
Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection: The Greatest Novelty Records of All Time gathers two discs' worth of highlights from the five-volume Dr. Demento Presents series, as well as some of the good doctor's other favorite novelty singles. Anyone familiar with Demento's show will instantly recognize the Firm's "Star Trekkin'," Barnes & Barnes' ...
What would happen if members of Savatage decided to write some Christmas songs? Easy: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This "supergroup" is the brainchild of Jon Oliva and Paul O'Neill (respectively the leader-keyboardist and the producer of Savatage). They hired Al Pitrelli (Asia, Savatage) to play guitars, Robert Kinkel to help with keyboards, John ...
Whitney Houston delivered One Wish: The Holiday Album, her first Christmas record, a year after her 2002 comeback, Just Whitney. If it seemed like that record played it safe, that's nothing compared to One Wish, which is the straightest adult contemporary record Houston had released in years. Of course, holiday records are the last place anybody ...
In the wake of her Titanic success, Celine Dion produced two new albums for the holiday season of 1998. One was a new French album, and the other was These Are Special Times, her first Christmas album. These Are Special Times is an especially successful holiday album since Dion wisely balances popular carols ("The Christmas Song," "Blue Christmas, ...
Take that, snobby straight-ahead jazz purists! Finally, the elite of smooth jazz have put together a project where it would be a compliment to hear that it put you to sleep -- or rather, your children. The mastermind of saxman Dave Koz and his brother, Jeff Koz, and the first release from Koz's Rendezvous Entertainment, this beautifully conceived ...
Christmas 1984 is the first holiday album the Mannheim Steamroller released, and it remains their definitive work. Chip Davis never strayed from the clean, airy instrumental style that he exhibits here (and earlier perfected on his Fresh Aire albums), but it is here where it all sounded fresh. It's also where he had his best selection of songs, ...
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