2 comments about Songs For Christmas.

1. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a very heartwarming and traditional Christmas album from Pat Boone. I like the selection of songs and Pat Boone's voice is so heavenly and beautifully sincere. I really like Pat Boone's rendition of the "First Noel" because you can truly feel his heart behind the melody and the delivery of the words. It is so joyous.



2. Pat Boone's voice is very soothing and he did a very fabulous job on singing the christmas carols. I have the cassette tape of this x'mas songs a long, long time ago (in the late 70's and early 80's) but it's already worn-out. I kept on looking to different stores like Best Buy and Circuit City to purchase this aforesaid album in CD form but to no avail. Good thing, amazon.com came to the rescue! I can now enjoy the heartwarming x'mas songs sung by Pat Boone that I usually love to hear when I was a child. If you love Pat Boone's Songs for Christmas, I highly recommend Season's Greetings from Perry Como CD which is an equally good combination for your nostalgic Christmas CD collection.

4 comments about Christmas Chant.

1. I bought this CD primarily to have the Adoro Te Devote by Thomas Aquinas. It is an intensely moving piece of music, both in words and melody. I only had one other Silos Chant CD - Chant so I was expecting an a cappella CD - something I prefer to orchestrated. This album is done with a single note of an organ guiding the choir and I liked it. This combined with what seems to be a less modern/technically advanced recording makes it seem very real - almost like attending Vespers. This album has very thorough liner notes with technical and liturgical descriptions of the music as well as the lyrics in Latin and English - a huge plus over the Chant CD. 2 pieces on this recording overlap with the Chant album, and I'm glad to have the words.

   All in all a good CD.




2. The CDs recorded by the monks of Santo Domingo de Silos are good, workmanlike productions, but they lack the the lofty beauty of the monastery of Fontgombault--you can get their CDs in America through their daughter monastery in Clear Creek, OK (see www.clearcreekmonks.org). The monks of Silos generally have a lovely style, though I find their pronunciation often clipped and therefore distracting. There are different schools of thought, of course, on what makes for good chant. This is a very good value, but not the best expression of chant, in my opinion.



3. i''m sure as chant music goes this is very good..... but it is just not my cup of tea. i expected something more outstanding.... like a church choir.



4. I guess it good, Amazon sent me someone's else book and couldn't find a way to send it back.

3 comments about Stockings By the Fire.

1. I should know better. Have very seldom ever gotten a better price than Amazon on music. I paid twice this amount for this collection this weekend--and I still really do think it was worth the price.
   
   What I particularly like about this CD is the mix. You've got old favorites like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra right next to John Legend and Sarah McLachlan. Plus, the sound is very nice.
   
   Here are just a sampling of the songs I've enjoyed:
   
   "Baby, it's Cold Outside" by Ray Charles and Betty Wright is my new favorite cover of this song--you should hear Ray sing 'listen to that fireplace ROAR.' Whoa!
   
   Sarah McLachlan's "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day" has the original spare feeling of this song down pat.
   
   "It Don't Have to Change" with John Legend and the Stephens Family is probably my favorite. It's the only song I've never heard before and it's just a gorgeous gospel number.



2. I have a number of Christmas CDs which all get heavy rotation over the Christmas season, but this is my new favorite. It's a very grown up, almost sexy compilation: perfect for sipping eggnog by the fire while you read a book or chat to friends. There is a mixture of songs that are familiar (such as Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) alongside others that are more obscure. The first seven tracks are quite slow and sophisticated, then the tempo speeds up for a few tracks before slowing down again towards the end.
   
   Some of the standout songs for me are:
   1. "Baby, it's cold outside" by Ray Charles and Betty Carter - this is a great lead off single - it's super sexy.
   2. "I love the bells on Christmas Day' by Sarah McLachlan - if you loved Wintersong, you'll also love this single (which doesn't appear on that album)
   3. "I'll be home for Christmas" by Frank Sinatra - Frank's voice just seems so right for this time of year and this is a lovely slow and poignant song.
   5. "Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald - this has been used so much in movies but it's still a great number.
   8. "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" by Jack Johnson - somehow Jack makes this familiar song sound totally new - it's a great cover version.
   15. "I don't have to change" by John Legend and the Stephens Family - a gorgeous gospel number that my son said sounded like something out of Happy Feet!
   16. "White Christmas" by Aimee Mann - a heart-breakingly beautiful version of this song - just this track alone justifies the price of the CD!



3. Don't tell Amazon, but I bought this at starbucks, and this is an amazing cd. Its the classic Christmas music with old and new artists. I am a barista at Starbucks and have to listen to this cd all day long and it never gets old. You won't have wastes your money if you get it, you will love it!

5 comments about Kidz Bop Christmas.

1. To the person writing the review "repugnant trash for mentally retarded 3 year olds," shame on you! That's a terrible thing to say. Retardation is nothing to joke about or to use as an insult.
   
   To anyone interested in buying this cd: My kids--all under the age of 5, really enjoy it...mostly because it has lively tunes...as opposed to Children Sing for Children which is full of slow and boring traditionals. The music on this cd is very jazzy and certainly not for everyone, but surely a mature grown-up can tolerate the tunes for 30 minutes at a time.



2. yes, it's true. I would rather listen to a collection of all the rejects from American Idol, even the rejects from the auditions, than this crap. The two front teeth song is supposed to be sung by a five-year-old. Since all their other crap is sung by five-year-olds, you think they could manage that. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!they pull in teenagers! geez, they need to learn exactly what talent is. Free voice lessons to all the suckers who sing this!!!!!!!



3. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALLS!!! :-D :-D We used to celebrate festivus in my daycare in Pennsylvania (!!!) but I would start with the airing of greevencees, and we would all end up in tears. :-( BUT THAT'S OKAYYYYEEE!!! :-D :-D WHY?? BECAUSE WE CELEBRATE THIS CHRISTMAS THING NOW, AND I JUST GOT... oh... :-D... KIDZ BOP CHRITMAS FOR DE KIDDIES!!! :-D :-D :-D YAYYY!!!!!!
   
   I dunno how you peeples can listen to those loud unhearable Soundgardens :-O when we have KID'S BOP!! :-D The xmas carols beeing played shouldn't be the versions by those old guys, Bing Cosby and Jean Autry! They should be a thousand little screaming kiddies!!!! I LOVE HEARING JINGLE BELLS SUNG BY DE LITTLE TYKES!!! :-D My mean neighbor, Roy, keeps yelling at me to "TURN DAT MUSIC OFF!! IT'S GRATING MY EARS!!!!!" <:-( But I tell him "But ROY!! <:-D IT'S CHRISTMASTIME!!!" The other day, tho, he trew a brick at me. :-( The doc sayed I might have something called "dain bramage" BUT THAT'S OK!!! :-D :-D BECAUSE KIDS BOP!!
   
   I'd give it a higher rating, but that brick really hurt. :-( But THAT'S ONLY A MINOR COMPLAINT AND/OR GRIEVANCE!!! :-D BUY KIDZ BOP CHRITTMITT!!!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
   
   FROM YOUR PAL MERVIE!!!!!!!!!!



4. Come on, folks. If you're going to put out a CD, how hard is it to get the words to the songs correct? For example, every piece of sheet music and every recording I've ever hear has Rudolph starting off, "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen". That would be the same order they are in Clement C. Moore's Night Before Christmas. But not on this CD. It mixes them all up. Maybe they just wrote them down in the order they could remember them. There are also other songs where words are incorrect; replaced by words that sound similar. Kind of like the person who wrote down the words for this one did so by listening to carols on an AM radio and couldn't quite understand some of them. An example from We Need a Little Christmas: It should be "carols by the spinnet" (a type of piano), NOT "carols and the spirit". I can't put this one on for my toddler because I don't want him to learn the wrong words. And I can't listen to it myself because it grates on my nerves to hear carols done WRONG.



5. Children love to hear other children sing, all the more reason my 4 year old LOVES this cd. She is in pre-k, and lot of these songs are very familiar to her. So when I popped this in for the first time in the car, she was thrilled...plus I get the pleasure of hearing her sing along with all of her "favorites"!!

5 comments about Christmas Collection.

1. This was my best Christmas present to myself. Loved the music and will listen to it beyond the holiday season. What a wonderful treat!



2. This 2 CD set includes the CD "Christmas"(1989)and "Christmastime" (1998). I loved the music, however was surprised that the CD's were old. I thought this was a new release when I purchased it.



3. As a "Smitty" fan, I'm naturally going to like just about every CD he produces, but even I was blown away by Christmas Collection. It's a wonderful mix of modern and traditional sacred Christmas music, and by the latter I do not mean the usual "Silent Night", "O Holy Night", etc., but music from the classical and liturgical realms. This often goes unheard during the Christmas season, but Smitty corrects this shameful omission, and the result is both uplifting and wondrous. Smith doesn't hog all the vocals, either; he lets the dramatic beauty of the music shine through. Some selections are entirely instrumental, in others his voice takes second place, merely augmenting this incredible music. His vocals are haunting and very nearly sublime; in the more modern selections, spirited and joyous. This is one mesmerizing, essential Christmas album!



4. I bought this because I loved the song, "Gloria". The rest of the CD is so blah! A waste of money.



5. What can I tell about it. Its a nice cd and that what it is. Further the length of the songs and the diversity of the songs, its not what I expected. Its not my favorit christmas cd.
   
   Sending/transport are quickly and oke.

No comments about Singing Saw at Christmastime.

5 comments about Christmas Through the Years.

1. Louis Armstrong was definitely a one-and-only. This CD shows off his skills as both a musician and an entertainer, provided you get the right CD. If the first track on your CD is not "Cool Yule", then you got ripped off! Return it and go get the right one because you'll also be missing "White Christmas", "Winter Wonderland", and "Christmas Night In Harlem". For some reason, even the "right one" throws in some non-Christmas songs to fill up the CD... I guess that is what you get for a budget price.
   "Gone Fishin'" isn't even a Winter time song, but it features Bing Crosby who just sounds Christmas-y.
   "Joseph 'N' his Brudders" is based on the Bible, so close enough.
   "What A Wonderful World", well, everybody loves that song, don't they?
   
   Along with "Cool Yule", some of the other stand-out Christmas tracks include "'Zat You Santa Claus?" and Satchmo's unique reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas". It's hard to describe his duet (with Velma Middleton) on "Baby It's Cold Outside". He either couldn't remember his part of the lyrics, or just felt like making up some new ones. Either way, it's pretty funny.
   While it's not perfect, it's arguable the best Christmas CD you'll get for this price. Just make sure you get the right one!



2. Laser Light's usual crappy quality. Bad selection of songs, horrible sound quality and no liner notes. Stay away from this and anything with the Laser Light label.



3. Louis Armstrong can put a smile to anyone's face, and this CD is no exception. What happened to that New Orleans jazz style? It seems that it can make everyone happy, but it seems to be extinct in today's world. Quite a shame. However, we do have the recordings of all the greats of yesteryear. This CD is a wonderful album to listen to before Christmas. For anyone who gets into the mood quite early along with all the department stores, it is perfect. You could listen to this CD before Thanksgiving because it isn't solely Christmas songs. It also includes semi-Christmas songs like "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Velma Middleton and non-Christmas songs like "Hello Dolly" and "Blue Moon."
   
   It is exciting to hear Louie banter with the audience and with guests on the CD; it shows that he was able to make people smile outside of his music as well.



4. Satchmo's recitation of "The Night Before Christmas" establishes this CD as a certifiable gem! Absolutely superb. Indeed.



5. This CD includes some non-xmas music, but all selections are great. No one can recite 'Twas the night before xmas' like Louis did!

5 comments about Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever.

1. i really like the CD. it has nice instrumentals of many classic cowboy songs. the quality is very good too. the only downfall is that the CD is only about 30 minutes long so it is quite short. but other than that, i recommend it for anyone wanting to hear these nice classic songs.



2. a very pleasant and somewhat haunting cd, easy listening at it's best for western songs,cd only has 10 songs on it but they are all very good and easily worth the price.This cd would be good to play for background music also.I would like to see more of these cd's.



3. I didn't realize that when I bought this that it was just instrumental. However my husband loves it wordless and all. If your looking for background music or relax music this is definitely the cd for you.



4. It has a great variety of songs. They are well orchestrated and fun to listen, too.



5. This instrumental CD is great for singing along or just easy listening. If you miss hearing classics, this is a fun collection.

5 comments about Christmas Through Your Eyes.

1. Although other reviewers do not like Gloria's "I'll Be Home For Christmas," I consider this arrangement of the Christmas classic worth the price of the CD. The complex harmonies sung a cappella by the American Boy Choir with only a hint of orchestral bells before the chorus create a hauntingly beautiful rendition like none ever before enjoyed. The impeccable diction and precision of this fine choir adds to the grandeur of this performance. This amazing track along with the other songs on this CD have made me into a tremendous fan and admirer of Gloria Estefan.
   
   Merry Christmas!



2. When it is time to break out your Christmas collection once a year you might want to add this disc;you will definitely play it year in and year out. Gloria Estefan does a very good job with the traditional songs of Christmas , adding a little flair, extended notes that swing but never over done. There is a certain Latin jazz feel to this disc because of the percussion and the background singers at times harmonizing like The Manhattan Transfer. There is plenty of variety so really it is a mix of styles but always with class. She reminds me at times like the late female Karen Carpenter of The Carpenters who have a good Christmas disc too. Her voice is very sweet yet forceful enough to grab your attention. The arrangements are elegant and impeccable. The top notch production is by Phil Ramone with various arrangers but most noticeably beautiful when the orchestra is conducted by Patrick Williams. Top tunes include the Mel Torme penned made famous by Nat King Cole song "The Christmas Song," the swinging ""Let it Snow," the simple yet eloquent "I'll be Home For Christmas" that has an inspiring choir that elevates the song to another level, the Irving Berlin masterpiece "White Christmas" that is stripped to guitar and bass and programmed music, Gloria Estefans own composition and title track "Christmas Through Your Eyes" and the only Spanish song that has plenty of sabor "Arbolito de Navidad." If you are loking for some fine Christmas music for your collection try Gloria Estefan, you won't be dissapointed.



3. I Love Gloria Estefan...but this album is not her style. Songs sound forced, sometimes out of control. One or two songs are ok.



4. The warmth and talent in this artist's songs are thoroughly enjoyable! Miss Estefan's arrangements and orchestrations for all 11 tracks on this album are well-done. The list of songs includes some more-traditional and some more-contemporary...



5. I think the title says it all. If I could give 1/2 stars, I'd give it 3 1/2.

5 comments about Beauty And The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas - New And Traditional Christmas Favorites.

1. I love this movie! I love the music as well to it! It has great songs to the movie plus great Christmas songs as well! I feel you should own it if you have the movie! Get the complete collection. :)



2. The songs on this soundtrack are a great follow-up to Beauty and the Beast. They definitely give a fun holiday feel and are cute in an endearing way. There are songs from the movie and traditional Christmas songs sung by Belle. Also, the three instrumental songs are a good end to the CD. I own the movie and love all of the music in it!



3. An adequate CD, but one may as well buy any ordinary christmas album, nothing here is special to beauty and the besat. Beauty and the Beast without Angela Lansbury is a disturbing thought, a real disappointment that she isn't on there. If she was, the rating would no doubt have risen to 5 stars.
   Fancy putting talent a Broadway star in a musical and not writing her a number or two! Crazy!



4. This soundtrack is one of my favourite Disney Soundtracks! The songs in it are beautiful, especially "Stories" and "As long as there's Christmas"! I have a Christmas-feeling when I listen to this CD, it's so enchanted! I love Belle's voice very much, it just like a bell! And it can make me feel warm and strong inside! Chip's voice is lovely too! "We will build a snowman reaches the sky!" Oh, so cute! I think this is a perfect soundtrack, it is collectable to your Disney Christmas Collections!!!



5. in 1994 with the return of jafar, disney discovered something that other studios already knew; the sequel is a great way to make a quick buck. in 1997, they proved that nothing was sacred when beauty and the beast and the enchanted christmas was released. i still feel that the movie's not really that bad, granted i haven't seen it since its original release when i was 7. believe me at the time i wasn't the most cinematically astute, but still the movie's actually one of disney's better dtv (direct to video) releases. but how does this soundtrack stand up?
   
   PART I
   
   well i was skeptical in the beginning to say the least. i mean i feel that alan menken and howard ashman may just be one of the greatest song writting teams of all time. so how could anyone else live up? thats certainly what i thought at first. when i discovered that academy award winner rachel portman wrote the score i was mildly relieved and when i learned that don black (who did aspects of love) wrote the lyrics i was a bit relieved. so here's how it all adds up, and believe me it's not that bad.
   
   as an audience, our exposure to the score is pretty limited. we're only treated to three songs on the end and two are quite short. the score isn't all that bad and relys heavily on stories and as long as there's christmas, but still pretty good. this really doesn't venture out from those pieces and doesnt really contain much for originality. it certainly doesn't live up to alan menkens, but it's a fun, light-hearted score; which is what it's ultimately going for.
   
   SCORE 3 out of 5
   
   as far as most dtv sequals are concerned, we the audience are treated to a couple of overly sappy and cliched songs, but this soundtrack punches out a fairly impressive 6 sub-par tunes, which is right up there with other theatrical releases, quantity wise. actually the songs are pretty fun and original for the most part and work much better when they go for light hearted rather than inspiring or emotional.
   
   DECK THE HALLS - this opens the piece and a lot of time is spent with the original song. it would've been much more fun if more time had been spent with the original objects since here is where we discover that the entire original cast has returned.
   3 out of5
   
   STORIES - this is really the breakout song from this album, and rightly so. compared to the rest of the songs, it's certainly the best and surprising good on its own. it's a nice ballad that does get a little cliched at times and some of the lyrics are less than steller, but is overall fun and enjoyable. paige o'hara's great vocals really lift this song out of the soundtrack in a way that only she can.
   4 out of 5
   
   AS LONG AS THERE'S CHRISTMAS - this is the best attempt at a broadway-esque song. it does alright in that respect but again the cd should've stuck more with fun and heartwarming, but this delivers the "true message of christmas" beautifully and the entire cast being back really doesn't hurt things any.
   4 out of 5
   
   DON'T FALL IN LOVE - this song tries for the witty brilliance of howard ashman more than any of the others. it's kind of hit or miss (mostly somewhere in between) the songs saving grace comes from tim curry's hammy vocals that really make this work. the songs ultimate downfall is in the corny, over-the-top organ music. (we get it he's an organ ... chill)but this still works well.
   3 out of 5
   
   A CUT ABOVE THE REST - this is another good little song that illustrates why the songs should've stuck more with fun and light-hearted. jerry orbach and david odgen stiers are great here and really work well off of one another. but they're really all this song has going for it. there isn't really anything original lyrically and the music is just fun and fast paced, but still fun.
   3 out of 5
   
   all in all, this portion had a pretty tough road ahead of it since we all remember the original score and music. but if you can enter this open-minded, it definatley feels pretty enjoyable and is a great holiday piece for conveying christmas' true meaning and that original cast is really the strongest part here. the music and lyrics arent all that bad, and hold up pretty well on their own NOT compared to that original soundtrack
   
   SONGS OVERALL - 3 out of 5
   
   PART II
   
   this is where we are treated to 8 christmas carols performed by paige o'hara (belle). honostly, this is why i bought the cd since i think o'hara has an amazingly brilliant voice. this was a great opprotunity. disney got to flesh out their soundtrack with lots of extra music, and paige o'hara got more exposure for her most famous role and was able to release a christmas album, without actually releasing one since these are not exactly the most esteemed types of cd to release. this faces a lot of prejudices right away since we'v all heard these songs a million and a half times, but o'hara's vocals make them all feel pretty light and fresh again.
   
   PART II - 4 out of 5
   
   
   OVERALL - 3 out of 5