1 comments about Christmas with Kenny.

1. Kenny Rogers is a true icon. He has achieved staggering success over the years and he is famous for his country-pop-folk-rock blend of music, that has kept him on top for no less than four decades.
   
   Kenny is famous for a lot of different things. Besides music he is also a photographer, actor and owns his own chain of chicken restaurants. In music he is a singer, songwriter, producer and bandleader. He is famous for songs about love and songs that tell stories. He is also famous for Christmas songs, having cut five best-selling Christmas albums between 1981 and 2005. This collection takes selections from all of them and the result is a very good CD that you will want to play again and again throughout the holidays - at family gatherings, parties, in your own home, in the car, etc.
   
   The CD complies the following:
   
   From "Christmas" (1981)
   
   "White Christmas"
   "O Holy Night"
   "My Favorite Things"
   
   From "Once Upon A Christmas" (1984)
   "The Christmas Song"
   "The Greatest Gift Of All" (Duet with Dolly Parton)
   
   
   From "Christmas In America" (1989)
   "Winter Wonderland"
   "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
   "Silver Bells"
   
   From "The Gift" (1996)
   "'Til The Season Comes Round Again"
   
   From "Christmas From The Heart" (1998)
   "The Toy Shoppe"
   "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow"
   "O Come All Ye Faithfull"

3 comments about This Christmas.

1. I bought this CD two years ago, someone liked it as much as I, because last year it disappeared. I searched for it at stores and could not find it. I have told many Patti fans about it hoping someone had it but to no avail. Amazon you are the Greatest! Twas Christmas is excellant, Jesus is the Reason for the season is a favorite but the topper is What Are you doing New Year's! I was married last New Year's Eve and it was our Wedding song. The whole CD is Excellent. I play it year round. Wouldn't it be Beautiful if every day could be like Christmas!



2. This is my favorite holiday CD! It holds a very special place in my heart. It has been a family tradition to play this particular CD as my husband and I decorated our Christmas tree. Unfortunately my husband passed away a year ago. Playing the CD reminds me of the wonderful Christmases we spent together. The song Angel Man feels like it was written especially for me.
   I recommend this CD highly for those who love the beautiful music of Patti LaBelle. It doesn't get any better than this.



3. I wanted to give this album 10 stars, but they wouldn't let me. The first time I listened to 'This Christmas,' I was away at college (feeling lonely that I could not be with my family for the holidays) and it completely brightened my spirit (I truly mean that). Patti LaBelle is one of a handful of musical artists (because she is so genuine and warm, both on and off stage) that can literally send surges of adrenaline throughout your body when you watch her perform. There is something so unusual and cataclysmic about her voice and the way she delivers a song. Patti doesn't just sing a song, like a competitive race car driver, she steers it, she controls it, she makes you feel trimumphant afterwards, like she is by your side every step of the way to the finish line. 'This Christmas' like all of Ms. LaBelle's albums is packed with musical selections that speak to the heart. The title cut, This Christmas, is by far the best rendition of the song that has ever been recorded, what with the magnificant orchestration and wonderful use of deep bass drums in the background (I love that!), This Christmas, very nicely demonstrates Ms. LaBelle's vocal power and unmatched lyrical phrasing (her unique way of delivering individual words or groups of words in any given song and is what sets her squarely apart from other vocalist and where she has no rivals.) Something else I love about this christmas album is it's wide-range of musical styles. From love songs like 'Twas Love,' to country-laden selections like 'Country Christmas, to the contemporary and my FAVORITE selection on the album 'If Everyday Could Be Like Christmas,' The album 'This Christmas' has something for every listener, black or white, young and old. -Everytime I listen to 'If Everyday Could Be Like Christmas' I just want to get up and start singing. I love the message of the song, the contagious beat and those raucous, over the top Patti vocals, and if you turn up the song loud enough, her vocals could clear out your sinuses, forget about the need for cold medicine! All in all, 'This Christmas' is a 10-star compilation of wonderful holiday songs performed in that familiar and fabulous style that is pure Patti LaBelle. Go out and buy a copy, invite a few friends over and have a very Merry Christmas!

3 comments about Masterworks Heritage: The Christmas Album.

1. This is one of the best Christmas compilations for the classical music lover I know of, and far ahead of similar CDs from RCA Living Stereo, Nimbus, and Decca/London. Tracing over some 90 years of recorded sound, some of the highlights include: A nice, if somewhat saccherine, performance of "White Christmas" by, believe it or not, Nelson Eddy. A performance of "Patapan" by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra that proves that the legendary maestro also had a way with lighter material. A moving version of "Silent Night" by the legendary Olive Fremstad, whom one normally associates with things Wagnerian. Some beautiful choral work by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Westminster Choir, and the Russian Art Choir, as well as the pioneering recording of "Adeste Fideles" by Associated Glee Clubs of America, pioneering in that this was the first electrical recording to be made, in 1925, and you can hear the engineers still getting used to the new equipment (sudden fade-outs and fade-ins, etc.). All in all, a fascinating, unusual Christmas collection, but one well worth the having,



2. If this album had come out before the Nimbus "Prima Voce: The Spirit of Christmas Past", it might have impressed me a little more,though nothing can beat that Nimbus album. The songs here tend to be more popular carols rather than the more classical selections on the previous album.Many of the selections here are taken from recordings of more recent vintage, and the one advantage (at least many audiophiles will consider it one) that this album has over the other one is that it covers a wider time frame--from the earliest days of successful recordings until the late 1960's,when the stereo era was well underway. The songs have been carefully and rather shrewdly programmed with an eye to the public, and perhaps one of the reasons for this is that the transfers of the earliest tracks have a much worse audio quality than anything heard on the Nimbus album. This is NOT just because of the longer time frame; the fault seems to lie with Masterworks Heritage's techniques of "remastering" (or whatever it was they did) as opposed to the pristine (and apparently scrupulously faithful) techniques that Nimbus uses in their Prima Voce series (I listened last night to both albums on a different stereo system than the one I normally use and there's just no comparison; Nimbus can work wonders with ancient recordings.) None of the tracks heard on the "Christmas Past" album appear on this one, so one cannot make direct comparisons, but the last two tracks on this Masterworks Heritage album are plagued with surface noise that the remasetering job has not been able to eliminate. Masterworks Heritage is apparently aware of this,and so put those two tracks at the end--AFTER the listener would already be won over by the rest of the album.

   The singing is quite good at times,especially in the beautiful Russian version of "Carol of the Bells", here sung by an authentic Russian chorus, and stretched out to four verses rather than the usual one or two. But the hauntingly beautiful,almost poetic atmosphere of the Nimbus "Spirit of Christmas Past" is just not here, and while one always welcomes E. Power Biggs performing "Joy to the World", or that early 1925 "Adeste Fideles", or Eileen Farrell singing,or George Szell actually conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in "Pat-a-pan" (as far as I know, his only Christmas recording),there is just the slightest sense of disappointment here. Nelson Eddy sounds just as stiff here as he does in his famous series of films with Jeanette Mac Donald, and although this album is a good buy in itself, I can't help but feel that Masterworks Heritage was trying to play copycat after the wild success and pioneering effort of Nimbus' "The Spirit of Christmas Past".




3. Searching for this CD under the primary title "The Christmas Album" was an exercise in futility. Some 700 "hits" popped up - and this wasn't among them. I finally found it by searching under "Masterworks Heritage." Amazon may wish to correct that, because this is too good an album to be hidden away in that manner.
   
   I certainly must agree with the other reviewer who extols the virtues of the Numbus compilation, but that should not take away from the delights to be found here, not the least of which is the 38-page booklet between the cardboard covers. In addition to four pages titled "Christmas On Records: From 1907 to 1967 - A Note From The Producer" by Dennis D. Rooney (repeated in both German and French), there are numerous vintage poster/album/advertisement reproductions along with photographs of Carol and Jonathan Brice, Nelson Eddy, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Eileen Farrell, E. Power Biggs, and The Beers Family. A discography of the contents is also included showing date and location of each recording.
   
   The earliest are La Vièrge à la chrèche (track 26) by baritone Charles Gilibert, with Charles Adam Prince at the piano, recorded at Columbia Studios in New York City on March 29, 1907, and Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (track 25) by soprano Olive Fremstad\, recorded on March 30, 1911. So, yes, on those there is a bit of hiss and pop, but nothing like you'd expect to hear from the original format. As it says on the reverse of the package "This recording was mastered using 20-bit technology to maximize sound quality." So, unless you're a confirmed audiophile, you will be delighted with the results.
   
   Easily one of the best such compilations on the market.

No comments about Christmas With.

1 comments about Noël.

1. Leave it up to wonderful mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter to offer a second enterprising Christmas CD that takes us away from typical carols and songs and present something really musical and interesting. This time it's on an intimate scale, a Christmas recital featuring some recognizable (Max Reger and Peter Cornelius) Christmas lieder, but mostly unfamiliar compositions in a bouquet of languages with the expert accompaniment of pianist Bengt Forsberg. Several times Ms. von Otter yields the soundstage to Mr. Forsberg who plays several piano solos, including his own arrangement of Bach's "Jesus Joy of Man's Desiring". This CD offers holiday-bombarded music listeners a quiet respite.

No comments about The Best Christmas Album Ever.

3 comments about A Cello Christmas.

1. This is one of my favorite holiday albums. The choice of Christmas music is unusual. The sound of multiple cellos is warm and rich. Great background or foreground for any holiday activity.



2. I love this album! It is a wonderful combination of cellos and voices, old and new music.



3. Daryl Runswick's arrangements are at once classy, wonderfully imaginative and humourous. They range from the contemplative (making masterful use of the 'cello's melancholy sounds) to the downright jazzy. His earlier work in arranging for the King's Singers shines through. This is a 'must-have' in any Christmas collection. But don't wait for Christmas - hey, this stuff is good listening at any time.

No comments about 13 Days of Halloween Rhythm and Boos. Includes 2 songs by Baha Men. Plus spooky sound effects..

5 comments about ABC: A Holiday Affair.

1. Because we watch these soap opera stars on TV, we enjoyed the CD very much. It was fun guessing which star was singing.



2. This CD was amazing I had no idea how much musical talent there was on the three Soap Operas.
   
   I enjoyed the CD very much and hope that they will all do another one in the future



3. I have enjoyed this CD and I know I will enjoy it next Christmas since I received it late in the season for Christmas of 2006. It is great to hear the soap stars I watch everyday sing the Christmas songs, and do a great job, too. They all have great singing voices and I was surprised how professional they sounded. The songs they chose really brought out a part of their personality I wasn't aware of.



4. THE SONGS REALLY PUT YOU IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT. THE PERFORMERS ARE EXCELLENT. A WONDERFUL GIFT FOR ANY SOAP OPERA FAN



5. For a group of soap opera stars/actors, this CD is a winner! I was very happy with my purchase, and very impressed with how well the stars sang on this CD. I highly recommend this CD!

No comments about Fröhliche Weihnacht Überall.