1 comments about Slack Key Christmas.

1. I'd seen this music CD on sale for a while, but passed on it since I prefer singers to players. When I got this along with "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first thing I noticed was the lively tempo of the performances. Starting with James "Kimo" West's sparkling "Winter Wonderland," this instrumental collection will certainly brighten any Winter evening. (Even if you have to shovel snow to clear a path to the mailbox or driveway!)

4 comments about Home Alone Christmas.

1. Finally I have found a Home Alone album with the song "Christmas All Over Again" by The Heartbreakers, and the original recording of "My Christmas Tree." If you like Home Alone music BUY IT!



2. There's at least one or two songs on this CD for everyone, regardless of age, gender, or musical taste. However, there's also at least one song on here that at least one person will dislike. I guess that's variety for you.

   The ones I liked best were Track 1 and Tracks 7-12. If you like country music, you'll certainly enjoy Alan Jackson's "A Holly Jolly Christmas". "Somewhere In My Memory" on this CD should not be confused with the version sung by Bette Midler on the soundtrack to HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK. Probably the most beautiful sounds on this CD will be heard when Atlantic Starr sings "Silver Bells" and Lisa Fischer sings "O Come All Ye Faithful".

   "Christmas All Over Again" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and "Please Come Home For Christmas" by Southside Johnny Lyons provide a more entertaining and non-traditional side to the CD. They are both truly enjoyable songs on different levels.

   The violent and graphic butchering of "Sleigh Ride" by TLC is the only true blight upon this CD. I try to think that maybe there's someone out there who owns this CD and is glad that "song" is on it, but I'm just not sure. In fact, I seriously doubt it.

   Overall, this is a worthwhile Christmas CD with plenty of enjoyable tunes.




3. "Home Alone Christams" is a great album and features all of the songs from the movies: Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. It doesnt feature the background music just the original songs from other artists but it does feature John Williams.

   Most of the songs are good but "Sleigh Ride" by TLC was not one of the best and that is probably why I gave it 4 stars. Another reason was that some of the songs I don't remember hearing in either of the movies but the songs are still great! My favorite song is "All Alone on Christmas" by Darlene Love and some of my other favorites include "Somewhere in my memory","A holy jolly Christmas" and "Christmas all over again" by John Williams, Alan Jackson and Tom Petty with the Heartbreakers. But all songs are mostly good.

   If you loved both of the movies and are looking for a good Christmas album then get this is the album for you!




4. I bought this solely to get "Christmas All Over Again" by Tom Petty. It sounds so much like a Brian Wilson song, you wonder if the Beach Boys' leader is getting royalties! I'm sure at least Tom said a silent thanks to Brian.
   You also get a great Southside Johnny re-make of the Charles Brown tune "Please Come Home For Christmas", some Phil Spector sound with Darlene Love and a new rendition of "Holly Jolly Christmas" by Alan Jackson and even a Mel Torme tune. This is quite an enjoyable Christmas album, for the most part.
   Be sure to check out Phil Spector's Christmas album for even more rockin' Christmas music. The Beach Boy's Christmas album is also great --- what four part harmony those guys could sing!

No comments about Christmas with the Beverly Hillbillies.

No comments about Irish Christmas.

5 comments about The Christmas Album.

1. I agree with the majority of the comments made about this album. But, I 'accidently' caught "Snowfall" on AM radio on the way to work the week before Christmas 2005 and was blown away by the harmony, the melody and even, yes, the lyrics. The song makes me shiver. Needless to say, when I verified that it was the Manhattan Transfer, I snapped up a copy. Christmas is over, but when everybody has left my work area - I just put in the CD and let "Snowfall" play - over and over and over again - It really is a great mellowing agent.
   
   If you suffer from insomnia - play "Snowfall." It's better than any drug on the market! I'm not saying that the song is "dull," but it WILL mellow you out!! Four stars!!



2. 
   Christmas Music is part of the American Way of Life. Year after year, American people get full of joy and the pleasure of listening to Christmas Music becomes a must.Also artists from many different styles and their labels are very conscious about it. It is rare to find an artist from the traditional pop scene who has not recorded at least one Christmas Album.
   
   Unfortunately, this Christmas tradition in American music scene is fading away among young artists though sales keep hot in the season. This proves traditional pop artists have got a market niche which maintains year after year even selling the very same album that has been recorded many decades ago.
   
   Repertoire is basically the same and this is another peculiar facet of Christmas Music. This is an indicator of the traditional `American way of buying music'.
   
   It is commonplace in the USA that many different traditional pop artists record the same hit song in a season. I remember one well-known song that has been recorded by Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, and even Astrud Gilberto, besides its sensational original take. This shows Americans like to listen to that same song or repertoire as recorded specifically by their favorite artists.
   
   It is different than the music industry and customers in Brazil, for instance. If an artist records the same songs as other one does, he is minorly categorized as a `cover artist'. This is a bad category which labels the artist a minor artist, lacking creativeness as for Brazilian market parameters.
   
   It is very interesting, anyway, to listen to the same repertoire as recorded by so many different artists from so many different times under so many different arrangement concepts. Comparison arises inevitably. Somehow, a delicious comparison. What's the best `Jingle Bells' from Johnny Mathis to Diana Krall? Who's recorded the most creative `Silent Night' - Wynton Marsalis or Nat King Cole? There is a killer `Jingle Bells' recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under arrangement by Michel Legrand and with Jean Pierre Rampal on flute. Ooooh God!
   
   Year after year, those albums are made available by continuous reissuing or not. Some even keep in the label's catalog on and on even out the Christmas season.
   
   This is the case for this `The Christmas Album' recorded by one of the dearest Jazz vocal ensembles in the place and arranged by the master Johnny Mandel.
   
   Some uncommon and some very common songs make up the program. Here what matters is the 'Manhattan style', like it or not. I like it. I like their sometimes pop, sometimes jazzy approach.
   
   Common Christmas songs here include `Let It Snow', `Silent Night', 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', and `It Came Upon the Midnight Clear'.
   
   The idea to include unconventional the Beatles' `Goodnight' worked very well and it's a differentiation point. The world Christmas anthem by Mel Tormé `The Christmas Song' is great too though one may say it is preferably to be listened to in its original take as sung by Nat King Cole!
   
   Also program opens with a beautiful rendition of 'Snowfall'.
   
   This is a great Christmas album. The Manhattan Transfer imparts a different view to the Chritsmas repertoire.



3. Don't take the title as a slam. This is a great CD! It has Tony Bennett crooning "Snow" in front of the Transfer! I took this CD and combined it with Christmas Acapella (their best X-mas CD) and made myself a great Christmas mix.



4. It's all right. The songs are all very slow. Even otherwise upbeat, carols like "Let It Snow!" have been taken at a much slower pace. Not my favorite, but others may like it.



5. It always surprises me that this very special Christmas album from The Manhattan Transfer doesn't show up on everyone's list of must have holiday music. Like snowflakes drifting by a frosty windowpane, there is something very wistful and melancholy about this labor of love from Alan Paul, Janis Siegal, Tim Hauser, and Cheryl Bentyne. And there is some fun mixed in as well, the trademark 1930's and 1940's elegance of this fabulous group on glorious display.
   
   Tony Bennett joins the group on probably the most heralded track from this project, The Christmas Song. As covers go, it rivals Gloria Estefan's stunningly classy take on this Christmas chestnut. The opening song, Snowfall, is just as good, however, and deserves to kick off this marvelous collection of Christmas favorites. The Manhattan Transfer always manage a surprise or two on every album, and this is no exception.
   
   A Christmas Love Song is one of the prettiest and certainly one of the most romantic of Christmas love songs in the vocal genius of these four talents. Johnny Mandel handled the vocal arrangements and put music to Alan and Marilyn Bergman's beautiful lyrics, placing it right up there with The Carpenters' Merry Christmas, Darling. And the fun medley, Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season, adds a smile to the melancholy.
   
   By the time the Transfer sing Judy Garland's version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Chrismas, then close with Goodnight, you'll be a fan of both this wonderful group and this Christmas album. Having been a fan of The Manhattan Transfer since they began, Mystery being one of my favorite songs ever recorded, I don't know how any Christmas collection could be complete without this one.

2 comments about Hollywood Christmas.

1. This CD contains songs from Hollywood Christmas movies that are hard to find but definitely add to the holiday spirit. I enjoyed the CD, especially Lindsay Ridgeway's rendition of "That's What I Want For Christmas" from the movie "Stowaway."



2. This album features Hollywood actors singing songs from Hollywood movies or television programs. There is a mix of older songs and newer songs. The songs are all sung well, but most of the newer songs aren't very good, especially the ones from Home Alone and Home Alone 2. The best performance is probably "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Vicki Lewis (hey, I saw her in Damn Yankees). There are some good songs here, but the weaker songs drag the CD down.

5 comments about Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration (with Christmas Ornament).

1. This Cd was wonderful great songs for the holiday season.



2. This Christmas CD is one of the best that I've heard in ages and it's been an absolute pleasre to listen to from start to finish. The DVD is just as fantastic, I hope there will be more to come.



3. This is without a doubt, one of the most talented group of women singers, that I have ever heard or seen. Each is a superb singer on her own, and together it's like listening to the angels singing. I think the arranger/ leader of the orchestra David Downs is to be commended for his arrangements and the bringing together of this group of singers



4. After viewing this performance on PBS I had to have this CD.
   This is the absolute best choral Christmas Music ever. None of the new type - shouting, trilling or singing in a fashion where one cannot even make out what is being sung. This gets back to performing a song the way it was originally written and enjoyed. I recommend it to everyone.



5. Beautiful; uplifting; pure delight. A very sweet collection, and one I will play every year.

No comments about Holiday Legends: Do You Hear What I Hear?.

3 comments about Christmas with Shirley Caesar.

1. Pastor Shirley has the gift of communicating the message through song. The cut "The Gift" is a good example of hearing here emotions in her music. She believes in what she is singing about. Could be a Grammy winner this year!



2. I truly enjoyed Shirley's Christmas tape,particularly Hark the Herald. However, I feel that she should have left Ave Maria alone. She does not possess the voice or the phrasing for such a traditionally sacred piece. Leave that kind of originality to Aretha! Nonetheless,Shirley is still my girl!



3. I TRULY LOVE THIS ALBUM . IT IS A INSPIRATION . THIS IS THE ONLY CHRISTMAS ALBUM I CAN LISTEN TO YEAR ROUND . I DISAGREE W/ THE OTHER REVIEW ABOUT SHIRLEY'S RENDITION OF "AVE MARIA" , IT WAS BREATHE TAKING . THIS IS THE FIRST CHRISTMAS ALBUM I HEARD WITH SO MUCH SOUL IN IT EXCEPT 4 PATTI LABELLE'S CHRISTMAS ALBUM . SHILEY CAN DO HYMNS , SHE CAN DO CHRISTMAS , SHE CAN DO CONTEMO. GOSPEL . MAYBE WE WILL HEAR A REUNION OF THE CARAVANS SOON . GOD JUST CONTINUES 2 DO NEW THINGS IN HER LIFE . I JUST PRAY THAT SHE STAYS HUMBLE . MAY GOD CONTINUE 2 BLESS HER .

5 comments about My Favorite Carols.

1. Perfectly wonderfully Robin. You will certainly enjoy Robin's vocal presentation and arrangement of these traditional Christmas songs. The fans have been asking for this for a long time - and he gave so respectfully well.



2. No doubt the material on this Christmas CD is better suited for Robin's gifted voice than his previous venture with the horrendous "Magnet" CD. The only thing that stuck to that Magnet was a bunch of bad reviews :-) But the record label chose to release the German version of "Favorite Carols" with 4 or 5 additional tracks including his new single "Mother of Love" that are not in the US version. Of course you can only order that overseas from sites like the German Amazon website. As a US resident, I'm not feeling the love here. All I can say is, I will have to shell out the additional bucks to get the German release and pass on the US, UK, Asian, and Canadian releases since none of these appear to have the extra songs. And that kinda ticks me off.



3. Good stuff, but only if you buy the Euro or Asian versions with Mother of Love. Sounds like vintage Bee Gees and with Mother of Love vintage Robin composition and anthem vocals. Good enough for me to buy on one song alone.
   Contemporary background but Robin vocals doing the magic up front.



4. I really enjoyed hearing Robin's voice singing old favorite familiar carols. I would have liked a more organic (not electronic) orchestration.



5. Anything by the brothers Gibb, Barry, Mo, Robin & Andy are my all time favorites, I have all of them. Can't wait till Robin's single 'Mother of Love' comes out, which I've listened to on his future site.