5 comments about Holiday Harmony.

1. I have to say I am somewhat surprised to say this is a great album! America covers the holiday classics with their own unique touch and wrote three new songs that range from very good to excellent. They have never sounded better. This is a must purchase for any America fan and I recommend it to others as well. If hearing the backbeat to Tin Man during the start of White Christmas enhances your enjoyment rather than detracts, this will quickly become your all-time favorite holiday CD.



2. this album combines two things i have loved for a very long time: Christmas music and the incredible voices of "America!" if you are an "America" fan, you should consider adding this to your holiday music collection.



3. Remember the seventies, when the charts were filled with classic songs such as Horse with no name? Now we have a Christmas album from the duo who had that international hit (though they were then a trio) featuring ten familiar Christmas songs and three new songs. With Andrew Gold (another name from the seventies) as producer and multi-instrumentalist, fans of seventies pop music will enjoy this. The set opens with Winter wonderland, which even reminds us of their biggest hit with its arrangement. Other tracks here also provide reminders of their seventies hits.
   
   The group sticks to the festive side of Christmas for the first eleven tracks then rounds off the album with Silent night and First Noel. All the other oldies have been recorded countless times except one (It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas) that is under-exposed. Of the original songs, my favorite is A Christmas to remember but the others (Christmas in California, Winter holidays) are also worth a listen.
   
   If you enjoy America's seventies classic hits as I do, you will love this album.



4. Well...
   These guys are just so darn talented it is hard for me to express in words. They not only do justice to the standards BUT add three NEW songs of their own. All three AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Very visual songs...Makes me want to go out and buy a tree in May and get a cup of hot Chocolate and decorate. best album since "The Carpenters" A Christmas Portrait.
   Dewey and Gerry ...just keep writing and recording. And I'll stay happy!!!!!!!



5. America does Christmas classics in style. But what makes this disc special is the three original songs they have added. ALL are instant winners. Tunes you want to listen to over and over again. This CD could put old Ebenezer himself in the Holiday Spirit!

1 comments about Really Big Musical Tribute to Clifford the Big Red Dog.

1. I bought this CD for my three year old about a year ago and she just loves it. Even my husband and I enjoy it. "Dog House Party" and "Big Big Big Red Dog" are really catchy sing-along songs. Other songs reinforce ideas of friendship and liking who you are. I'd definetly recommend this for any Clifford fan.

No comments about Three Musical Fables.

5 comments about Christmas with Carnie.

1. I bought this cd and am very glad I did. Have no doubts that it's worth every penny. My favorite songs are "Sleigh Ride" and "Merry Christmas Darling". I hope this means we are one step closer to a pop record from my favorite member of Wilson Phillips!



2. I bought this CD for the holiday season and I absolutely love it! It's one of the best Christmas CDs out there right now. All of my roommates love it too! I'd highly recommend anyone buying this CD for the Christmas-lover in their life!



3. Surprising gem that popped up this year, with pleasant melodies and fine production. This is good background music for trimming the tree or shopping at Crate&Barrel...
   
   My major complaint is the cover artwork: Did she see the finished product before it hit the shelves? if so, who would approve of this? it is terrible.I feel badly that such a decent records is represented by such a poor cover. The sales will undoubtedly be affected by this poor choice.



4. Carnie Wilson at her absolute best! It was like listening to the Christmas Angel sing! Incredibly beautiful and moving. This is a must for any Carnie fan and a must for anyone who really loves Christmas music.



5. Carnie Wilson provided a nice collection of Holiday tunes, truly suited to her vocal styling! Carnie's rendition of "Merry Chrsitmas, Darling" is a delight reminiscent of the Karen Carpenter's classic recording with the lush background vocals.Other worthy selections include: "Sleigh Ride", "Jingle Bills" and the new tune of "Warm Lovin' Christmas." Definitely a keepsake for the Holidays!

5 comments about Smashed for the Holidays.

1. Jacqui Naylor and her band have put together several songs matching a pattern sometimes called "A versus B", where an instrumental rendering of song A is accompanied by an a cappella rendering of song B. Sometimes, this is done by skillful editing of the songs of two different artists (this is called a "mashup"). But in the case of Naylor & Company, elements from both songs are recorded at once.
   
   This type of performance is technically advanced. Most artists could not even conceive matching songs, and even fewer could pull off the technique in performance. Jacqui Naylor and her band do it with an effortlessness that makes it all seem charming. The effect is similar to hearing a song sung as a round. My favorite one was Silver Bells "smashed" with Every Breath You Take, whose juxtaposition created an ironic effect that had me giggling.
   
   Of course, a little bit of this technique goes a long way, and indeed the technique is used on fewer than half of the tracks. At other times, Naylor sings jazz. Does she ever! Naylor's voice is authentic and sultry; she has the pipes, the phrasing, and all those other jazzy things the critics like to talk about.
   
   Not that this is purely a jazz record. Jacqui Naylor sings jazz here, though not on every track. Paradoxically, her band provides rock accompaniment to some tracks, even when Naylor is singing jazz, for example on the enchanting Celebrate Early And Often.
   
   Strange, indeed, but effective, and refreshing. I haven't heard anything quite like Jacqui Naylor's Smashed for the Holidays.



2. I love the whole album. Jacqui seems to have really come into her own lately. She is showing more and more of that unique style that sets her apart from the pack. This album is just so much fun. My favorite is Santa Baby but the entire album is a joy to listen to.



3. This is the most amazing collection of smashed up christmas carols and rock songs ever. Very accessable. Smashup DJs everywhere should have this in their collection. Great work by a terrific artist. I hope everyone picks up a copy for Christmas and then goes out and buys her older stuff.
   
   You won't be disappointed!



4. Driving down I-95 in South Florida, this CD keeps me sane. Everyday, on both 25 minute commutes, I can't stop singing along and wondering how in the world they came up with these "smashed" combinations...I like to imagine Jacqui and her band walking down the streets of San Francisco, one of them starting to hum "Every breath I take" over and over again with Jacqui piping in over the hum singing Silver Bells. Amazing stuff! I love it and really hear the talent from the band in this album. Aside from the joy of singing along, "Celebrate Early and Often", "Thank You Baby" and "Christmas aint what it use to be" help me focus on the true meaning of the Holidays. Thanks for lifting my spirits!



5. I love Jacqui Naylor, but I don't like Christmas albums. I have bought and recommended all of her CDs, but not this one. The songs are banal, but the voice is still great. One thing I noticed listening to the samples availble here. On some arrangements, the song is overdrummed, with too much whack in the snare. That distracts from the wonderful singing. On past CDs, this occurs too. I wish she could re-record all of the repertoire without the intrusive drumming. I am looking forward to her next CD, hoping that all of the tracks will have arrangements that allow her wonderful voice and style to be heard without drumming cacaphony.

1 comments about Christmas at the Pops (RCA Greatest Hits).

1. If you grew up with the Boston Pops under the direction of Arthur Fiedler (like I did)...this Christmas music should come as NO SURPRISE to you. It's basically a composite of the three Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops Christmas Lps with a few extra unrelated tracks (by The Canadian Brass) thrown in. If you've been listening to the older Lps, Cassettes and god forbid--the 8tracks)for the last several years..this update wouldn't hurt! Nobody performs "A CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL"/"RUDOLPH"/"SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN"/"WHITE CHRISTMAS" and "WINTER WONDERLAND" like Maestro Fiedler and The Pops. "SLEIGH RIDE" (by Leroy Anderson) is the definitive version. Pop this in your CD player during the holiday season...you'll receive several positive comments from family and friends.

1 comments about Piano de Navidad.

1. We heard this CD while visiting the Dominican Republic during Christmas. A guard was kind enough to get the name of the tape and the pianist for us. Bought the same afternoon. The CD version is even better!! Beautiful Christmas music with a Latin twist!!! Listen to it: You wil love it!!

3 comments about The Cowboy Christmas Gift Set.

1. I really enjoy cowboy music, almost as much as I love Christmas music. So this looked like a good set to check out - there aren't too many good Christmas music videos out there.....
   I was not disappointed. While Michael's first Christmas cd was more engaging, this one is also enjoyable. (the cd in this set is the same as his Cowboy Christmas II disc) The video is great - blended recording of several of his Christmas concerts - he sings and recites poetry. I was surprised at the lenght - most cd/dvd sets like this skimp on content - but this is the whole concert - close to 2 hours on the DVD.
   This is a great Christmas set - well worth the money - pop it in, turn up the volume, and get ready to 2-step 'round the Christmas tree!!!



2. I just got watching this and what I have to say about it is - FANTASTIC!!!
   I have read that Michael Martin Murphey's Christmas concert was great and had always wanted to experience one. Well, I've never got the chance until I watched the DVD tonight. Sure, it was just a DVD, but I felt like I was there!!! It's a full 2 hour concert that takes you back to Christmases of old times with poetry and song. He even performs Wildfire and Long Line of Love. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would. Excellent, excellent, excellent!!!!



3. Like everything else Murphey does, this Christmas Gift set is first class all the way. If you have not had the opportunity to see this long-running holiday special event, be sure to watch his website and see the show live and in person.

5 comments about Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis.

1. The Philips Classics series has many appealing features, not least of which is good value. This series typically offers two CDs for the price of about one-and-a-half. They feature top-rank and often legendary performers. Finally, they are digitally remastered recordings from the sixties and seventies, many of which rank as standard-bearing readings of the classical canon.
   
   This 1966 London Symphony Orchestra performance of Handel's incalculably beautiful MESSIAH is robust in the old-school, English, big-voiced, fully-orchestrated, modern-instrument manner. This is the MESSIAH that first put the lump in your throat and made you wonder at how regular folks stood when 'Hallelujah' came up.
   
   I find it almost breathtaking to sit here - again - among the speakers and come to grips with the fact that the pure sound emerging is from a recording that took place *four decades* ago. Harper, Watts, Wakefield, and Shirley-Quirk are in marvelous voice.
   
   Do yourself a favor. Break the Messiah-at-Christmas routine (though *do* listen at Christmas), buy this CD, and sit down with it for an evening at some atypical time of year, say, when an autumnal nip is in the air.
   
   Handel's uniquely musical hearing of a Christian retelling of the biblical prophets and their adumbration in the New Testament that was conventional in its day is a work for the ages. Resonant, effortlessly intertextual, energized by both faith and art, MESSIAH is one of Christendom's jewels.
   
   It is nearly a fool's errand to review Messiah in a few paragraphs, even more when the reading is question is that of Sir Colin Davis and a throaty English cast.
   
   Simply impeccable.



2. I must say that the "Messiah" was very off-putting to me for a very long time when I first started collecting and listening to classical music, as I had only ever heard a couple excerpts from it, and those with deadly frequency, like the Hallelujah Chorus, which I "hated", so I stayed away from it like the plague.
   
   This recording,(other than the Hallelujah Chorus, and one or two other bits), was my first exposure to this great work. I researched for a long time to find the "best" recording available, and at the time (late 60's) this was IT!
   
   It still is, although through the years my favorite "Messiah" has "graduated", become more "brilliant", become more "soft", more "strident", more "original instrument", more "chamber-like", etc. I have loved and revered many recordings since discovering this one. Currently, the John Butt on Linn records truly is the best recording I've ever heard, followed closely by the Renee Jacobs. (See my "Messiah" Listmania list, by all means.)
   
   BUT, this review is of the Colin Davis recording, and I will get back to it.
   
   This recording is like an old "school friend", and I come back to be with it very often. I still treasure this effort on the part of Colin Davis and his soloists, truly a "benchmark" recording. I see here that this has been remastered on the "Philips 50" series, and I am sure that I will seek out this new pressing for my shelves, as I will ALWAYS want a copy of this old friend nearby.
   
   Whether you are coming to the Messiah for the first time, or have many recordings of it, by all means pick this great treasure up for your collection...you will discover a truly great Desert Island disc. Happy Listening! ~operabruin



3. This classic recording still stands the test of time. Sir Colin Davis leads his small ensemble of singers and players in a polished and clearly articulated rendition of this often heard oratorio. Every voice and every instrument is heard in a perfect blend. No massive chorus and orchestra with a muddy sound on this recording. I have owned this version since it came out on a LP recording when I was in college. It is still the best.



4. Maestro Davis employs modern instruments, a relatively small chorus and orchestra and first rate soloists in a performance that's not wacky, weird or wayward. Sincere expression and tasteful ornamentation are emphasized-there aren't any life and death struggles going on here. Yet the spiritual elements are not slighted-consider for example, Heather Harper's wonderful "I know my Redeemer liveth.." She sings with great purity and no artifice. The chorus has good diction and is vigorous when it needs to be. Sir Colin's conducting flows and allows the listener to get "caught up" in the performance. He doesn't impose any particular interpretative viewpoint but allows this masterpiece to speak for itself. For forty years this has been a top choice.



5. From the opening Sinfonia, this Messiah is far too subdued. While it may be nuanced and even, it lacks passion, grandeur and any sense of the sacred, and has little narrative drive. The Choruses, except for the Hallelujah Chorus, have little majesty. There is also something wrong with the sound mix. I can't quite put my finger on it but somehow the bass-treble balance is just off. I tried the special anniversary 24 bit rerelease and found that the sound of it was, oddly enough, even worse. I would instead very highly recommend Sir Colin Davis' other recording of The Messiah, with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. It is a bit difficult to find but just spectacular.

5 comments about Halloween Sound Effects.

1. I purchased this CD and I was ripped off. The sounds on the CD are pathetic. They are of poor quality, with one person standing in a sound booth. I could have made a better recording with my tape recorder and mic myself.
   I was looking for a CD to compile a string of sounds for my Haunted house. Now I have to find another means of getting these sounds. DON'T BUY THIS CD. You will not get your moneys worth.



2. Everyones needs for Halloween effects are different. I love creating my own "environment" CD's using sound effects from various sources. This CD has some excellant sounds to be used in your own creation. This CD is NOT meant to be played "as is" at your Halloween Haunt. Rather, you need to combine these sounds to make your own special environement. I have been creating my own CDs (that I loop in a CD player) for years and I have enjoyed using this CD the most. Yes, there are several sounds I will never use because they are bad, but not one CD I have purchased contains all sounds that I would use. I just hope that this company makes more sounds avaiable for us Haunters. Get this CD if you like mixing and matching sounds to create your own "mood" for your own haunt!



3. This is the worst Halloween sound effects CD I have ever heard. Who did this? It's ridiculously awful; I mean, what is that? "Velcome to my house." This is freaking terrible. This won't scare anybody; they'll just be rolling on the floor laughing. How pathetic.



4. Between you and me, I dont relish the intent of listening to halloween music treats as if it were on the same spectrum of Beethovan or Bach. The sound quality is justifiable when you have a featured halloween cd that wants to transport you thru different stories, or sound theme selections. This particular cd is jammed packed full of halloween sound snippets, that you can just about listen to in each entirety on the track samples alone. There is no story and no scenerio. No narration, and no thread to follow other than pure memory of where the tracks might be.
   For me, this is my halloween intermission sound collection between those tracks from other cds that really play the whopper in sound effects and presentation. The "Rabid Dog" selection is pretty memorable as if its breathing down your back. The Witch Cackles are great if you have a witch prop that needs a sound selection without music or other incoming sound effect to interfere. Each sound effect stands alone and is not compromised by any other input, which makes it useful for song overlay, insert, or in between track plug in. You might say this is a sound effect sticker collection, or icon outakes. I got this cd, and I don't regret it. I use it even sometimes as filler for the areas of my recording that cannot take other much longer tracks for recording purposes.
   As for sound quality, I've heard much worse, and for a few seconds of airplay per sound track, it doesn't really make much difference.



5. Thought it would make some nice ringtones for my phone and it did. Had to take them to movie maker, which a course a free program on my PC, and bitrate of the recording but nothing to hard and it works fine.