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Artist:
John Denver
 JD at his christmas best, 2010-02-11
Simple if you love John Denver you will love this album. The only thing wrong with this CD is the extra tracks added to the CD version They are not Christmas songs Why add songs that are nothing to do with Christmas to a Christmas CD. this Cd is a full of typical songs like White Christmas, Silver Bells, Away in a manger & jingle bells but also has a few lovely country songs like Christmas for Cowboys, A baby just like you(where he wishes his son Zachary a merry christmas)& of course please daddy don't get drunk this christmas. This will put you in a great christmasy mood & make you miss John eeven more
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List Price: £6.99
Our Price: £2.57
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Artist:
Faith Hill
Awesome!, 2009-02-17
I had never heard of Faith Hill until I heard her version of O Holy Night during a Christmas Eve Service in my local church and was bowled over! I made enquiries with the church about the song and very quickly ordered Joy to the World. The other tracks are also out of this world. My only reservation is that the CD contains a mixture of Christmas carols and secular songs so can only be played during the Christmas Season. What a talented and gorgeuous looking singer! I shall be adding more Faith Hill music to my collection.
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Artist:
Sugarland
Distinctive contemporary Christmas album, 2010-03-10
Although I've long meant to buy some of Sugarland's earlier albums, I haven't yet so this is my first album of theirs. It certainly reminds me that I really must buy those other albums. This is one of the more imaginative Christmas albums around, with several original songs and a sprinkling of old chestnuts, all done in typical Sugarland style. Jennifer Nettles sings most of the lead vocals, but Kristian Bush takes the lead on Holly jolly Christmas and Maybe baby New Year's day.
Although Sugarland's music is rooted in country (some tracks actually utilize a steel guitar), it has a contemporary urban feel to it, clearly illustrated by the opening track, City of silver dreams. Traditional country songs usually contrast the big bad cities and the nasty people who inhabit them with the rural life that they acknowledge as tough but at least the people are nice, examples being Detroit city (Bobby Bare), I'm gonna be a country girl again (Buffy Sainte-Marie) and Big city (Merle Haggard). The opening track shows how far country songs have changed, as it pays enthusiastic homage to New York, including one verse about St Patrick's Cathedral and another about 5th Avenue. Instead of regarding New York as heartless and soulless, country singers now recognize that New York can be enjoyable.
Following that opener are a couple of standards (Winter wonderland), which are given a distinctive Sugarland treatment but still stick to the basic original arrangement, so they should still sound reassuringly familiar enough to satisfy traditionalists. Next come three original songs. The first of these, Coming home, makes no reference to Christmas and could be about a homecoming at any time of year, but it certainly fits in here comfortably. The title track describes some of the good feelings of Christmas, while the sad song, Maybe baby New year's day, finds a man reflecting on how Christmas used to be with a woman who is only a memory.
Nuttin' for Christmas, a song first recorded by the Fontane Sisters, is a wonderful upbeat fun song that is rarely recorded. Next comes the standard O come O come Emmanuel, which Jennifer sings with the dignity it requires. A very stately song, the instrumentation includes two banjos, which is not exactly what one might expect, but they are played with great restraint while providing a distinctive touch. Nobody will mistake Sugarland's version of this carol for any other.
The last original song here, Little wood guitar, is about a Christmas gift given to a girl (Jennifer?) who eventual becomes successful. A great story song, it ranks alongside the opening track and the title track as one of the three best tracks here, although the entire album is brilliant. The album ends with an excellent bilingual version of Silent night.
This album took a few spins to grown on me, but I appreciated it more each time I played it. While the album is generally upbeat, I'm not convinced that it would work as party music, but it would be great at any other time of the festive season.
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List Price: £13.99
Our Price: £6.75
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Artist:
Elvis Presley
It may seem weird to call a seasonal album "essential", but along with Phil Spector's Christmas Gift for You, this is arguably the finest rock & roll Christmas album of all time. Recorded in 1957 at the height of his artistry--when he truly could be called the King of Rock & Roll--this album demonstrates Presley having a lot of vocal fun with a variety of styles, whether it's a carol ("Silent Night") or pop standard (Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus"). He does one of the greatest versions of "White Christmas" ever recorded, basically using the Drifters' version as a blueprint--and then singing all the parts himself. His "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is definitiv...
The 1957 Elvis Christmas album still holds up great today, 2003-12-11
"Elvis' Christmas Album" was originally released in 1957 as his fourth album and the first one that followed an obvious thematic concept. You need to keep in mind that this was originally a record album, because there were clearly two sides to Elvis this time around. On the "A" side of the album you Elvis doing rockers and blues numbers like "Santa Claus Is Back in Town," "Here Comes Santa Claus," and the most famous Elvis Christmas track, "Blue Christmas" for the first-half dozen songs. On the "B" side Elvis does gospel songs including "Silent Night," "I Believe," "Peace in the Valley" and "Take My Hand, Precious Lord." Keep in mind that Elvis had only exploded on the music scene the year before and listening to him sing "church" music suddenly made it really difficult to dismiss all the hip shaking. Yes, it is strange that the original Elvis backup group, the Jordanaires, pops up on track only on the "second" side of the album, but there is no doubting Elvis' sincerity in singing these songs. This first Elvis Christmas album is still the best and even those fans who voted for the Vegas Elvis stamp instead of the Young Elvis stamp would have to agree.
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List Price: £4.99
Our Price: £0.99
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Artist:
Walter Brennan
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List Price: £17.99
Our Price: £8.95
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Artist:
Kenny Rogers,
Dolly Parton
A great Christmas CD, 2009-09-30
I agree with the other review (why only one review ??), this is a really good Christmas offering, I play it every year and it really hits the spot.
I first saw the 'show' on TV in England in the early 90s I think; I didn't expect much as I'm not a great Country music fan and am indifferent to both Dolly and Kenny's regular output (though I do own some of KR's songs, and loved DP's Jolene), anyway the 'show' blew me and my wife away (if only we'd taped it), it took ages for me to track down a vinyl copy, which I eventually managed, which I played to death, and then in the last few years or so I managed to track down a budget CD, which is now a treasured possession. Shame there's no DVD yet.
Anyway to the music, 'I Believe In Santa Claus' starts of at a fair lick and is a very bouncy, jolly, song that gets you in the Christmas mood; the medley is fine and carries you on to 'With Bells On', which is another real foot-tapper that you can't help singing along to, it puts a smile on your face which surely isn't a bad thing for a Christmas song ? 'Christmas Without You' is next up, a bit of a tear-jerker this, without being a ballad ("White Christmas and I'm blue, like a firework with no fuse", sentimental and melancholy, for me it conjures up pictures of real log fires with deep, white snow outside). 'Christmas To Remember' is again a bouncy pop song and another foot-tapper ("you made this a Christmas to remember, spring time feelings in the middle of December, turn the lights down low ... ").
I've left some songs out (partly because my version doesn't have 'Hard Candy Christmas', and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing !!) but my absolute favourite track has to be 'The Greatest Gift of All', a 'classic', slow paced Christmas song, ("the fire is slowly dying, friends have all gone home, you and I are waiting, for Santa Claus to come" still makes me tingle, lovely; OK I'm a sucker for a good Christmas song, if you don't like it why are you reading a Christmas CD review ??
Unfortunately I always feel slightly let down by 'Once Upon A Christmas', it's very grandiose and seems to have ideas above itself, it's a fine composition but a bit overdone for my taste, I don't really feel it sits well on the album being fairly classical in feel with strings and all, but it's probably just me.
So there you have it, a great Christmas album; if you can get it cheap then try it, you know what you're going to get, Kenny and Dolly and Christmas, there is no subtext here!! If the combination of these three made you check out this review in the first place then just buy it, you won't be sorry.
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List Price: £11.99
Our Price: £2.53
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Artist:
Reba McEntire
High quality Christmas pop-country offering, 2003-10-26
This was Reba's second Christmas album. It is very different from her first (Merry Christmas to you), which was firmly rooted in traditional country.Reba sings a great mix of old and new songs on this album. The old classics are represented by I saw Mama kissing Santa Claus and Up on the housetop. Two contemporary songs that could yet become classics are Mary did you know and Till the season comes round again. Kenny Rogers had previously recorded both of them for his album, The gift, although Kathy Mattea (on her Good news album) was the original singer of Mary did you know. I have not heard any of the other six songs anywhere else but they are certainly worth hearing. My favorites are the opening This is my prayer for you and the title track, although One child one day is not far behind and the others are also wonderful. If you enjoy nineties pop-country music and you are looking for something festive, this will suit you ideally.
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List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £2.11
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Artist:
Dolly Parton
chrismas dolly, 2010-01-13
Christmas songs and carols sung by Dolly as you drive along in the snow of Dec 2009! The first nowell and jingle bells-beautiful and as for rudolph-excellent all with Dolly's laughter and chatter!
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List Price: £6.99
Our Price: £2.00
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 Encyclopedic survey with some wonderful bonuses, 2004-10-11
Grainger's piano music is notoriously difficult, and it's also fairly uneven, so a complete survey is bound to have its highs and lows. Martin Jones does make a few obvious fluffs, but these are easy to overlook, given the great musicality of these performances. The sound quality is good, though some may find the tone a little too mellow and the acoustic a little too spacious for their tastes. For me, perhaps the best things about this set are the fillers on the 5th disc - here are some fantastic gems for multiple pianos and and multiple pianists. The English Dance for 2 pianos-6 hands is simply fantastic. Overall, this is a very enjoyable set, so long as you're reasonably selective. A must for Grainger fans, and enhanced by excellent programme notes.
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List Price: £28.99
Our Price: £17.95
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Artist:
Raul Malo
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List Price: £17.99
Our Price: £12.07
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