Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I actually would like to rate this album 4.5 stars. It's not perfect, but its highs pull it towards 5 stars more than its lows pull it towards four stars.
I often think that artists tread upon dangerous ground when they alter the melodies of all-time favorite hymns and carols. Sometimes it works (see Fernando Ortega), often it doesn't. Sara Groves alters the melodies of several standard carols on this album, and I have to say, the results are fabulous. They are actually the strength of the album in my opinion. In particular I found "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" to be excellent renditions that I am excited to add to my Christmas music rotation.
In addition to the standard carols, there are also a handful of original songs. I don't have anything against original tunes on a Christmas album, but I often find them to be inferior to the standard carols (I have to admit, I'm a sucker for all the carol favorites). On this album I had a range of reactions to the various original tunes. Most of them I would put in the "actually pretty good" category, but one of them - "To Be With You" - is as beautiful and any Christmas carol out there. It will definitely be in the rotation for Christmases to come.
The reason why I would give it 4.5 stars instead of 5 stars is because there are, in my opinion, a couple clunkers on the album. Of course, music is all a matter of personal preference, so don't let this criticism keep you from checking out this album. Specifically, I found the original song "It's True" to be a bit treacly for me, and the song "Toy Packaging," while kind of quirky and fun, is also a little too, I don't know, quirky and fun for my tastes. But of course, that's just my tastes.
On the whole though, I highly recommend this album. It's one of the best to come out in recent memory.
Click Here to see more reviews about: O Holy Night
Classic Christmas with a uniqueness that is Sara Groves. O Holy Night evokes all that is good, warm and friendly during this special season showcasing perennial Christmas favorites as well as four new original songs. Guest feature artist is Toby Groves. She was named one of the best Christian music artists of 2005 and the album, Add to the Beauty, was named "Album of the Year" for 2005 by CCM Magazine. Sara was the subject of a film released in August 2006, titled "Sara Groves - Just Showed Up For My Own Life", the first installment of a new reality film series called Nomad: The Show With No Home produced by Fearless Films Inc.
0 comments:
Post a Comment