subject: Glee - The Christmas Album [print this page] By now, you've been exposed to enough promos, YouTube videos and renditions of old 1980s songs to know what "Glee" is about. The NBC show has taken a chokehold on the Zeitgeist, almost to the point of overload, and just when you think the show has jumped the shark, along comes a Christmas album ready to stuff your stockings.
If hearing teenagers singing Journey songs wasn't enough for you, now you can hear them perform renditions of your favourite Christmas songs. Everyone and their mother has a Christmas album out why not these guys?
This isn't meant as a slap at the stars of the show all of whom have passable, some even fantastic, voices. It's just a question of whether we, willing consumers, need another Christmas album clogging the shelves. I guess so!
Glee - The Christmas Album is a delightful, basic Christmas album. Although it offers no amazing, innovative takes on any song, if youre a Glee addict, youll love hearing your favourite cast members singing these timeless standards, and sharing some Christmas cheer with you over the festive season.
The opening cut, "We Need a Little Christmas," is pretty harmless. The song isn't popular enough to warrant a lot of versions. The second cut, "Deck the Rooftop," uses the Glee formula of taking two songs and turning them into something new.
For fans, this track is a good listen, and adds some interesting spice to the album. It takes a traditional song, "Deck The Halls", and the secular, more modern "Up On The Housetop" song, mixes them together, and adds some funky beats. It wasnt to my taste but is worth a listen so you can make up your own mind and rock out in the process!
The true star of the album is Chris Colfer, who takes command of "Baby, Its Cold Outside." Aside from the obvious wink-wink of two men singing lyrics such as "Beautiful, Please Don't Hurry," Colfer's gender-bending alto voice is spot-on. Darren Criss, who tries to challenge Colfer with a counter-melody, is simply a distraction.
What I found very ambitious were the tracks that have a very solid reputation already with prior performers. My personal view is that Karen Carpenter should have a monopoly on "Merry Christmas Darling". For me any other version simply doesn't hold up.
That said, in this era of 80s flashback pride, it was probably inevitable that the latest hip kids on the block would have a crack at an alternative rendition of Wham's "Last Christmas"; a great song first time around and an interesting exploration by the Glee team.
Another highlight: Lea Michele's does a great job with "O Holy Night," a song that has quickly become a favourite of female artists who want to showcase their voices.
Not surprisingly, the up-tempo songs are the best you can feel the energy in the voices of the cast on songs such as "Jingle Bells" and the aforementioned "We Need a Little Christmas." The slower songs are more careful, and personally speaking, I like a bit of risk-taking in my musicians.
The low point? "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." Matthew Morrison simply acts as the narrator, while k.d. lang is brought in to sing, but hasnt been ably produced and the result is a flat performance that lacks snarl or muscle.
In short, Glee The Christmas Album will delight fans and be a welcome addition to their collections, but in an age in which every Disney star and country artist has a Christmas album - heck, even Twisted Sister has recorded one its a very niche production, true to the Glee style people know and love.
by: BigPond Music
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