SGTC: Mach II, Round 7

[murlough23]

For our new "theme round", we'll all be reviewing Christmas albums:

bdg: Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God (Clips)
bloop: John Denver, Rocky Mountain Christmas (Clips)
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night (Full Album)
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP (Clips)
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays (Clips)
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience (Clips)
NinjaRob: Various Artists, Happy Christmas 4 (Clips)
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection (Clips)
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story (Clips)
worldofcm: The Martins, Light of the World (Clips)

The honor of choosing the theme for Round 9 goes to worldofcm. When you come up with something, post it here so we can all agree upon it.

[Brenden]

My album isn't up there that I can see.

I was doing Kevin Max - Holy Night

[murlough23]

My album isn't up there that I can see.

I was doing Kevin Max - Holy Night

Sorry about that. I miscounted and thought I had all 10 of us when I only had 9.

[Brenden]

My album isn't up there that I can see.

I was doing Kevin Max - Holy Night

Sorry about that. I miscounted and thought I had all 10 of us when I only had 9.

That's alright.

[worldofcm]

How about for round 9 - GREATEST HITS albums?

[murlough23]

How about for round 9 - GREATEST HITS albums?

Works for me.

[eatahouse]

bdg: Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God (Clips) 5
bloop: John Denver, Rocky Mountain Christmas (Clips) 3
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night (Full Album) 4
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP (Clips)3
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays (Clips) 3
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience (Clips) 2
NinjaRob: Various Artists, Happy Christmas 4 (Clips) 3
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection (Clips) 3
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story (Clips) 2
worldofcm: The Martins, Light of the World (Clips) 3

[murlough23]

bdg: 4 stars
bloop: 4 stars
Brenden: 3 stars
Danny: 2 stars
Josh: 4 stars
NinjaRob: 3 stars
plvarona: 3 stars
Wildcat: 1 star
worldofcm: 4 stars

[Wildcatblue7]

How about for round 9 - GREATEST HITS albums?

Sounds good.  I'll have to track one down, though . . .

bdg: 4
bloop: 3
Brenden: 4
Danny: 3
Josh: 4
murlough: 3
NinjaRob: 3
plvarona: 3
worldofcm: 4
 

[Brenden]

How about for round 9 - GREATEST HITS albums?

That'll work.

[worldofcm]

These could definitely all change...

bdg: Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God - 5 stars
bloop: John Denver, Rocky Mountain Christmas - 4 stars
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night - 4 stars
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP - 3 stars
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays - 4 stars
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience - 3 stars
NinjaRob: Various Artists, Happy Christmas - 4 stars
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection - 3 stars
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story - 1 star
 

[worldofcm]

For next round - put me down for Delirious?'s The Mission Bell

[plvarona]

How about for round 9 - GREATEST HITS albums?

That's fine with me.

Here are my guesses for this round:

bdg: 4 stars
bloop: 3 stars
Brenden: 4 stars
Danny: 3 stars
Josh: 4 stars
murlough: 3 stars
NinjaRob: 3 stars
Wildcat: 1 star
worldofcm: 5 stars

[Dan]

bdg: Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God: 5
bloop: John Denver, Rocky Mountain Christmas: 4
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night: 4
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP: 5, but only because guessing for yourself is a silly way to try to throw people off.
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays: 5
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience: 3.5....3
NinjaRob: Various Artists, Happy Christmas 4: 3
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection: 3.5...3
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story: 2
worldofcm: The Martins, Light of the World: 4

[bdg13disciple]

bloop: John Denver, Rocky Mountain Christmas (4)
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night (4)
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP (3)
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays (4)
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience (2)
NinjaRob: Various Artists, Happy Christmas 4 (3)
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection (3)
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story (2)
worldofcm: The Martins, Light of the World (4)

peace... love... bdg...
 

[NinjaRob17]

bdg: Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God - 4 Stars
bloop: John Denver, Rocky Mountain Christmas - 3 Stars
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night - 4 Stars
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP - 3 Stars
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays - 4 Stars
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience - 3 Stars
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection - 3 Stars
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story - 2 Stars
worldofcm: The Martins, Light of the World - 3 Stars
 

[Brenden]

bdg: 4 Stars
bloop: 4 Stars
NinjaRob: 3 stars
Danny: 3 Stars
Josh: 4 Stars
murlough: 2 Stars
plvarona: 4 Stars
Wildcat: 2 Stars
worldofcm: 3 Stars

[bloop]

bdg: Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God 5 stars
Brenden: Kevin Max, Holy Night 4 stars
Danny: Threefold, Tidings EP 2 stars
Josh: Harry Connick, Jr., Harry for the Holidays 4 stars
murlough: Various Artists, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Christmas Worship Experience 2 stars
NinjaRob: Various Artists, Happy Christmas 4 3 stars
plvarona: Avalon, Joy - A Christmas Collection 4 stars
Wildcat: Point of Grace, A Christmas Story 2 stars
worldofcm: The Martins, Light of the World 4 stars

[Josh]

bdg: 5
bloop: 4
Brenden: 5
Danny: 3
murlough: 2
NinjaRob: 4
plvarona: 4
Wildcat: 2
worldofcm: 4

Greatest hits album: Fine with me.

Next round: Derek Webb-- Mockingbird

[worldofcm]

Here I was - thinking I was very late in getting my answers up - and no one else have even posted there.  Thank you for busy holiday seasons.

My review - Light of the World is The Martins at their best.  Exquisite harmonies, beautiful arrangements, a strong blending of multiple genres (their country songs are where they shine the best), and some of their best acappella numbers to date.  This should be a must-own for any fan of great Christmas music.  This deserves nothing lower than 5 stars.

[murlough23]

I was going to put my answer up late last night, but I forgot.

O Come Let Us Adore Him gets a probably-not-surprising 2 stars from me. It's just another City on a Hill rehashed and regurgitated, Christmas-style. All City ever was, was a vehicle for Byrd and Hindalong to unleash their boring praise songs on the world, using bigger-name artists to disguise them as something more exciting (in all fairness, there have been a handful of exciting songs along the way, though "God of Wonders" is the only one I can come up with in that short list that was actually penned by Byrd and Hindalong.) These guys promised us they were done with the series after volume 3, but now they're finding as many ways to drag it out and still release albums as Tupac Shakur and Jeff Buckley are. The Joy Williams song on this disc was pretty darn good. Jars of Clay's take on "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" was alright - nothing to write home about. Beyond that... snooze. This might as well be some amateur church cantata or something... all the star power doesn't help much if they're all singing boring songs (or half-songs, as the case often is here).  

[murlough23]

Oh, and here's plvarona's rating, posted by proxy:

I am giving Avalon's Joy - A Christmas Collection 3 stars.

He'll explain when he gets back from wherever he went.

[Josh]

I'll give Harry for the Holidays 4 stars.

It's well-produced, well-performed, and well-arranged-- in fact, in many ways, it's one of his very finest recordings.

So why not 5 stars? Well, perhaps because, since it IS a Christmas album, it can become a little tiresome and monotonous by the end. And some songs are more than a little sappy-- which is, of course, all part of the fun, but it can get old.

Good disc, though. I plan on playing it throughout the holiday season.

[Wildcatblue7]

Want another wrench?

Four stars for Point of Grace.

Don't die, I'll explain.  When they're performing other people's songs, they actually sound really, really good.  The arrangements were done beautifully overall.  My main complaints--inane songs like Jingle Bell Rock (shoot me now), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (I almost typed Satan . . . Freudian slip) and the occasional "gracious sakes, that is SAPPY" moment.  But overall, really solid stuff.  And the song with Michael Tait is quite awesome.

Next week: Yellowjackets, Peace Round.

[NinjaRob17]

Want another wrench?

Four stars for Point of Grace.

Somehow, deep inside of me, I knew you were going to do that.

Anyway, I'm kind of torn on what to give Happy Christmas 4. The best songs on this album are the great renditions of old favorites such as Anberlin's take on "Baby Please Come Home", Spoken's "Mary Did You Know"and Mae's "Carol of the Bells". I've never heard of The Fold, but they did a nice version of "O Holy Night" (plus, it's a lot better than when Seven Day Jesus covered it on the original Happy Christmas). Some of the originals are good too, like Emery's "(Ho Ho Hey) A Way For Santa's Sleigh" and Relient K's "I Celebrate the Day".

However, there are some mistakes. First of all, Switchfoot's "Evergreen" was already on the original Happy Christmas compilation and should therefore not be on this one. That was just pure laziness on whomever made that decision's part. I was dissapointed with Starflyer 59's effort, "Christmas Time Is Here". It didn't sound anything like them. It actually sounded closer to Joy Electric than Starflyer 59. Aaron Gillepsie of Underoath and Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line scream and whine their way through "Yule Be Sorry". I am sorry - for having to listen to that song. Lastly, the two final songs of the album, "Of Two Bearded Men" by Number One Gun and "God Is Real (Jesus Is Alive)" by John Davis are plain boring.

I was thinking of giving this a 3, but thinking back on it, the good songs outnumber the mediocre ones. I'd give it about a 3.75. Rounding up, it comes out to 4 Stars.

Next week I'll go with...Starflyer 59's "Gold (Special Edition)".

[bloop]

Any album that has a song called "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)" is at least alright by me.  

Seriously, aside from some of the originals, it's just Christmas music - few bells or whistles included, other than those that jingle.  Well played, warm, and it fits what I've come to expect of Christmas albums, but it's also a bit too unobtrusive and too safe (even the aforementioned song sounds rather safe).  I'll probably play it while we're putting up our Christmas tree.  All this adds up to a C, 3 stars.

For next time, hmmm, Blue Merle's Burning in the Sun.

[bdg13disciple]

this round is a good kick in the gut for me...
and, i'll be helping everyone out with my score here...

i'm somewhat torn between a 4 and a 5 on this album, 4 because i think it could  be grander overall but 5 because it's clearly one of the more artistic Christmas releases available.  In the end it's the storytelling brilliance that i've always admired from Peterson that pushes me over to a 5.  It really comes out here moreso than even his other albums and completely brings back memories of Rich.

next week, you can count me in on The Mission Bell by Delirious?...

peace... love... bdg...  

[Brenden]

I have a hard time finding things I dislike about this album. At first I didn't think much of the simple arrangements, and Greensleeves seemed like a really random inclusion, as it's not really a "christmas" song. But the arrangements did grow on me, I found the album relaxing, rather than boring, and it managed to avoid getting on my nerves. Greensleeves is STILL pretty random seeming though, and some of the arrangements kind of blend together, but I'm not sure whether that's good or bad here. Kevin's vocals are great. I'll go with 5 stars for this one.

[plvarona]

Oh, and here's plvarona's rating, posted by proxy:

I am giving Avalon's Joy - A Christmas Collection 3 stars.

He'll explain when he gets back from wherever he went.

Well, I technically haven't gotten back in town yet (will be doing so tomorrow), although I do have internet access right now so I'll go ahead and use this opportunity to explain my rating.

First off, I'll admit I can be a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to rating Christmas Albums.  For one thing, I find it very easy to make holiday albums sound tacky, so it's very easy to turn me off when it comes to such albums.  Furthermore, I usually don't listen to Christmas Albums until it gets close to Christmas day anyway.  However, you guys saw that Avalon's album fared decently with me.  Here's the rundown on it:

Pros: Vocals were quite good throughout the entire CD, as was quite often the case with this particular lineup from Avalon (Jody McBrayer, Janna Long, Michael Passons and Cherie Adams.)  "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day" and "Light a Candle" particularly stood out, and both also happen to be among my favorite contemporary Christmas songs.  A few other songs (such as "Joy (To The World)" and "Jesus Born On This Day") grew on me after awhile.

Cons: I found their rendition of "Winter Wonderland" to be very tacky.  "Good News" failed to hold my attention for any appreciable amount of time.  I thought the two medleys could have been better.  They weren't bad, but they didn't stand out either.

The Verdict: There are a few very strong moments here, but not enough of them for me to really recommend this CD.  However, you can do far worse as far as Christmas CDs go.  All things considered, this comes out to a solid "C."

[murlough23]

Point of Grace getting rated higher than The Clash??!?!?

An album of almost entirely unimaginative retreads of Christmas standbys getting 5 stars while original work from KMax gets less than that?

You guys are killing me here.

[plvarona]

Oh yeah, before I forget, put me down for Salvador's Con Poder for the next round.

[Brenden]

Point of Grace getting rated higher than The Clash??!?!?

An album of almost entirely unimaginative retreads of Christmas standbys getting 5 stars while original work from KMax gets less than that?

You guys are killing me here.

If his other album didn't have the incredibly boring The Imposter's Song or Stay, I'd have given it 5 stars.

It is a better christmas album than most I've heard, it managed to not get on my nerves and not bore me.

I also just got back from a concert where a guy did play some christmas songs that he rewrote the melodies entirely to, and they became boring songs. Except for his version of Little Drummer Boy, played only with his african drum and with the "pa-rum-pum-pum"s removed.

Next round I'll take Lifehouse-Lifehouse.

[Wildcatblue7]

I tend to go easy on Christmas albums since I only listen to them for a month and a half a year.

[murlough23]

It is a better christmas album than most I've heard, it managed to not get on my nerves and not bore me.

I also just got back from a concert where a guy did play some christmas songs that he rewrote the melodies entirely to, and they became boring songs. Except for his version of Little Drummer Boy, played only with his african drum and with the "pa-rum-pum-pum"s removed.

To each his own, I suppose. I just didn't see nearly enough artistic merit to that KMax Christmas album to justify giving it 5 stars. I didn't want or expect him to chaneg up the melodies, but there was little variation to the arrangements, and the whole album put em to sleep. I guess it beats doing really cheesy pop arrangements, but from KMax, I expect a little more innovation. just because he has a great voice doesn't mean he should rely on that alone to carry an album.

[danny316]

I'm going to settle on three stars for Threefold. Threefold's a great band imho, but their albums have a terrible problem - they sound nothing like the two-piece band that does great concerts. Sure, it's nice that they're friends with a few Jars-related people, and that those people will play on their albums - but it'd be much better if they'd play these Christmas tunes with THEIR OWN sound instead of going for a more generic pop-rock sound. The use of mandolin and lap steel makes this slightly more exciting, and some of the new arrangements are pretty decent. Perhaps I should give this two stars for being fairly boring and not sounding much like the group usually does, but it is just an EP and a Christmas one at that, and I do know that these arrangements work, and that they make the tunes their own live. Perhaps I'm letting some fan-bias in, but I'm giving this three stars, because it's not a bad CD, just a less-than-exciting CD. There's nothing wrong with holiday background music not distracting from festivities, right?

[Brenden]

There's nothing wrong with holiday background music not distracting from festivities, right?

Not if you ask me.

[murlough23]

There's nothing wrong with holiday background music not distracting from festivities, right?

There is if you're spending your time listening to it intently and trying to evaluate it. Then the inoffensive becomes greatly offensive in my book.

[danny316]

Point taken Murlough, but there's just enough production niceties and guest appearances to keep Tidings from becoming offensive in that context. My gripe with that is that Stephen Mason and Aaron Sands aren't band members, but I was rather forgiving in my rating.

I foolishly forgot to list an album for next week. I think I'll take on [edited because I can't find clips].

[murlough23]

Point taken Murlough, but there's just enough production niceties and guest appearances to keep Tidings from becoming offensive in that context. My gripe with that is that Stephen Mason and Aaron Sands aren't band members, but I was rather forgiving in my rating.

I foolishly forgot to list an album for next week. I think I'll take on [edited because I can't find clips].

Right, I was just saying that it would likely bug me a lot more than you.

Anyway, you can post your pick for Round 8 in that thread, or PM it to me. Either way. Here's the link:

http://www.thephorum.net/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=2665

Just so folks know, conversations that get cut off when I lock threads for old rounds can be continued in the thread for the new round, if people still feel like there's something to discuss. I don't mean to end the discussions; I'm just trying to keep things tidy so we don't post guesses in the wrong round.

NP: "Here I Am Send Me", Delirious?