Christmas Eve and Other Stories

Trans-Siberian Orchestra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 15, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: © 1996 Atlantic Recording Corp. / Lava Records
• ASIN: B000002JX6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (266 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,266 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Pop Instrumental & Easy Listening
  • #1 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Noels
  • #5 in Music > Classical > Sacred & Religious

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Eve and Other Stories a holiday rock opera? Or perhaps just a holiday prog-rock disc? Or maybe it's New Age? Whatever the case may be, this isn't your typical Christmas album. Filled with electric guitar solos, plenty of synthesized keyboards, a children's choir, and lively drumming, Christmas Eve can only be compared to one other record, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's other holiday disc, The Christmas Attic. On this CD, angelic vocal solos (on numbers such as "The Prince of Peace") are interspersed with driving instrumentals. Sentimental, occasionally bombastic, but as high-concept as holiday albums can be. --Jason Verlinde

Product Description

Characterized by its Capra-esque quality, this acclaimed holiday recording features an ensemble that joins talents from the hard rock, Broadway musical and classical arenas.
Genre: Christmas Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 15-OCT-1996

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

123 of 128 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant From Start to Finish, August 31, 2001

By 

Just Bill (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christmas Eve and Other Stories (Audio CD)

From the enchanting cover art right through to the last notes of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," the last track, Christmas Eve and Other Stories is a rare delight.

In fact, although this is supposed to be a Christmas album, I find I can listen to it year 'round (as I am right now and it's August 31st).

You probably already know this from reading other reviews, but Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is the alter ego of Savatage, a mostly heavy metal/progressive rock band whose albums tend to lean toward the "concept" side of creativity, which is to say they're generally quite a few notches above most music these days...and often contain flashes of brilliance not found anywhere else on the planet.

There's a feeling I get every year around Christmastime, and TSO "director" Paul O'Neill (who produces Savatage's albums) captured it exactly on this CD. As a matter of fact, on TSO's web site, O'Neill writes, "I love writing stories and I've always been staggeringly fascinated with Christmas. It's such a magical time of the year. If you're walking down a New York City street around Christmastime and it starts to snow, the potential for magic can be felt in the air. That's what I tried to capture on this record, while bringing a fresh musical treatment to the holiday."

To capture that "magical" feeling on Christmas Eve and Other Stories, O'Neill took mostly traditional Christmas songs and infused them with electric guitar power and energy to create a majestic, emotional, captivating sound that tends to overwhelm me with emotion or awe (such as on the incredible "A Star To Follow" track or in the dynamic "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" track, which also appeared on Savatage's Dead Winter Dead CD).

"A Star To Follow" is amazing. Savatage occasionally creates counterpoint/chorus arrangements that truly rise above the norm, such as the title track to The Wake of Magellan, for example. Or "Morphine Child" from their latest CD Poets and Madmen. "A Star To Follow" gives me the chills every time I hear it.

This CD isn't just Christmas tunes put to heavy metal. It's so much more than that. There's a softness and innocence, maybe even a reverence, about these arrangements (like on the delicate classical guitar instrumental "The Silent Nutcracker") -- even when such songs are placed back-to-back against tracks like "A Mad Russian's Christmas," which begins with a plaintive piano melody that's soon punctuated by bone-crushing Metallica-esque power chords.

Another example of one style of music placed like bookends against another is "Prince of Peace" immediately followed by Savatage's "Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24," one of the most powerful songs you'll ever hear -- Christmas or otherwise.

I can't say enough about this CD. It's the kind of album that comes along truly once in a lifetime. Even if TSO never tops this performance (The Christmas Attic and Beethoven's Last Night are noble efforts, but they don't hold a candle to this album), they will have served us well by creating Christmas Eve and Other Stories -- one of my favorite CDs of all time.

93 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Christmas Eve and Other Stories (Audio CD)

This is a classic cd that you will not tire of! I actually removed it from my Christmas storage this year in October (couldn't wait for Thanksgiving). There are several qualities to this cd. First, the arrangements are incredible. They are agressive and powerful and often combine themes from several songs into 1 (Carol of the Bells and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen form Christmas Eve/Sarajevo). To pull this off, T.S.O. incorporates phenomenal musicianship to back these arrangements.

There is more to this cd than just great music. There is a Christmas tale which weaves the songs together into one work. The section of this story that always gets to me is from 'The Ornament' to 'This Christmas Day'.

Finally, what brings it all together is the choice of vocalists throughout the story - all fantastic. The emotion that is heard in these songs relating to the part of the story they are telling is as if they are living the story and we are observing it. Just listen to the vocalist of 'This Christmas Day' and I believe you will understand. I literally get chills at the end of this song.

All in all, this will be a favorite for years to come. Enjoy!

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas album with year-round appeal, August 5, 2000

By 

Matt from www.prog.web.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Eve and Other Stories (Audio CD)

Well, usually around December sometime this album and its worthy successor become my two favorites to listen to - not to say you won't find me listening to it throughout the rest of the year, either. The album's 17 tracks, every single one of them excellent, are divided nearly equally between instrumental and non-instrumental tracks. The songs tell the story of an angel's quest and a runaway returned home for the holidays in an implied rock opera style. In doing so, Paul O'Neill and company are able to somehow capture the magic and spirit of the season with incredible accuracy. The style of the music varies greatly, from light to heavy and everything in between. Here you'll find piano / vocal driven Broadway moments, string filled symphonic moments, solo-guitar laden heavy metal moments, not to mention the tasteful inclusion of a children's choir and a song each to touch on folk and blues. Many of the album's melodies are borrowed from Christmas favorites, meaning plenty of the tunes will be very familiar to even the first time listener, and the original material on the album is just as spectacular as the reworkings of the classics. With at least six different lead singers, the album is both a musical and vocal treat. A definite essential.