Christmas Rocks: The Best of Collection

Brian Setzer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Surfdog Records Wea
• ASIN: B001DZDTEA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,697 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #73 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Retro Swing

Editorial Reviews

Charge your hot rod into the holidays with Christmas Rocks: The Best of Collection by the Brian Setzer Orchestra! Meow! Life has been grand for the ex-Stray Cat and he shares all his goodies in this album. Brian Setzer has made a career of bucking trends, going against the grain, ignoring popular culture, discarding rational thought, and, all the while, blowing people away. In a Pop music era dominated by twenty-something contest winners and angst-ridden suburban kids, his projects couldn't be any further removed from the mainstream.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Setzer's Annual Christmas Visit - It Swings!, October 7, 2008

By 

B. Baldwin - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Christmas Rocks: The Best of Collection (Audio CD)

The Brian Sezter Orchestra have come to associate themselves closely with the Chrismas Holidays, having recorded two Christmas CD's and making an annual Christmas concert tour.

This latest offering is, as the subtitle implies, a "Best Of" collection, along with a couple of new tracks. For those that don't have the BSO's previous two Christmas discs, this is a nice compilation of some of the best of the two.

The whole thing is upbeat fun, with Setzer and the boys delivering updated swing versions of some Christmas chestnuts as well as a few original tracks. Could there have been some changes in the track list? I think so, but overall, this is a solid set. The weakest of the tracks has to be "Baby, It's Cold Outside", which features a well past her prime Ann Margaret, who really detracts from what otherwise is one cool yule tune.

I would have liked to have seen some of the "Bonus Tracks" that were found on subsequent re-issues of the BSO's previous Christmas CDs make their way to this compliation, including "Run, Run Rudolph" and "Cactus Christmas". The version of "Jingle Bells" found on this compilation is the one recorded for "Boogie Woogie Christmas" CD.....The version recorded for the movie Jingle All The Way is the superior version, and that would have been a welcome addition to this CD, as would the instrumental version found on the obsure "Merry Axemas" CD.

Is this disc essential? No, especially if you already have the previous two BSO Holiday discs. With a few changes to the track listing, however, that assessment would be different. That being said, this is a great one disc set that will keep the Christmas Holidays "Wild, Cool, & Swingin'!"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even the Grinch would rock out to this CD, December 18, 2008

By 

R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Christmas Rocks: The Best of Collection (Audio CD)

Let's face it, more than a few of us need a little Prozac during the holidays and this disk might just be the ticket. Brian Setzer does a very upbeat Christmas.

This is a compilation of his previous two Christmas CDs, so if you have them, you may not 'need' this one. I have one of the two, so I felt free to buy.

Favorites:

Jingle Bell Rock

Is that you, Santa Claus

To add to all of this, the CD is a very generous 20 tracks which is about twice what we are getting now in this age of iTunes and packaged disks.

Rebecca Kyle, December 2008

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Setzer's Christmas Tunes Totally Rock!, December 21, 2008

By 

Karsen Stanley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Rocks: The Best-Of Collection (MP3 Download)

This is quite simply the best Christmas album out there. Our family has owned the other 2 Brian Setzer Christmas CD's, "Dig That Crazy Christmas" and "Boogie Woogie Christmas", and we listen to them non-stop during the holidays every year. This new release pretty much takes the best 20 songs and puts them all in one place at an insanely low price (especially for the MP3 version --I love AMAZON!). You can't go wrong with this one!!