The Christmas Sessions

MercyMe | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000AA304I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,847 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Stocking caps off to Mercyme, the best selling Christian rock band, for making a solid Christmas rock record that ranks as one of the year's best holiday releases. The Christmas Sessions showcase Bart Millard's arching pipes and the band's ability to rock many of the traditional hymns and popular carols without excess or restraint. No mean feat. Even "Silent Night," here played as it were always a country-rocker (with Amy Grant singing harmony), is rendered with spirited reinvention, while the band's guitar-driven sound always seems to draw yet more from such classics as "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear." Although the entire group could be accused of being U2's poor American cousins (despite Millard not yet having achieved the global sainthood of Bono for his humanitarian work), no one is going to be disappointed if this record gets wrapped up with a cool bow and pretty paper, or stuffed in a long stocking hanging on the mantle. Highly recommended. --Martin Keller

Product Description

One of CCM's most loved and best selling bands delivers their first Christmas album. Featuring classic titles and contemporary yet recognizable melodies, MercyMe puts their stamp on your Christmas favorites. Includes the songs, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Silent Night, White Christmas and Winter Wonderland. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guitar Driven, Rock Oriented Christmas, November 20, 2005

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Christmas Sessions (Audio CD)

Many artists change their signature sound when releasing a Christmas album, going for the more traditional sounds of 40 years ago. These CD's are instant classics that feel like old friends the first time they are spun.

Other artists decide to release Christmas CD's that stick with their normal sound, whatever that may be. These projects take a few years to grow on the listener, but they often become favorites because they offer something different from everything else. This CD falls into the second category.

Mercy Me has made a name for itself in the Christian music industry with three highly successful projects already under their belt. While I wouldn't exactly classify their sound as straight rock, they are certainly rockier then many adult contemporary artists they are often classified with. They take their guitar driven music and wrap it around some Christmas classics. The result is unsurprisingly great.

Eleven of the twelve tracks on the CD are well known standby songs like "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," "Winter Wonderland/White Christmas," "Drummer Boy," or "O Holy Night." Each track features drums and guitar heavily. For example, you can really hear the drum and bass on "O Holy Night." It's an arrangement that I wouldn't have thought of, but it works.

Each of these songs is sped up, some more then others, from what you are used to. You might not be able to sing along the first time through, but by the second or third you will hit all the notes along with them since they do stick with the original melody. Occasionally, the also through in new words, as in "Gloria." And for those wondering, this isn't a new take on Michael W. Smith's classic reworking, but an arrangement that sticks much closer to the original carol.

There are a couple tracks that don't work as well. "Christmas Time is Here" isn't a fast song. Of course, it's also ruined by the fact that someone with a good voice is singing it. I will forever only love the version from the Charlie Brown special. "Silent Night" becomes a country church version that would have fit on lead singer Bart Millard's recent hymns project. I don't care for the arrangement, but those who enjoy upbeat country will.

My biggest disappointment is the lack of original songs. The final track, "Josephs' Lullaby" is the only new song. Appropriately enough, it is the slowest track here. This piano driven ballad is a tender take on what Joseph might have sang to Jesus that first Christmas night asking for a good night sleep before the reality of saving the world becomes His burden.

It will be a couple years before this CD is one I reach for at the start of the Christmas season. But it will be one that gets lots of play this year and in years to come.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Traditional songs in an untraditional way, November 10, 2005

By 

Music Lover (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christmas Sessions (Audio CD)

MercyMe does a nice job making traditional Christmas songs come alive by making them more modern day sounding. For the traditionalists among us let me reassure you that they've not changed the overall sound and meaning of the songs, they've instead made them more upbeat. While they've added very little overall to the songs, they've made them their own by using the musical instruments of today (electric guitar etc..) and adapting it to fit their style. I, like many people out there, worked at a mall in my late teens and early twenties so I got so fed up with Christmas music that it took well over 10 years before I could listen to it again. This cd is a Christmas cd that's different so if you know someone that is sick of hearing Christmas music pick it up and put it in as a nice compromise! :-)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Christmas CD I've bought in a while!, December 20, 2009

By 

P. Kirsch (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Christmas Sessions (Audio CD)

I love this CD! I have never bought a Mercy Me CD before, although I enjoy their music, but for some reason I was compelled to buy this one. This group has done a fabulous job of updating some of my favorite Christmas songs in a way that makes these songs modern without losing the beautiful meaning behind them. My favorite is "I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day" - an excellent rendition of one of the most beautiful Christmas songs of all time. My oldest son's favorite is "Angels We Have Heard on High", which he says "totally rocks and makes the traditional version sound totally boring", while my youngest son makes me play the Charlie Brown classic "Christmas Time is Here" over and over and over again!

I would recommend this CD to anyone who wants a little change from the same old, same old Christmas music. This is definitely my new favorite Christmas CD!!