Customer Reviews

Christmas Worship Down Under

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Words simply cannot describe how incredibly awesome this album is. Christmas Worship Down Under could be quite possibly THE best Hillsong album ever recorded.

And don't make the mistake of passing it over because of its "Christmas" theme; the album is so powerfully worshipful that it could very well be listened to year round. Not to mention that most of the tracks are not traditional carols or Christmas hymns. Perhaps a more appropriate name for the album would be "Simply Worship Holiday."

The entire album is studio-recorded, featuring a calm, soothing tone throughout that is particularly conducive to worship.

SILENT NIGHT - A perfect song to start with, featuring rich, beautiful vocals by Darlene Zschech.

HARK the HERALD ANGELS SING - Uplifiting and upbeat version of the well-known Christmas classic.

SAVIOUR of the WORLD - A beautiful song of worship destined to become a modern Christmas standard.

JESUS, WHAT a BEAUTIFUL NAME - Lovely rendition of the Hillsong classic.

The REASON WHY - One of the best songs on the album; a stunning worship song.

AWAY in a MANGER - A delicious R&B version of the Christmas favorite.

PERFECT LOVE - An anthemic song of both praise and worship.

O HOLY NIGHT - Several singers combine efforts for this stirring rendition.

REJOICE - An upbeat, pop-inspired praise song that will stick in your head all Christmas long. And that's a good thing, too!

STAR of BETHLEHEM - A beautiful instrumental track. Listen closely, you'll hear parts of some of some Hillsong classics.

The FIRST NOEL - A lovely version of this classic Christmas fare.

O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL/JESUS YOU ARE ALL I LIVE FOR - Perfect blending of a beautiful carol and contemporary worship song. Incredible!

HALLELUJAH - Some songs are instant classics. This is definitely one of them!

GLORY to GOD - By far, the best song on the entire album, a mighty song of praise featuring background vocals by chanting native AustralAsians. Well worth waiting for!

All in all, this album is a must. It will be the favorite of your Christmas music collecion for years to come!

Christmas, at its essence, is more than shopping, chesnuts roasting on an open fire and Santa. The reason we can celebrate is JESUS CHRIST... yet when you stop to think about it, it's amazing to think that 9/10 of all Christmas CDs don't do the obvious, which is worship Jesus.

However, the folks from Hillsong Church understand what Christmas is all about and clearly convey this throughtout this masterful CD.

"Christmas Worship Down Under" has many old favorites, such as Silent Night, Away in a Manger and O Holy Night (interpreted with passion in a beautiful duet by Darlene Zschech and Mark Stevens).

However, the ever-prolific writers of the Hillsong team didn't settle with re-recording the oldies. They produced SEVEN new songs which are sure to bless your life. Darlene shines on "Hallelujah", a song which slowly crescendos into majestic glory, celebrating "the One we've waited for". "Glory to God" invokes soundtrack-like quality and instrumentation to convey the message that Jesus was God's gift to the entire world, to every race and tribe. Your feet will move to the danceable "Rejoice" while you'll wonder at the miracle of the virgin birth in "Saviour of the World", which gives life to concept that God became man... He came into this world as a helpless baby, for you and for me! Another notable is "Jesus, What a Beautiful Name". While not orginally a Christmas song (Hillsongs die-hard fans will recognize this one from earlier CDs), it fits perfectly into the Christmas message. The spruced-up arrangement brings new life to this old favorite.

"Christmas Worship Down Under" is a blessing. It's top-quality music with the message of Jesus lovingly evident on every single track. Trust me: this CD won't make it untouched until next year... I had to listen to it a few times in July because Decemeber was too far off! :-)

The cd was packed full of music that was true to the meaning of Christmas. Christ was born on Christmas day! Amen

I was very surprised at this one. I've always thought Hillsongs to be edgy and modern, yet this album comes across as elevator music. It's the style of music they play on "smooth jazz" stations. Electric piano, breathy vocals and a lot of 7th chords - I kept waiting for Kenny G to jump in for a solo, Seriously - this is the stuff that gets played in the background at office parties. You can find the same substance in the $4.99 CD rack at Walgreens; you don't want to pay full price for this.