Customer Reviews

City on a Hill: It's Christmas Time

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

City on the Hill takes its trademark worship focus and applies it to Christmas. The result is a must buy.

The strength of this project is its new songs. Five of the six are absolute winners bringing a truly new spirit of worship to the holiday season. My favorites (and it's hard to choose) are "Child of Love," a lullaby for Mary that first Christmas night, and "Bethlehem Town" which juxtaposes the joy of Christ's birth with the pain and horror of his death. I always enjoy songs that remind us of why He ultimately came. Ironically enough, it's the title song that I don't especially like. It just seems so much less inspired then the others.

The other half of the songs on the CD are traditional Christmas carols that focus on what Christmas really means. I especially enjoyed Out of Eden's take on "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and the lesser recorded "In the Bleak Midwinter." And I don't know if I've yet heard a recording of "O Holy Night" that I didn't like.

My biggest problem with this CD is that, since most of the new songs are presented first, it doesn't seem that Christmassy to me right away. However, I love it so much, I think I'll be listening to it a lot at Christmas every year, so that won't last more then another year or two. This CD is destined to become a classic.

As a fan of Essential Records' critically acclaimed City On A Hill series, I was excited to hear that they would be releasing a special volume of Christmas music. Although this CD doesn't quite stack up to the first two COAH compilations, it does provide a very refreshing mix of classic carols and new material for the holidays, performed by an eclectic mix of some of the top names in Christian music. One thing COAH is known for is its collaborations between artists, and that is present here as well. One of the highlights is the title track, a multi-artist song featuring the voices of Third Day's Mac Powell, dc Talk's Michael Tait, Out of Eden, Caedmon's Call's Cliff & Danielle Young, Jars of Clay's Dan Haseltine, Sixpence's Leigh Nash, and others. Third Day also gets a little help from Julie Miller and the Choir's Derry Daugherty on the "Manger Throne/Away In a Manger" medley. (The former song is an original penned by Miller, while the latter is a unique adaptation of the classic we're all familiar with.) Also, Michael Tait and Leigh Nash's voices are a match made in heaven (who'd a thunk?) on the closing track, the classic "O Holy Night". Sixpence None The Richer, who appeared on the first COAH CD but not on the second ("Sing Alleluia"), returns with a beautiful rendition of the classic "Silent Night", one of my favorite tracks on this CD. Another one of my favorites is Sara Groves' stirring performance of "Child Of Love", one of the original songs on this CD. It effectively illustrates how Mary must have felt holding her baby boy, not to mention her Savior, in her arms. "Babe In The Straw" is another original, penned by producers Steve Hindalong and Derry Daugherty (both of The Choir) and performed by Caedmon's Call, which is another of my favorites. (It was also previously recorded by Sixpence's Leigh Nash on another album, but I prefer this version.) One thing that surprised me was the inclusion of Out Of Eden, the first R&B act to appear on a COAH album, which mostly features acoustic/alternative acts, but their version of the classic "Do You Hear What I Hear" seems to blend in perfectly with the rest of the album and adds a little variety. (Their contribution to the title track is also beautiful.) The main disappointment here was Jars of Clay's track, "Bethlehem Town", which was written and produced by the band. I was hoping for something more reminiscent of their "Drummer Boy" EP, but this song sounds like it belongs on "If I Left the Zoo" instead. It just doesn't sound very "Christmasy" and doesn't really fit with the rest of the album. It's only strong point is the lyrics, which I'll admit are very good and very profound. Other artists to appear on this album are Terry Scott Taylor, who performs an original song, "Holy Emmanuel"; and Paul Colman Trio, who performs the more obscure classic "In The Bleak Midwinter"; both strong tracks on the album. Altogether, I was hoping this album would be a little better, considering how powerful the original "City On A Hill" album was and it's sequel, "Sing Alleluia". But I guess it's really not fair to compare this one to the other two; after all, this is a Christmas album and the other two were worship albums. I think they could have spent a little more time on it to make it better; after the success of "Sing Alleluia" earlier in the year, it seemed like they rushed to get this album out on the shelves before the holiday season. But after a few listens, I have to say it really is a good and unique holiday CD, one that I'm sure I will enjoy for many Christmases to come. I would strongly recommend adding this to anyone's holiday collection. It would make a fine stocking stuffer for your loved ones as well.

I have all the City on a Hill CD's and I have to say the music is uplifting and very spiritual. This edition is no exception except that it is an exceptional Christmas CD. The artists on this project are first rate and the songs both traditional and newly composed here will be ringing in your mind long after Christmas is over. I recently reveiwed "A Christmas Story" by Point of Grace and wrote that it's my number one favorite Christmas CD ever, but that being said, this one runs a very close 2nd. Like Christmas Story this CD is one that will definitely receive multiple playings at my house every Christmas and other times of the year too. Yes, I am one of those. Those folks that listen to Christmas music all year long; I mean after all, He does live within us all year long. right? And His birth is something we should always be grateful of. The songs here celebrate Christ, his birth, his life that was and is now and ever will be. What a joy these songs will bring when you listen. You have to have this one. It's a classic.

This album is an amazing mix of beautiful songs that bring nothing but joy! Some of my favorite Christian Artists come together to create this Christmas mix that is better than I'd have put together myself-especially because most of these songs are not available on their albums. This is a wonderful addition to the spirit of the season in my home!

Bringing together artists I consider to be among the best in Christian music can never go wrong. So it is with Jars of Clay, Caedmon's Call, Bebo Norman, Sixpence none the Richer, etc. Even if you're not a Christian, you've got to respect this fresh sound in Christmas music. Ignore the horrible Out of Eden song at the end!

A great CD with half of the songs Christmas standards like Silent Night and the other half new fresh songs like Child of Love. A fabulous addition to my Christmas collection!

Even my 16 year old daughter feels a deep pleasure when Christmas season rolls around and this disk finds it way, yet again, into my CD player. It's hard to put it away come January. I only have had three Christmas CDs affect me as strongly as this one. The original music, as others have stated, is what elevates it to 5 stars for me. Great arrangments, great vocals, absolutely outstanding production from beginning to end.

Need some new Christmas tunes? This is the album you will hunt down and buy for all the people you like.

I love this cd! It is my favorite Christmas cd and I listen to it long after Christmas if over.

This collection of some traditional Christmas songs as well as some new ones is very good.

It contains some of the greatest voices (artists) in Christian music such as: Mac Powell, Dan Haseltine, Michael Tait, and Leigh Nash.

Any Christmas collection would benefit from the addition of this CD.