Customer Reviews

It's Christmas of Course

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Darlene Love's new project was an early Christmas present for the first "Cope Family" celebration of the season. Her warm tones, jazzy blues, and rhythmic sounds were perfect for a light hearted and fun holiday weekend. I highly recommend this CD for your seasonal soundtrack. It's an eclectic collection of songs and I love that she mixed mellow with blues and rock. The final song on the album, "Night of Peace", made me cry. It's beautiful.

It's simple. Your best chance to enjoy this album is to clear your mind of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." There is no "Wall of Sound" here (just the opposite, in fact). Darlene's voice is not the same it was 40 years ago. And Phil Spector is kinda busy right now. Accept that, and the more you listen to this album, the more you'll like it. The idea and selection of songs are solid (sticking to modern songs), Darlene *is* in good voice and the arrangements, for the most part, are great. (Even if you are familiar with the originals, these versions of those songs don't sound the same.) Heck, I hate the Billy Squire original of "Christmas is the Time to Say 'I Love You'." But Darlene and crew rescue that song here. If you don't expect another "A Christmas Gift to You From Phil Spector," you'll hear one of the best new Christmas CDs this season. It'll grow on ya. (Although I admit I wouldn't have minded if this CD also had "Christmas time for the Jews" from that Saturday Night Live cartoon of a few years ago. That song sounded Wall-of-Sound-ish. But maybe the jokey sound of that song wouldn't have been right for this CD.)

While I have always loved Miss Love, I was worried this cd may not be the same as her older stuff. I was wrong.... Her voice is amazing and still sounds like she did 40+ plus years ago. This CD will be glued to your stereo! Absolutely the best Christmas CD to come out in many many years. I love the entire CD but "2000 Miles" really stands out. Darlene deserves so much more attention then she gets, this CD proves it.

If you are like me, you probably remember past Letterman shows where this fantastic singer would come out a sing a song around Christmas time. And every year I would listen in awe and ask myself the next day, "who was that?". Lo and behold, that singer was Darlene Love and now regardless of your faith, your religious conviction, let alone the time of year, you too can benefit from her powerful and souldful voice in her lastest CD, Darlene Love - It's Christmas, Of Course.

After a quarter-century of either wearing out the grooves on vinyl or the laser on the CD of the Spector Christmas album, I always thought Ms. Love should do a Christmas CD. My faith was rewarded last Christmas with this beauty of an album. "Christmas Must Be Tonight" is definite Midnight Mass stuff, which she performed so well on Regis and Kelly's show. It compensated for her cancellation from Letterman to do "Christmas(Baby Please Come Home)", my favorite.

Great! That's the only way to describe that fantastic holiday cd.
A great choice of new songs, no "Winter Wonderland" or "White Christmas" for the the millionst time, a great sound, delivered by a wonderful singer.
What more can you ask for for?
She could have done it the safe way, record a new version of "Baby (please come home)" and mix it with oldies, but that was not the direction Darlene wanted to go.
A fresh sound, new material, no kitsch. And it worked.
I think this CD has the potential to become a new classic.
Happy Holidays!

Darlene Love has a great rock & roll voice. She lends a a unique sound to the songs. We were disappointed however, that our favorite "Baby Please Come Home" was not on there. It's the one she has sung the last 19 years on Letterman and it's definitely her best, but it's not on the CD. It's still good and nice to get away from the traditional songs that beat in your head at every store for months before Christmas.

Darlene Love who recorded with the Blossoms & the Crystals in the classic rock era & has gone on to star in films and in the musical "Hairspray" has recorded an excellent Christmas CD that pulls from the work of many songwriters who worked since the 1970s. Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again" begins with a bold rocker, "Christmas is a rocking time, put your body next to mine, underneath the mistletoe we go!" NRBQ's "Christmas Wish" is a handsome track. Hank Ballard & James Brown are co-writers on the funk-fest "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto." Darlene's version of "Please Come Home for Christmas" aches with the sadness many feel at holiday time. The Pretenders recorded Learning to Crawl shortly after the death of one band member and shortly before the overdose of another. Love takes their "2000 Miles" and embodies feelings of grief mixed with the holiday, "In these frozen and silent nights, sometimes in a dream you're here outside under the purple sky, diamonds in the snow sparkle." Billy Squier's "Christmas Is the Time to Say 'I Love You'" rocks with Love belting boldly. My favorite track is the soulful "What Christmas Means to Me" with Zev Katz's infectious bass line thumping throughout. Robbie Robertson who played with The Band wrote "Christmas Must Be Tonight" that slows the pace a bit for Love's most religious track, "How a little baby boy could bring the people so much joy, son of a carpenter, Mary carried the Light." XTC masquerading as The Three Wisemen recorded "Thanks for Christmas" that Love polishes to reveal a lovely melody, "Thanks for Christmas, thanks for winter's friendliness." Love polishes John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" with its beautiful message, "So this is Christmas for weak & for strong, for rich & the poor ones, war is so wrong." The set concludes with a lovely holiday ballad "Night of Peace," "East to west, sun to sun, a night of peace." "It's Christmas Of Course" is an excellent collection of modern Christmas songs performed with zest and conviction. Enjoy!

why on earth would you expect the "sound" to be what she was doing over forty years ago with phil spector?

instead, we get a mature, wise and warm Darlene -- great stuff for the holidays

Okay, like one other reviewer said - clear your mind of the "Wall of Sound" Phil Spector era. It's not the 60s anymore and no singer is going to sound EXACTLY like they did 45 years ago. Connie Francis, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross don't, so we shouldn't expect Darlene to. But she can still sing, and does a good job on this selection of songs originally done by other artists. Maybe she didn't do White Christmas and Christmas (Please Come Home) on purpose. I think 2,000 Miles and Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto sound great. Plus she still appears on David Letterman's show every year during the holidays.

If you're looking for a CD of mostly alternative holiday songs performed well by an established singer, pick this CD up.