Customer Reviews

Merry Christmas

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Johnny Mathis has one the sweetest, smoothest voices I have ever heard, and it is perfectly matched for these lovely Christmas tunes; he even makes the two up-tempo numbers included, "Winter Wonderland" and "Sleigh Ride", sound soft and mellow.
My all-time favorite song is "O Holy Night", and his interpretation of it is superb, with a lush string arrangement, and a final gorgeous pianissimo note from Johnny. Hearing it never fails to inspire and move me.

This is a calming and peaceful collection, with songs like "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" and "Silent Night" taken at a slow and easy pace, with wonderful backing from Percy Faith and his orchestra. Mathis was a 23 years old when he recorded this in 1958, but was already a big star, and shows enormous musical maturity.
The bonus tracks, "Christmas Eve" and "My Kind of Christmas", I feel are slightly out of place. Though they were recorded a mere three years after the original songs for this album, they sound too "modern", as if they are from another era, and perhaps this is because the songs are not familiar classics like the rest; that slight quibble aside, this is an excellent collection of Christmas music, of such quality that it can be enjoyed any time of the year. The re-mastered sound is very good, and total time is 50'29.

Christmas albums don't get more lovely or Christmasy-sounding than this 1958 classic. It is widely considered to be one of the very best Christmas albums of all time and has sold over 5 million copies so far in the U. S. alone. This recording has some of the best singing of Johnny Mathis' early career, and Percy Faith's arrangements are very evocative, particularly in the secular songs--you can almost see the snow and feel the chill.

In its previous CD incarnation, the album's only drawback was its fairly anemic and somewhat hissy sound. I am very happy to report that Columbia/Legacy has done a really nice job remixing and remastering this album. It now has greater fidelity and presence, with greater clarity to the vocals and instruments. Also, it seems to me that some of the excess echo has been removed--a good thing, since it was the style in the Fifties through part of the Sixties (particuarly if the tasteless Mitch Miller had a hand in the production) to add so much echo that albums sounded as if they were recorded in a wind tunnel. While certain instruments at times still seem a bit muffled in the mix, this is probably as good as this album
can sound given recording limitations of the time. My advice is to gladly throw out your old copy and quickly snap up the new edition. You'll be very glad you did!

Any lover of Christmas music who doesn't have this cd is missing out terribly. It's amazing these songs were recorded all the way back in 1958. This is the standard that all Christmas music is measured by. With this most current remastered release, we have all the songs sounding better than ever. Christmas in our family wouldn't be the same without this music. That's how special it is.

I grew up with this Christmas album and it is my favorite! The whole CD is good, so you don't have to skip any songs. It is the one Christmas CD that I always play. I see that they have added two songs to this CD that weren't on the original, so I can't vouch for those. Be sure and buy this CD, you won't regret it!

I can't even begin to be rational about this cd. I first heard it as a child when my parents would play it every year at christmas. Yes, I'm old enough to talk about a classic - it was an album that my parents played for me. In fact, I still expect to hear a skip in "I'll be home for Christmas". Since then, I've owned this "album" as a tape and now a CD.

For many of these Christmas songs on this album, Johnny Mathis's version is the standard. I can enjoy and appreciate the new versions of these songs, but this CD is the cornerstone of my Christmas collection.

This is one of the greatest Christmas albums ever recorded. The pairing of Johnny Mathis' beautiful voice with the uncomprimising arrangements of Percy Faith and His Orchestra are one of the greatest matches in music history.

Johnny's versions of "Sleigh Ride", "Winter Wonderland", "Silver Bells", "The First Noel", and "O Holy Night" are as much a classic as Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", Elvis' "I'll Be Home for Christmas", Nat "King" Cole's "The Christmas Song", and Dean Martin's "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow."

I can't think of a cd that says "Christmas" more than this one. Originally released in 1957, it is a timeless classic that should actually be passed on from generation to generation.

Enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

I grew up with my parents playing this CD every year. To this day, the opening measures make me think of the fun of Christmas past.

I love Christmas music, and have a collection that grows bigger each year. Still, Johnny Mathis has my favorite versions of some of these songs, especially "Winter Wonderland," with parts I've never heard anywhere else, and "Sleigh Ride." I also like his rendition of "What Child is This" which includes all three choruses, not just the one that everyone is most familiar with.

This is the kind of Christmas music that makes me want to light a fire, drink some hot chocolate, and just listen. You won't regret buying this classic CD.

Just can't say enough about this album. I've been listening to it since I was a kid and Christmas in our family just wouldn't be the same without it. To say that each song is recorded perfectly would be an understatement. Johnny's voice is unbelievable. Such emotion! The orchestrations by Percy Faith are unforgettable. If you do not own this album, you are sorely missing out during the holiday season.

This is the Christmas Album against which all others are judged. Considering this is 40 years old it is incredible. I first bought this album about 8 years ago and realized I grew up listening to these songs as a kid on TV or Radio. We must have played this album at least a 100 times that Christmas. It is that good

Christmas is not Christmas without Johnny Mathis. This is one of the best albums of all time. If we could only get Columbia to re-release his classic Mercury Christmas CD (Sound of Chirstmas, later reissued as Christmas with Johnny Mathis) with all 12 songs instead of the 10 we could have all Johnny's Christmas songs on CD! The newer re-release of this has added bonus tracks.