Customer Reviews

My Kind of Christmas

5 star:		(128)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(47)

 

 

The most gifted singer to come along in a long time is obviously Christina Aguilera. She ahs proven she can sing anything with that powerful belt. On her Christmas CD she chooses christmas favorites and a few original songs. Her rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas will blow everyone away. Other highlight include The Christmas Song and This Christmas. One thing she needs to do is calm down a bit. Her version of O Holy Night is a vocal rollercoaster which easily could have been the highlight of this album, but she feels the need to prove that she really can sing. She already has and I'm sure alot of people would agree with me when I say she should just hit the high note and hold it, that would send shivers up and down my spine. To me it is not appropriate to do vocal acrobatics on standard Christmas songs, but she has an amazing voice and she sings her heart out. I just wish she would calm down.

I've been very impressed with Ms. Aguilera's vocal talents since I first heard them on The Mickey Mouse Club years ago, however this CD is ridiculously overdone. While I am all for artists making song their own, this just seems a way for her and her producers to show off vocal talents while butchering classic Christmas songs. After listening to the first five tracks in complete disapointment I had hoped Oh Holy Night would be of some quality. The beginning was lovely. Using her wondrous voice to accent this songs wonderful writing. Then ruining this beautifully haunting piece with what seems to be becomming her trademark 5 million unneccesary vocal slides. Hopefully she will grow out of this need as Mariah Carey has seemed to do since her first three Albums or so. Bottom line is I would return this CD if the store would let me.

Much as I really adore Christina Aguilera's startling vocal abilities, I have to comment that this christmas album of hers doesn't cut it as one to instil holiday spirit.

Her voice, indeed, is greater than ever. She sings with better control and more elaborate stylisations - but at times she overdoes it, gorging an entire track with the maximum amount of her vocal callisthenics possible. Jazz appears to be Aguilera's best platform for displaying that talent of hers to best effect - hear "Merry Xmas Baby".

However, amid the impressive melismatic curls, where is the tenderness in her music, voice? The uptempo tracks are best guilty of the latter flaw - Arresting in the audio makeup, but nevertheless overproduced and devoid of the simplicity best rendered in christmas songs. (Track 11, "Christina's Xmas", a meaningless, hip hop interlude that does no good to the album at all.)

This 11-track album will be remembered for the vocal showmanship, but for the holiday spirit, there are better CDs out there.

This is NOT made up of traditional Christmas material. It is made up of songs perfomed the way that Christina Aguilera likes the songs, and though the album is not perfect it is not bad at all.

One this album there are some classic songs and a couple new ones. The classic songs are not sung in the traditional manner, Christina puts little twists and adjusts the vocals to personalise the songs to fit her style of singing. The best classic songs performed here are; Merry Christmas Baby, Have yourself a Merry little Christmas, This Christmas, These are the Special Times and The Christmas Song. These are sung mostly traditionally with little bits added on , like an extended vocal etc..

Then there are the other tracks like Christmas Time and This Year, that she sings that aren't familiar by are also good.

Hark the Hearald Angels Sing and Silent Night are the two that like the least. Hark takes on a whole new sound that doesn't fit with me really and Silent Night is beautiful except towards the end where it turns into a church choir sound.

Though this album has its faults it should be enjoyable to many durng this festive time of year. It is not doubted that Christina has immense talent , however on some of the tracks here she tends to over vocalise a bit. Neverthe less an enjoyable album by a talented young woman.

When I first saw this album in the store, I was very excited to hear what Christina could do with these Christmas works. I am a classical singer, and Christina is one of the few pop singers I can stand because I think her talent and musicicality are very impressive. Upon finally listening to the album, I became very frustrated. She has a beautiful voice and I found myself shouting at the speakers, "stop that!" She would never hold a note out past a beat and a half in the beautiful "Oh Holy Night." Instead she had to improvise runs for every single note. She never paid any attention to line or the beauty of the actual written music. She just tore through it without really singing the songs. For me, this was very disappointing and frustrating from a singer, who I feel, is better. If you're looking for a Christmas album of beauty and enjoyment of holiday music, I suggest Barbra Streisand's classic one and Jewel's collection. Very artistic, moving and beautiful.

Christmas music should be many things: happy, simple, somber, reflective, beautiful, and above all, singable. Every song has its own character. But I found her renditions of the songs on this CD nothing short of a root canal without anesthesia. The music was so irritating to me that I turned it off and gave the CD to my niece. Christina Aguilera definitely has a great vocal talent, but it increasingly seems that artists like this are constantly trying to see who can hit more notes in a three-second sequence than they are interested in trying to put their heart into the music they're singing. I call it "vocal gymnastics." Another reviewer mentions "less is more" and in this case, I wholeheartedly agree.

I will be the first to say that Christina Aguilera has a gift. Her voice is quite powerful and very versatile. However, this album is a blatant example of how she can take a standard song and transform it into something that leaves me unable to comprehend the words. I have always thought that the biggest reason that Christina sings, is to hear herself. This album does not invite nor invoke any spirit of Christmas or the frame of mind that is associated with it. It is basically a 'look what I can do that you can't' album that fails in every aspect. Whitney Houston is known to do the same kind of thing during her performances, but her albums tone that down enough for the listener to enjoy and revel in her mastery. This album makes no attempt to do that. It is an album that Christina made for Christina, and not one that is meant to be 'shared' as Christmas albums with standards should.

THis has to be the first CHristmas album which won't put anyone in the Christmas spirit. If this is Christina's kind of CHristmas, I want no part in it. Christmas is supposed to be about nice, warm, cozy feelings, which she butchers with her vocal over-emoting, Mariah-Carey screeching, and over-extending of syllables in every possible part of a song (and in some impossible parts too). Unfortunately from everything I have seen, this is her trend, so I am sure her next English album will be as heavy as a 10-ton brick because of her oversinging. Christina, ever heard of the saying "Less is more"? You haven't have you?

This album is a big disappointment, as if somebody set the switch on "Whitney" and just left it there, results be damned.

It's one thing when vocal flourishes add to the emotion of a song; it's another when they're just there. There are so many vocal gymnastics on this record that I'd guess Christina had to visit a chiropractor when the recording sessions were finished.

That said, there are three songs on this album that turned out reasonably well. "Merry Christmas, Baby" has some of the gymnastics, but it does have the benefit of Dr. John, so it is an entertaining reading of the song. "This Christmas" is given a relatively straightforward reading, though Alexander O'Neal's 1988 version (from his "My Gift To You" album) is still the best. "The Christmas Song" appears in two versions - a straight rendering of the song, and a remix featuring a pleasing 70's-style disco groove.

The rest of the album is superfluous; it really would have made a better EP.

October 2nd, 2010

I'm gonna rate all the songs here, but the ones I like will have a comment too.

1. Christmas Time - I love this upbeat X-Mas jam. It's very fun. I also like the lyrics. 4 stars.

2. This Year - 3.5 stars.

3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - She does need to calm down a little bit. But this is one of the better songs here. 4 stars.

4. Angels We Have Heard On High - This has a laid-back feel to it, with a little bit of bass and such but it's wonderful. As long as you don't mind Christina giving it her all on certain points. She has a few high notes here too. Best song so far. 4.25 stars.

5. Merry Christmas, Baby - A soulful and bluesy Christmas ditty that almost doesn't fit with the rest of these songs. 4.25 songs.

6. O Holy Night - For once, Christina actually sticks to the script on this one...that is until she gets to the end and lets loose again. Not a bad rendition, but it was great while she had a little restraint at first. Well...while it lasted! 3.75 stars.

7. These Are The Special Times - 3.5 stars.

8. This Christmas - I wish she didn't shout so much. I see what some other reviewers meant. This song is a Christmas classic but she used the tip top of her voice's power in this song which wasn't needed. 3.75 stars.

9. The Christmas Song - My absolute new favorite X-mas song from her. I thought the dance version was good but that was until I heard THIS. The almost a cappella feel to this song is amazing! 4.5 stars.

10. Xtina's Xmas (Interlude) - Unnecessary. Not included in the final score since it's so short and pointless. 3 stars.

11. The Christmas Song (Holiday Remix) - I've heard this many, many times and love it. 4.25 stars.

Besides BIONIC (Explicit), this is the last CD I have to experience by Christina as far as I'm concerned (I'm not interested in Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits really so I don't count that "album"). I heard the tracks on youtube, and although I do think Christina *totally* over-did it on some songs, this is still an enjoyable set and I'd be a lying fool if I told you I didn't try to sing some of the songs with her!

The bottom line is that this is quite a good CD. HOWEVER, it can be incredibly difficult to try to sing with Christina because not only does she have an incredible vocal range, but her melismatic way of singing and adding note after note to 1 or 2 syllable words makes it hard to imitate or sing along to.

Bye!

3.975 ~ 4 stars or an 8/10.

DOWNLOAD:
'The Christmas Song'
'Angels We Have Heard On High' &
'Merry Christmas, Baby'