Customer Reviews

Noel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, Joan Baez is a great singer of Christmas songs too. And why not? Even if your not a fan of all of her work, there's no doubt she has the voice of an angel! And this is the perfect album on which to hear that voice as it was recorded in 1966, when Joan's voice was at it's loveliest. If your looking for a simple Christmas album, not overproduced, featuring your favorite carols sung in a passionate, powerful manner this one is for you.
Especially beautiful are Joan's versions of "I Wonder as I Wander", "What Child is This", and an incredible, "Silent Night."
This will quickly become one of your favorite Christmas Albums.

Joan Baez has the perfect voice for these lovely old (or seemingly old) Christmas carols---a plangent, high, pure soprano. Only her fast vibrato keeps her from being mistaken for a Vienna choir boy.

It was eerie to hear her sing these carols again on CD, almost forty years after I first heard them on vinyl. In that decades-long interval, no one has ever managed to sing "The Little Drummer Boy" without sounding saccharine and/or lachrymose. I grew to despise the "rump bump bump bums" that resounded every Christmas season through elevators and K-Marts---until I heard Joan sing the song again. Somehow her straightforward presentation, with medieval-sounding accompaniment make this 1940's chestnut into a haunting Childe ballad.

This CD has a good mix of traditional carols, and some that may sound unfamiliar, e.g. "Down in Yon Forrest."

If you buy the remastered version of "Noël" rather than this CD, you will get six extra songs: "The First Noel," "We Three Kings (instrumental)," "Virgin Mary," "Good Christian Kings (instrumental)," "Burgundian Carol," and "Away In a Manger (French)."

I grew up loving this album on LP. It brings back a lot of memories as my favorite record to listen too. Joan Biaz has a woderful voice and displays it in an absolutely beautiful way on this album... A must have!!

For those who do not believe in Santa Claus any longer, here you have every reason to believe in Joan Baez. And in the sacral, beyond-religion, magical feeling and warmth that is the real spirit of Christmas. This is truly the most beautiful Christmas music that I have ever heard. I never tire it out! Mysterious arrangments that wrap around Joan's crystal voice like cobwebs and make you doubt that you have heard any of these carols before. It makes you listen. Close your eyes, wander through dim and strange landscapes, let Joan guide you back to plastic-fantastic-land, and feel that you've been there, that you know what it's all about. Then smile.

This is one of our favorite Christmas albums. It is breathstoppingly beautiful and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Buy this cd if you love beautiful old carols.

Joan Baez has one of the best voices around - outstanding range, operatic vibrato, but with folk expressiveness. It's not surprising that someone suggested she make a Christmas album!

My fear when I put on the album was that she was going to get corny on me. I hate buying a Christmas album by a singer I like, and finding that it's elevator music and kids' ditties. Nothing to worry about here!

This Christmas album is sophisticated, understated, and dignified enough to be played softly at a "cocktail Christmas celebration".

The songs she picked are classics and traditionals - it's a joy to recognize the songs as they come up. But all of the selections are from the more adult end of the Christmas song spectrum. The instrumentation is subtle, and her gorgeous soprano is the center of attention. She sings softly, with restraint, and with shy piety.

A wonderful, traditional Christmas carole album for adult households!

I'm not a fan of most of Joan Baez's music, but this album is certainly an exception. It's the finest Christmas album I know of: Ms. Baez's clear, pure voice perfectly compliments the musical selection and orchestral arrangements.

Oddly, many of the songs are downbeat, if not a bit on the dark side. I'd say it was musically opposite the "Frosty the Snowman" genre.

Don't be put off by that last observation: This music is merely a more serious, introspective alternative to the festive holiday music most of us are used to. I encourage the reader to buy this CD and, during the next Christmas Season, on a quiet evening, light a fire, pour a glass of wine or Scotch Whisky, turn the lights down low, and treat yourself to some of the finest Christmas music ever recorded.

Re, 'Noel,' by Joan Baez: One of your reviewers said with surprise that the music was "downbeat." May I say that Joan Baez, when asked why all her songs were sad, once said, "Hey, I'm neurotic." So if you want 'Frosty the Snowman' you'll have to forego the amazingly sweet, strong, and clear voice of this perhaps best of all American folk singers.

On this stately and sometimes sombre work, Joan Baez is backed by traditional instruments like recorders, viols, lute, pipe organ, strings and harpsichord. The intention was to make the sound reminiscent of the various periods in which the carols were written. Noel is thus completely different from her 1960s folk recordings with the prominent acoustic guitar.

Her voice is pristine and the arrangements outstanding, especially on tracks like Little Drummer Boy and Ave Maria (a classical arrangement, sung in German). The songs are interspersed with short instrumental like Good King Wenceslas, Bring A Torch, Deck The Halls, Angels We Have Heard On High and Adeste Fidelis, that add to the medieval mood of the album.

There is plenty of variety though, as for example the mournful Mary's Wandering is followed by the brief instrumental Deck The Halls and that, in turn, by her beautiful soulful version of Away In A Manger with its gripping harpsichord sounds. Baez' voice really soars on Cantique De Noel and What Child Is This, whilst Silent Night receives a tender and subdued treatment.

One of my favourites is The First Noël with its powerful, uptempo arrangement. This wonderful album concludes with a beautiful French version of Away In A Manger. The overall atmosphere is atmospheric and devotional rather than joyful and festive, which makes Noël an exception amongst Christmas albums.

The CD booklet includes the history of the making of the album by arranger Peter Schickerle, the original liner notes and some lovely photos of Joan, including the cover of the original vinyl LP. Noël was a surprise for me as a long-time Baez fan since the sound is so different from both her early folk work and her later art song material.

I hardly need to build on the already warm and praising reviews here, but let me add that I think this record will have a long life in musical history. In a thousand years, when people (if we still exist) turn to our era for its cultural legacy, I would bet money that this ravishing and moving record will be on their list. The Baez voice is ethereal here, the Renaissance consort a perfect complement, and the tone as pure as Christmas snow.