Customer Reviews

One Silent Night

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One Silent Night beautifully combines traditonal Christmas music, done in a contemporary fashion, with new songs geared to todays tastes. The CD offers a nice blending of vocal styles and voices, together with wonderful transitions featuring orchestral strings. A great addition to your Christmas music collection.

This is the best Christmas recording from "various artists" that I've ever heard. The CD truly offers something for everyone, and the artists featured are able to retain their own unique styles while singing familiar, old carols or contemporary, original songs. Here you will find some beautiful voices and some thought-provoking, new Christmas songs that ought to be eventual classics. Everyone will have favorites (I certainly do!), yet almost all will find that the CD as a whole celebrates the spirit of Christmas in an appealingly brand new way.

A prior reviewer stated that this was the best 'various artists' Christmas album they had ever heard. I agree. While it's not perfect, it is a powerful mix of some of the best female voices in Christian music singing a mix of traditional and new songs. Nearly a decade later, I still come back to it over and over and use some of the songs with my youth group. It makes me sad that this album never got a lot of acclaim and got lost in the shuffle. "I Choose You" and "Joy" are two of my favorite Christmas songs every year and the rest of the album is solid as well. What a shame that it is discontinued and (mostly) forgotten. A solid album, a keeper, one I come back to time and again.

Only six of these 13 songs are the classics (including "Mary Did You Know"), and two of those are instrumental. But the original songs are catching and excellent.

Favorites? "Joy" (Cindy Morgan), "When The Time Is Right" (Ginny Owens), "I Choose You" (Rachael Lampa), "O Holy Night" (Crystal Lewis), "Sister Of My Soul" (Nicole C. Mullen), and "Rose of Bethlehem" (Maire Brennan).

I got this album last year beacause of the song Babe in the Straw by LEIGH NASH (NOT KEIGH NASH!...). She is the lead singer for Sixpence None the Richer, my favorite band. I got it mostly for that one song, but to my surprise the whole album is really good. In fact this year, this is the album I've been playing the most of all my christmas music! It has a lot of good artists on it like Crystal Lewis and Amy Grant (another one of my favorite singers!)

I bought this for my sister-in-law before christmas and she has said nothing but good things about it, she loves it!

In each song you will feel the message of Christmas! It is nice to hear the little fun songs on the radio, but if you want a deeper connection with the holiday then these songs will take you there. Merry Christmas!

A decade past, Myrrh Records assembled many of the most powerful and diverse female voices in Christian music for this little known collection. Most of the songs are originals, written either in 2000 or within a few years prior. Mixed in are four classics.

The instrumental "O Come O Come Emmanuel" leads into the Cindy Morgan original "Joy." The lyrics are powerful and this song defintely sets the tone for the entire disc. The orchestration an choral mix are top notch.

Next is Ginny Owens, an up and coming young artist at the time, with "When the Time is Right," co-written by Owens. You could very easily picture this one being sung by Amy Grant, Christine Dente, or Jaci Velasquez. Although not necessarily having a Christmas feel to it, it is a beautiful song nonetheless, as Ginny reminds us that "we are not forgotten, we are ever in God's sight."

Rachael Lampa's offering "I Choose You" reminds us of what a powerful talent she was in the industry at the time. With her Mariah-esque vocal range and ability to emote her lyrics, she is always a joy to listen to. Interestingly, this was co-written in '99 by Matthew West, who was to become a hugely successful singer/songwriter in his own right five or six years after writing I Choose You.

"Mary Did You Know" follows. By now likely everyone on the planet knows this song. Yes, it is one of the most beautiful songs of all time, I love Erin and she is a great talent, but there are 8 zillion versions of this song out there, and this is just one in a crowd. Personally, I will always stick with the Michael English version, circa early 90's.

Next is Jaci Velasquez' version of Silent Night. This is where the cd really takes off and rises to a new level. When Jaci is right, she is phenomenal, and this is her being dead on, an example of an artist taking a Christmas classic and making it her own. Although my personal favorite of Silent Night will always be the Russ Taff version {"Our Christmas," circa 1990}, this is a very close second. Wow!

Amy Grant sings the '99 original "Child of God." This is a song perfectly tailored for Amy's vocal style. This may not be a classic, but maybe it should be. At very least, it should be an annual staple on everyone's holiday list.

Similarly, "Babe In the Straw," co-written by Choir boys Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty, sounds as if it were written for Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer. You likely either love Leigh's vocal style or ... really dont. I have been a fan of her immense talent since the early days of Sixpence, and welcome any new offering from her. "Babe" is beautiful, and precisely what you would expect from Ms. Nash.

And then ... ladies and gentlemen, Crystal Lewis. Not long before this cd was released, we saw Crystal perform on the Young Messiah tour, and she performed O Holy Night a cappela that night. It was one of the most memorable and moving performances of my lifetime {and I've been to hundreds of concerts}. Many were moved to tears, this guy included. O Holy Night has always been my favorite Christmas song, and simply no one does it better. The version here is not a cappela, but it is stripped down enough to not get in the way of her incredible vocals. This song alone is worth the purchase of this cd. It still moves me deeply every time I hear it. All I can say is, thank you Crystal, and thank you Lord for the gift realized in her.

Nicole Mullin wrote the music for "Sister Of My Soul," but what really stands out here are Janice Chaffee's creative lyrics. The "Sister" in the song is Mary, with a glimpse of what it must have been like to bring the Christ child into the world, and the inspiration we can gain from the burden she carried.

A "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" instrumentation leads into "Rose Of Bethlehem" by Celtic artist Maire Brennan. A very gentle song with acoustic guitar and orchestration nicely accompanying.

The cd finishes with Da'dra and Nee-c of Anointed singing "Angels We Have Heard on High" in hyper-drive. I've been a fan of Anointed, but this version of this song on this cd is a total misfire, and an unfortunate way to cap things off. This cd was begging for just the right finishing touch, and "Angels" is a long way from being what the doctor ordered. It would have been a better fit on a different disc.

All in all, I'd give this disc a 4 1/2 rating. The songs are mostly "hits" and the only artist I could ask to be added would be the aforementioned Dente {Out of the Grey}. If you are a fan of some of the artists, or just looking for something fresh and new this Christmas, definitely pick up a copy of this one. It's a cd you may find yourself listening to all year round.

This is perhaps the best Christmas CD compilation or otherwise that I have ever heard. All the artists do a phenomenal job with their selection. The CD tells the story of Christmas through song in a solid, beautiful and moving way. I have bought over 20 of these CD's as gifts, so sad that is has been discontinued but thanks to the ability to share music on mp3s this CD will never be lost!

I like the gathering of contemporary Christian women artists to proclaim the faith in the mystery of the incarration and hope to be found in a baby's cry.Throughout this record there is originality, unfortunately the cacophony of full orchestration and over production muddles this modern-millennial-mirth-makers vocal talent. Portraying The Simple Truth is best begotten with less accompaniment,thus echoing more clearly in the hearts it it meant to touch. Merrily Mix 2,3,4,6,7,8,10,and 11 just undo some intros and fades. Post Script~ Good that could have been Great,please give it another go.***buyit*savemost*sharemost*giveit*donateit***