Customer Reviews

This Is Christmas

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

 

 

Emma's songwriting is always brilliant, and here is no exception. Tim Wheeler's voice blends wonderfully with Emma's, and no one song on the album is particularly "skip"-able. The samples of classic Christmas songs hit with an almost stinging irony when used, and "Jesus the Reindeer" and "Zombie Christmas" are two of the most comically refreshing Christmas songs I have heard in years. My only issue would be the length-- it's over before you know it. The replay value makes up for it, however!

Being an Emmy the Great fan I was surprised to see her contribute to a Christmas album. As I went into listening to it my expectations were that it would be a very strange Christmas album, and that's exactly what I came to find. In general her songs are never particularly happy, and that's pretty much an understating way of saying it. Sadly such is true in regards to this album.

Basically it's an album that portrays Emma's frustration with Christmas as an event/religious time/etc. Either she really did have a difficult family life while growing up or she's just really good at writing from that perspective. I really respect Emma's music for taking stands on her view of the world, but I am disappointed she would co-write and sell an album that basically dresses itself up as a Christmas album, yet lyrically trashes the traditional ideals of Christmas.

My personal verdict: If you're an Emmy the Great fan you'll definitely want the album. She has a great musical style and this album definitely exhibits just that. However if you want a happy Christmas album by a modern artist, this isn't the album for you.

This is a great Christmas album, and I have played it from start to finish several times. It sounds new and traditional, with some of the new songs already sounding like they could be standards in the years to come. So if you plan on only buying one holiday album this year, don't bother looking at anything else. This is the one.