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| On This Winter's Night (c) 2012 Capitol Nashville |
Lady Antebellum is one of my favorite country/pop artists. I have been listening to them for about three years now, and love their crossover style which blends traditional country with modern pop-rock. Comprised of Hillary Scott (lead vocals), Charles Kelley (lead vocals) and Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano,mandolin), this band from Nashville seems like a natural fit for a Christmas album. And not surprisingly, their full length Christmas effort is a good one. The album features twelve tracks, all covers with the exception of the original "On This Winter's Night." In fact, six of the songs (including the original) are directly imported from the band's 2010 EP "A Merry Little Christmas."
Let's take a look at each individual track from the album:
1.Holly Jolly Christmas: Great version! Although the song is mostly dominated by Hillary's singing, it's okay. I had never really properly listened to Hillary's upper register, and on this song, she truly shines. Very nice way to warm us up for the rest of the album!
2. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home): For me, Mariah Carey's version still is head and shoulders above all others. but Lady Antebellum does a decent job, keeping the integrity of this classic Darlene Love song intact. Charles Kelley really has an amazing voice.
3. All I Want For Christmas Is You: The classic Mariah song! And again, I don't think anyone can doit better than Mariah herself. Still, Lady Antebellum give the song their own touch, slowing it down and making it more intimate and emotional. A worthy cover version.
4. I'll Be Home For Christmas: The soft guitar really makes this song great. Charles and Hillary's seamless blending of vocals is perfect. Just perfect. An honest rendition.
5. This Christmas: We rarely get to hear this song on celebrity albums (for me at least), so it was nice to hear this for a change. Nothing new in terms of arrangement or style, but still a good straightforward version. Hillary and Charles' voices mare than make up for lack of originality.
6. The First Noel: One of my favorite, most nostalgic Christmas songs, and they more than do justice to it. I don't care for gimmicks, melisma, or any sort of tweaking when it comes to this song. One of my surprise favorites on the album.
7. On This Winter's Night: The lone original song on the album, and it's really good. Exactly what a contemporary Christmas song should be. Although it focuses more heavily on Charles and not so much Hillary as I would have liked, it's still great. The children's chorus lifts this song to great heights. Very good.
8. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow: Is it necessary to name the phrase three times even in the title? Oh well, once again, it's a typical rendition of the song. the problem with this song is that it doesn't really give you much freedom to experiment with it. So although Lady Antebellum delivers, it still sounds the same. Although fiddles give it a unique country vibe.
9. Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas: Same thing with this song. You can't change it much without making it sound cheesy. So taking that into account, I think Lady Antebellum does a good job. Nothing amazing, mind you, but just good enough to play for background music at your Christmas party on the 23rd or whatever. I say that in a good way.
10. Silent Night (Lord of my Life): Another highlight of the album,this song is delivered with so much finesse, so much sincerity, you're really overwhelmed. The additional "Lord of my Life" gives it a nice Gospel Hillsons-ish touch, which I loved.
11. Blue Christmas: Wow, they really turned that song on it's head there! Upbeat, fun and lively, this version is really cool. Shows that they don't take themselves very seriously! Loved it.
12. Silver Bells: Time to round off the album. this version of Silver Bells is good, not my favorite, but still listenable. If this was one person singing, I probably would have grown bored. But since it's essentially a duet, my attention was held.
Overall, this is a good Christmas album. What I didn't like? WAY too many cover songs, with most true to the originals. That's okay, but a couple more original songs would have been better. The only original song "On This Winter's Night", is good but underwhelming. I love Christmas albums which feature duets, and since most of this album has Hillary and Charles singing together, I liked it.
I suggest you get this album only if you're a big country/Christmas fan or just love Lady Antebellum. Otherwise, you won't be missing much here. The band doesn't do much in terms of arrangements, and plays it safe mostly. Not very cool for people who claim to "Own the Night".
RATING: ★★★
More Christmas album reviews: * Blake Shelton: Cheers, It's Christmas
* Christmas With Scotty McCreery
* Colbie Caillat: Christmas In The Sand