So my questions:
1) Are any of the other CDs on the list worth getting?
2) What other holiday CDs that are still in print that you would recommend? (I mean I'm quite partial to a Julie Andrews LP from the mid-1960s, but that's not particularly useful.)
3) What holiday albums are, as Peter Noone mighht put it, a must to avoid?
BONUS: Some of your favorite and least favorite songs of the season. I'll answer the bonus question in the reply section.
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And speaking of Christ (were we? I thought we were talking about Christmas?), Greg has an interesting deconstruction of Christianity. I don't agree with much of it, but it's provocative.
4 comments:
The Beach Boys, Aaron Neville, A Very Special Christmas 2 (but they get worse as time goes on-avoid the live one). And there's a couple Rock 'n' Roll Christmas compilation discs I like.
GREG- I'm havinmg a difficult time with the Word Verification thing, not just on yours but mine. I changed my site to shut it off, at least for now. I wanted to write to you and say:
I guess my real point is that those of us who consider themselves Christians don't all subscribe to the narrow-mindedness that you have observed.
And now that I think of it, I think "fundamentalist" is an inaccurate term. Jesus had two rules, love God and love your neighbor. Some of these fundies seem to allegedly do the first to the exclusion of the second.
And the guy who wrote A Purpose-Driven Life recently (aired Dec 1 on ABC News) criticized the fundies for not doing more about AIDS.
It's not the flaw of Christianity, it's the flaw of some who so peculiarly interpret it.
I certainly know that not everyone subscribes to a narrow-minded Christianity. I was making the point that if you are open-minded, you can find that in Christianity, and if you're narrow-minded, unfortunately, you seem to able to find that too.
I have the Chris Isaak one, which is fair but no must buy. The NOW one has a lot of great traditional cuts on the second disc (there are actually TWO NOW Xmas ones), and they're good solid samplers, though the fives volumes of "Ultimate Christmas"
CDs are better (sometimes packaged at two discs sets, and sometimes with a radio station's name on it.). I bought two new ones this year--Brian Wilson (of course), and the second Brain Setzer Orchestra collection. I REALLY like the latter's combo of big band, rockabilly guitar, and gravitational tunes! I love BOTH of the Setzer CDs. Wilson's is good, too. Of recent years, my faves include Ringo's (which I like better than most of his regular albums), Barenaked Ladies (tongue in cheek mixed with traditional), I really liked the two CDs by Trans Siberian Orchestra that I bought last year (one of their originals turned up on one of my Instrumental comps)--they turn traditional tunes into metal power ballads, but it sounds GREAT!! and I'm no metal head, please understand. Also, I'd recommend Anne Sofie Von Otter's Home For Christmas. She's the opera lady who did a CD with Elvis Costello. Not crazy about the Chicago or Linda Ronstadt discs, and the America (Muskrat love) one is...okay, but nothing to get too excited about. If you can find The Wilsons (Brian's daughters) in the bargain bin, grab it--it's pretty good!
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