Reviewed by Stephen Luff

This collection contains 50 tracks ranging from the traditional carols such as "In The Bleak Midwinter" or "While Shepherds Watched", to more modern songs such as "Mary Did You Know" with a little a little sprinkle of mainstream seasonal songs such as Rea's "Driving Home For Christmas" or Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)". The problem here is threefold. Firstly with the exception of "Joy To The World", the remaining 49 tracks are tedious instantly forgettable versions of the originals. These tracks emanate from various British studios, and a New Zealand one, utilised by Chris Norton's CN Productions and included in the small print are some well known CCM names, with Andy Green providing the keyboards and programming and that usual bunch of session singers who seem to crop up on every CN Productions album (Wendy Green, Ingrid DuMosch, Brent Miller etc. . .). But with such unimaginative arrangements and one or two of the tracks having muzak-style backing like "Little Donkey" that wouldn't sound out of place playing in the lift of your local department store, this is a Christmas album targeted at people who, when the festive time comes around again, are looking for quantity of Christmas songs rather than quality.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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