Reviewed by Tony Cummings

An expansion of the limited edition CD 'Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand' which entertained some fans in Christmas 2004. The new recordings are "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" with some grunge guitars adding a little bite to the oldie, "Sleigh Ride" featuring an excellent Matt Thiessen vocal but still, to my ears, remains an irredeemably corny opus, "Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More" a plaintive original and a must for radio play this Yuletide, "I'm Getting Nuttin' For Christmas (why no lyrics in the CD booklet for this hilarious 90 second rocking ditty?) and "Boxing Day" (another lilting, acoustic-based Thiesen original). Judged from the abysmal standards of most Christmas albums this is excellent and if you never heard the 'Deck The Halls. . .' CD, "Angels We Have Heard On High", "12 Days Of Christmas" and "Handel's Messiah (The Hallelujah Chorus)" still turn up on Cross Rhythms radio each year.

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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