Just about every traditional carol or festive song you can think of is included in this collection: 100 songs across three CDs. Each song is sung by a very white-middle-class American sounding choir, mostly chanting in unison (without harmony). There are few solos or standout moments, but the overall quality of singing is very high indeed. Suspiciously so in fact. At one point this reviewer was even wondering if the singers were in fact grown women trying to sound like children! Some kind of electronic trickery must be going on though, to make them sound better than real-life? A bit less polish and more interesting harmony would be appreciated, particularly in the traditional carols such as "Hark The Herald", "Joy To The World" and "O Come All Ye Faithful". The backing music keeps things lively though, with differing styles and sounds (though all keyboard and synth based). The tempos are up-beat and rhythms sound like every available preset-demo button was used at some point! Any child over the age of eight or nine would start to cringe, but this collection could be fun for younger ones: though not all in one session please! Pick a few favourites, make up a dance and use them in a Nativity Play. With such a large collection, you're bound to find just the songs you need!
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.
Interested in reviewing music? Find out
more here.