Well, Christmas is approaching with record breaking speed, so I thought now is the right time to review a Christmas album.
MercyMe's Christmas Sessions, offers a unique contemporary style for playing some of the best Christmas classics. It displays great singing and harmonies, slow classics, and classics played a little harder than normal. The album has been my favorite Christmas collection ever since I found it. MercyMe pulls out all the stops, inviting Christian music forerunner Amy Grant, and many others, including The London Session Orchestra, to play with them on the CD. The album credits add up to that of a small theatrical performance! Keeping the lyrics perfectly untouched, the band makes great harmonies and even changes the melody (in an striking way) in some tunes. MercyMe's vocalist, Bart Millard, has a strong and clear voice that proclaims the songs with great sound. Add Amy Grant's harmonies, The London Session Orchestra, and you have Christmas music bliss. The other members of the band put together guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, trombones, and trumpets, into an amazing medley.
The cover photo for Christmas Sessions
Here's the part where I talk about my favorite tracks from the album. The first track on the CD is It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. It starts with a beautiful duo of background vocals and The London Session Orchestra. The song then slowly builds to soft electric guitar riffs (a personal favorite sound if your talking guitars). By the time you get to "Peace on earth good will to men..." the band is rocking and you can feel the energy.
Gloria is where the musical genius of MercyMe takes place; they completely change the melody for the chorus in an indescribably good way. The first time I heard it my reaction was, "What?" Then I paused, "Whoa, amazing!" With the additions of some "Hallelujahs," Gloria is an awesome hit!
The third song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, begins with dueling acoustic basses and violins, which nicely flow right into electric guitars and drums (more musical genius!). Millard sings the classic lyrics that mix with the contemporary melody in a beautiful way that you would never expect. This one has a fabulous ending, thanks to the choir of women who sing amazing ascending notes.
The next song, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, is a secular hit, but it's still a great one. Background trombones around lyrics, and guitar solos, make this a great version of the classic.
Winter Wonderland / White Christmas. The idea to put these two together is just amazing! A trombone solo, accompanied with a driving guitar and keyboard, marks the turning point of the song, where it changes smoothly into "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."
Silent Night. I might go as far to say that this is my all-time favorite Christmas song ever, period. Bart Millard and Amy Grant are two perfect voices for this fabulous song. MercyMe plays it in a catchy way too. Drums and guitars give energy, but keep it relatively slow.
The tenth track on the CD is I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day. Again, The London Session Orchestra opens the song with celestial sounding strings, which make for a beautifully deep song. Here are the lyrics:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
And thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
I can hear them
And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on Earth” I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor does He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men
I can hear You
I could still hear You
The world can hear You
The bells are symbolic of God's spirit with you and in you (and thus a feeling of peace and good will). It changes in the ups and downs of life. It's there, it feels hopelessly gone ("And in despair I bowed my head, 'There is no peace on earth' I said), it comes back even stronger ("God is not dead nor does He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.") The cry of "I can hear you" is the rejoicing of God's presence.
A promotional shot of the band
John
Here's the part where I talk about my favorite tracks from the album. The first track on the CD is It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. It starts with a beautiful duo of background vocals and The London Session Orchestra. The song then slowly builds to soft electric guitar riffs (a personal favorite sound if your talking guitars). By the time you get to "Peace on earth good will to men..." the band is rocking and you can feel the energy.
Gloria is where the musical genius of MercyMe takes place; they completely change the melody for the chorus in an indescribably good way. The first time I heard it my reaction was, "What?" Then I paused, "Whoa, amazing!" With the additions of some "Hallelujahs," Gloria is an awesome hit!
The third song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, begins with dueling acoustic basses and violins, which nicely flow right into electric guitars and drums (more musical genius!). Millard sings the classic lyrics that mix with the contemporary melody in a beautiful way that you would never expect. This one has a fabulous ending, thanks to the choir of women who sing amazing ascending notes.
The next song, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, is a secular hit, but it's still a great one. Background trombones around lyrics, and guitar solos, make this a great version of the classic.
Winter Wonderland / White Christmas. The idea to put these two together is just amazing! A trombone solo, accompanied with a driving guitar and keyboard, marks the turning point of the song, where it changes smoothly into "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."
Silent Night. I might go as far to say that this is my all-time favorite Christmas song ever, period. Bart Millard and Amy Grant are two perfect voices for this fabulous song. MercyMe plays it in a catchy way too. Drums and guitars give energy, but keep it relatively slow.
The tenth track on the CD is I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day. Again, The London Session Orchestra opens the song with celestial sounding strings, which make for a beautifully deep song. Here are the lyrics:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
And thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
I can hear them
And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on Earth” I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor does He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men
I can hear You
I could still hear You
The world can hear You
The bells are symbolic of God's spirit with you and in you (and thus a feeling of peace and good will). It changes in the ups and downs of life. It's there, it feels hopelessly gone ("And in despair I bowed my head, 'There is no peace on earth' I said), it comes back even stronger ("God is not dead nor does He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.") The cry of "I can hear you" is the rejoicing of God's presence.
A promotional shot of the bandAll in all, this is a great album to add to your collection of Christmas music, don't miss it. If you'd like to buy the CD, I've added a link on the right, so you can buy it easily and safely from Amazon.com.
Thanks for reading and may you have a peaceful and happy holiday season! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for reading and may you have a peaceful and happy holiday season! Merry Christmas!
John
1 comment:
I greatly enjoyed your Christian Music blog. I found it through Ian's latest birding account. It looks like you aren't updating this blog anymore, but I'd be very interested in following more about Christian Music when you do add to it.
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