brenron's Full Review: Christmas Songs by Jars of Clay
*update* Correcting a couple errors
When Jars of Clay announced their departure from Essential records, I was excited. They then announced that they were finally going to give fans the christmas album they wanted to record but had been forbidden from recording (God knows why).
Was it worth the wait? Yes, very much so. The band has crafted a fine collection of covers and originals that showcase their talents without sounding like pandering to the christmas crowd or phoning in covers. They have rerecorded a few previously covered songs, which they said was mainly because they didn't like the original recordings for one reason or another.
The album starts with an instrumental, The Gift Of Saint Cecilia. It's a simple mix of guitar, violin, and bells, and choral vocals that gets the album off to a seasonal sounding start.
The first actual song is a cover of Wonderful Christmas Time, which we all know is a trite song that gets on our nerves every year. Jars decided to put their own spin on the song by slowing it down a bit and thus, it sounds more genuine, despite the cliches in the lyrics. I excuse it because they turned an annoying melody and a boring song into a pretty melody and a memorable song. Dan's scattered "la la las" add a nice, easygoing feel to the song.
I think this one may be a cover of an old hymn, which we know Jars loves to do. Love Came Down At Christmas is more of a rock song, starting with a chugging bassline and some lead guitar. All the times "love" is used in the song can be a bit of a tongue-twister if you're trying to sing along. There's a nice, slightly jazzy guitar solo in the middle and a spoken-word at the end where Dan recites the lyrics to another classic children's song sung during christmas time.
Now, this is shocking, O Little Town Of Bethlehem is barely recognizable, as it's turned into a bass-driven and minor key meditation rather that the wondering melody of the original. I like it, but I'm not blown away by it. This is my least favorite moment on the album. In the end, it's just ok.
The band wanted to play with their jazz influences, and thus gave us Hibernation Day. It's a duet with Christine Dente and starts with a bouncy guitar riff, punctuated with violin and horns and keys, it's beautiful. the melody is amazing, especially when Christine comes in and does some lovely call and answer. It's simply awesome.
Winter Skin draws rather obviously on the band's Sufjan influence (Dan's brother was in a band with Sufjan, and Dan is a fan) without ripping him off. It's a delicate piano ballad that evokes the image of a couple walking slowly through a park, a light snow falling through the bare trees. It's my favorite track on the cd, despite having just one line repeated and the music not really varying much. It's short and sweet.
Peace Is Here is a celebratory rock song that starts low and builds to a thrilling chorus. It rises and falls with ease as Dan rejoices about the birth of Christ and muses on what is to come because of it. It's what the band does best, combining their spiritual side with honesty, poetry, and a lack of "beat you over the head". My only complaint is that it feels a little too long and I tend to get tired of it by the time it finishes.
The first rerecord, God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen, isn't much different from the first version. It's a haunting piano ballad that gives a fairly straightforward interpretation of the carol.
Evergreen is an instrumental that uses some interesting melodic twists to create a haunting and somewhat sad picture. It's like someone sitting by a window with the fire going in the background, missing their loved ones. It evokes the first track again, which is intentional, to help make a cohesion among the instrumentals.
Christmastime Is Here is given a Jars makeover, as they take a more upbeat approach to the song. So it almost has a party feel to it. This is my favorite version of the song, since it's not the slow, dirge-like interpretation most take (yes, I like it more than the original).
Little Drummer Boy returns with better production and starting with a syncopated piano instead of the Jars flair their version is known for. It's got more of a jam seesion feel to it, so it was worth rerecording, if you ask me, even just for the production value.
Gabriel's Message sounds like a medievel tune, like something a minstrel would go about singing. I've heard people say this was a Sting song or something, I wouldn't know, but it's lovely and interesting and as an interlude, I rather like it.
I'm sure I heard In The Bleak Midwinter covered by jars before, but I may be confusing it with another song. The intro is a trembling sound almost too soft to hear as Dan sings the traditional melody. I really wish they did a little more with this song, as it sounds a little plain. There are no real surprises here. It's pretty, but ordinary.
Jars covering my favorite christmas song ever? They have a high standard to meet for this one. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day starts off with acoustic guitar and Dan's voice sounds like it has some kind of echoing effect added to it, which i really like, it fits the song well. The whole band comes in halfway through the first verse. The song is fairly traditional, being slow but steady, slowly building in confidence and hope. Interestingly, they use one of the alternate verses in place of the second verse, which is ok, I suppose. The song reaches a grand conclusion and then the band just jams for a while before slowly coming to a quiet end.
All in all, this is one of the finest christmas albums I have heard. The first indie release for Jars of Clay is a success, in my book.
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