Letdown by Association: "Pretty Nice" but not "Wonderful"
Written: Dec 27 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great musicianship, nice sound, flashes of vintage Michael W
Cons: Lacks the gravitas of his previous two Christmas CDs.
The Bottom Line: A very nice, but not wonderful, effort, pleasant enough but lacking the emotional appeal of his first two Christmas CDs. A different approach to the holiday from Michael.
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| reframmellator's Full Review: It's a Wonderful Christmas by Michael W. Smith |
Don't get me wrong by my title and ranking. This is a very nice Christmas album. In my opinion, it just doesn't rise to the level of Michael W.'s two previous Christmas albums. But that's just my opinion. I hope to explain why I feel that way about this album. If I'm successful, you could well decide that this CD is your cup of holiday cheer - and for a lot of you, you could be right about that.
I am a big fan of Michael W. Smith as a musician and an artist. He is a great pianist, a consummate arranger, and a gifted writer. Okay, he doesn't have the strongest voice in the world, but if you could play, write, and look like Michael W. Smith, you probably wouldn't care about being less than world class in only that department. Again, don't get me wrong - it's an entirely adequate singing voice - I'd love to be able to sing as well as he does - but it suffers in comparison to the rest of the package.
And that, in a nutshell, is the problem I think Michael W. will have with people's perceptions of this album. His first CD, "Christmas", leans decisively but not heavily upon his classical traditions, leans decisively but not overbearingly to the Christ in the holiday, and is full of musical variety and treats. If you think the focus of Christmas is the baby Jesus and not some bearded overweight serial breaking and entering perp in a red suit, and if your tastes in classical music at a minimum favor the Boston Pops or Star Wars soundtracks, then "Christmas" is an album you will enjoy. It is a serious work, that's obvious from the first thirty seconds, and in my opinion, it is the best Christmas album ever. We wore out the cassette. We have been known to play it in July. It is the first Christmas CD played, and the last one shelved, and it came out in 1991. You don't have to be a committed Christian to listen to and enjoy it - but if you aren't, and music moves you, it's the kind of work that can cause you to ask questions.
A few years ago, Michael W. released his second album, "Christmastime." When we first saw it, there was no question that we would buy it and slide it into the CD player on the way home. It had much of the innovative arranging and writing that characterized his first effort, with a broader use of musical styles - still classical, but with more traditional folk and pop flavors thrown in. It was a good first listen, and the album has grown on me to the point where it is in my power rotation of 15 Christmas albums I play most often.
"Wonderful" seems to have all the right parts: recorded in London on Abbey Road; a 67 piece orchestra; a children's choir; Sandi Patti on one track; and of course Michael's creative gifts. However, as I distinctly recall Penn State coach Joe Paterno saying in an interview prior to the 1972 Cotton Bowl (Penn State 30, Texas 6), "St. Francis of Assisi said that anticipation is the greater joy." So it was for me with "Wonderful." It's very nice - there are flashes of brilliance, and the musicianship is first rate. It just doesn't have that sustained level of kick that the first CD and the second to a slightly lesser extent, had.
AP ran a story on Michael's new album, in which he talked about how his family started with the Christmas albums in September and played artists like Sinatra and Andy Williams, and after listening to this album, I can see the influence. As I said, the first album (see my review) is serious listening. Given its content and tone, you would not play it at a "holiday" party in today's workplace, except for maybe one or two pieces, and those would be instrumentals. The second album is much lighter, and more "fun" - at least half of the tracks would be suitable for the office party mix. I could probably get away with the entire "Wonderful" disc. It's good music, it's nice music, but it's distinctly lighter than the first two. If you know Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra music, this isn't that far old school, but this disc definitely is more like their albums that Michael's first two.
If your tastes run towards the lighter in Christmas music, you will probably like this album a lot. If you just like Michael W. Smith, you'll probably like this CD a lot. However, if you like your Christmas music full-bodied, and you love what Michael W. did on his first two Christmas discs, you will probably like this CD, and it may grow on you as it has on me. But you may not love it with the intensity you felt for the first two.
Which is really too bad, because on its own merits, this is a pretty decent Christmas album.
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends
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reframmellator
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