Christmas Eve and Other Stories by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Pros: The wonderfully interpreted classics
Cons: A few original songs are lackluster

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent…errr…bought for me…

Throughout my childhood I could always plan on a certain set of Christmas music. My mother had an extensive collection of pretty traditional holiday 8...

Pros: The instrumental tracks are wonderful new arrangements.
Cons: Most of the vocal tracks are only mildly amusing.

I love Christmas music. I've got so much it's almost impossible to get through it all in one month. And as much as I love the traditional arrangements, I also enjoy finding the off beat and unusual to break things up around December 15th. One such ...

Pros: CD makes a great coaster.
Cons: Pure pablum foisted on a brain-less public.

Bah Humbug Christmas Music. Perhaps the most loathed genre by critics but also perhaps the music industry's most lucrative. Record an album of classics in July, get it out by Thanksgiving and see the $$$ roll in. The genre alone is responsible ...

Pros: Incredible performances, moving, inspirational pieces. A must have!
Cons: Absolutely none.

And so we've reached the third and final installment of my holiday music series. Additionally, this is my entry in the All I Want for Christmas Write Off being sponsored by prairiegirl16. See the end of this review for the other participating...

Pros: The best thing to happen to Christmas in at least 20 years.
Cons: Did you see the pro?

The trouble with Christmas is that once you're past about eighteen everything about Christmas is set in stone. Basically, any new experience you have with Christmas will have to try and bully its way past the memories you have of the best Christmas...

Pros: absolutely phenomenal
Cons: might be jarring to some listeners

Several years ago, I was browsing the bargain Christmas albums at Big Lots when a fellow came up to me and told me that if I wanted to find a really amazing Christmas album, I needed to listen to Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I confessed I wasn't familiar ...

Pros: Unique arrangements
Cons: None

Like most people, I had never heard of this "band" until Christmas of 1998, when "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" received wide airplay on the radio. It took several times before the DJ finally said the name of the performer, but of...

Pros: innovative interpretations and great originals
Cons: electric instruments in classic songs takes getting used to

Electric guitar screaming in harmony to Carol of the Bells? I must admit, it got my attention! If you are looking for a great counterbalance to all those Perry Como Christmas Albums you have lined up alongside the stereo, this is it. With great relish...

Pros: Incredible all around
Cons: Relatively unknown

Is that a mouth full or what?

Allow me to introduce you, briefly, to the world of Progressive Rock. I wrote a short blurb on this in one of my other reviews, but here it is, in greater detail:

Progressive Rock is the perfect...

Pros: Unique and cutting edge, you can feel the power and passion of the songs and the characters they represent.
Cons: For those who prefer softer, milder music... this CD might be a shock to their senses. But a good shock, to be sure.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Say the name and people wonder "who or what" it is. Play this CD, and their question becomes "WHERE CAN I GET THIS?"

Trans-Siberian Orchestra IS a modern Christmas tradition... complete with new...

Pros: Beautiful album that tells a story throughout the songs.
Cons: That it's truly a holiday only album

I have been a faithful seasonal listener of the Trans Siberian Orchestra for some years now. My devotion is so much that I go regularly to both showings of their concerts when they are in my area. My friend and I have an unwritten rule that the day ...

Pros: Refreshing, Energetic new take on XMas music
Cons: You never find this album on sale

Unlike many other reviewers of "Christmas Eve and Other Stories," I didn't discover the Trans-Siberian Orchestra through "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," TSO's most thrilling (and popular) holiday rock-opera. Rather, I've been a...

Pros: Innovative arrangements. Great musicianship. Stunning sounds. Nearly universal appeal.
Cons: Some schmaltz, but in tolerable doses for most.

Henceforth referred to as TSO, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is basically members of the rock group Savatage playing classical music, classically inspired music, and Christmas - not "holiday" - music with their own unique take. With their music having ...

Pros: Unique and beautiful
Cons: none

author's note: Epinions, you are misinformed; this album was released long before 9/21/99. I owned it during Christmas season 1998, and first heard it on the radio in 1996. The copyright date on the CD cover is 1996.

I first heard the...

Pros: Innovative sound, very original,great vocalists
Cons: some of the songs can become repetitive

I bought this album because I had heard something on television about the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and it had interested me. Christmas Carols with Electric guitars, an electric bass, and an actual orchestra, was something that I had never heard of...