Home for Christmas

Home for Christmas Review

I usually associate Barlowgirl with rock (think "She Walked Away", "Never Alone"), and bought this CD after hearing their version of "O Holy Night" (not on this CD) on Air1. That had a hard rock edge, and I expected more of the same here. Boy, was I wrong.

Instead of a rock interpretation they went for straight up beautiful. As in hauntingly, jaw-droppingly beautiful. Carol of the Bells, Hallelujah, Angelic Proclamation (a seamless mix of Hark the Herald Angels Sing and In Excelsis Deo), and O Come Emmanuel all had classical-style orchestration, with pure melodies and tight harmonies in the vocals. I'd never seen Panis Angelicus on a Christmas CD, but have a recording from a traditional Catholic music CD; Barlowgirl's version blew that one away. Made me think of stained glass and Mass and Communion, and brought tears to my eyes.

The more modern songs, I'll Be Home for Christmas and It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, were traditional in the Bing Crosby sense; if you like those particular songs (which I don't), these are nice arrangements of them. O Little Town of Bethlehem, What Child is This, and Go Tell It on the Mountain got the R&B treatment; not a good fit for the first two in my opinion, and those were the only disappointing songs on the CD.

In short, if you're a die-hard rocker, you're going to be disappointed, as this is vastly different from their usual sound. If you're a closet traditionalist like me, you'll be pleasantly shocked. Pity most traditional music lovers won't be looking to buy a Christmas CD from a Christian rock group.

Home for Christmas Overview

Spend the Christmas season with sisters Rebecca, Alyssa and Lauren Barlow as they recapture their childhood memories through music. Home For Christmas is a timeless Christmas recording of songs perfect for ushering in the Christmas season. The eleven tracks are bursting with seamless harmonies and beautiful instrumentation and arrangements of Christmas favorites, along with an original recording.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 14, 2010 11:18:04