Review: Top 5 Christmas CD's

Review: Top 5 Christmas CD's - Need new Christmas music? I've provided quick reviews for 5 of my favorites this year. Cater to any mood with both faith-based and secular, as well as selections for serious music lovers and kids at heart alike.

For The Theatrical:

Artist and Title: Sarah Brightman, A Winter Symphony

Genre: Opera/Broadway Crossover, Christmas, Winter

List Price: $18.98 at Amazon.com

I am very excited about this CD. Sarah Brightman first captured my attention with her role of Christine in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera, and is probably most recently known for her performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In this CD, she brings her unique, angelic soprano to a range of traditional Christmas and winter selections. This CD listens like a musical, which is fitting to Sarah's style, and would be appealing to anyone who loved her on Broadway or in London. You can almost see the curtain rise and hear the hushed excitement of the audience. Sarah is accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with the exception of I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday, with the Steve Sidwell Big Band, the Capital Children's Choir, and the Nemo Choir. Many selections, like Arrival, have a fairytale-like quality that make you feel as if you are right there in those winter woods displayed on the CD cover. The orchestras are strong throughout, but not overpowering. In Silent Night and In the Bleak Midwinter, they are appropriately minimal, lending an innocence to both selections. The final selection, I Believe in Father Christmas, is an appropriate finale to this excellent production. I would recommend this to anyone who truly loves music, and appreciates Sarah's crisp, hauntingly angelic tones. This does not disappoint! You can buy it here.

For The Nostalgic:

Artists and Title: Tony Bennett and The Count Basie Big Band, A Swingin' Christmas

Genre: Big Band, Christmas

List Price: $18.98 at Amazon.com

This CD is a good reminder of how much fun big band music can be. Any holiday party/Cocktail party this season would be incomplete without it. Mr. Bennett continues to impress after all these years (this is his first Christmas album in 40 years!). Daughter Antonia Bennett duets with Father Tony on I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, in that classic 1940's Hollywood style, and The Count Basie Big Band stays true to the original Count Basie style. In troubled economic times, this CD is a nice escape to a golden era. All of the selections on this CD are traditional secular holiday songs, and would be sure to keep the cheer flowing at any party. You can buy it here.

For The Traditional:

Artist and Title: Amy Grant, The Christmas Collection

Genre: Christian Contemporary, Christian Pop, Christmas

List Price: $18.98 at Amazon.com

This is a collection of selections from Amy's previous Christmas albums, plus four new songs. Amy Grant really shows her true heart for the Christmas season and what it really means in every song she sings. You can feel that she really feels it, and that's what makes hers the best of the bunch year after year. Anyone can sing the notes, but Amy Grant sings these songs with heart. She gracefully mixes secular favorites like Sleigh Ride, Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, with Christian favorites like Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song), which speaks to the true meaning of Christmas. Amy Grant is known for playing a guitar at her concerts, but these songs are accompanied by various wonderful orchestras, including the Nashville Orchestra, and Baby, Its Christmas, written with and accompanied by her husband Vince Gill. In all honesty, the best Amy Grant Christmas CD is Home For Christmas, recorded in 1992, but if you don't have that one, definitely pick this one up instead, as it has tracks from that CD. It will become an instant classic that you return to year after year. If you want a classic Christmas CD to sing along with, that will become an instant classic, any of Grant's will be ideal. Pick this one up here.

For Quiet Nights at Home:

Artist and Title: Jim Brickman, Homecoming

Genre: Easy Listening, Instrumental (piano), Christmas

List Price $18.98 at Amazon.com

Jim Brickman's Homecoming is a beautifully done holiday CD, and it's the instrumental CD to have this Christmas season. Jim's moving piano is always a soothing treat, and creates the perfect backdrop for everything from decorating and baking with friends to casual conversation around the Christmas table to curling up with a good book. The selections are a mixture of traditional and lesser known melodies, and there are 3 selections with guest vocals by Rickie McDonald, Gerald Levert, and Peter White. Although they are all well done, I really like the easy flow of Jim's instrumentals and the warm feelings they invoke. Put this on when you go to bed, and you can't help but dream of sugarplums and champagne. I love it! Anyone who loves soothing music to play all season long, no matter what you're doing, will love this CD. And for those who get lost in Brickman's romantic sounds, this will not disappoint. Buy it here.

For The Faithful:

Artist and Title: Casting Crowns, Peace on Earth

Genre: Christian Contemporary, Christmas

List Price: $13.98 at Amazon.com

Known for their distinctive vocals and hard-hitting Christian ballads, Casting Crowns doesn't disappoint with their first Christmas CD. This CD features traditional Christian Christmas music, such as O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, Silent Night (who doesn't love silent night?), and O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The first track is a haunting, anthem -like version of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, and sets the mood for the rest of the album.

This is a must-have for Casting Crown fans, as well as a good choice for anyone who likes the well-known Christmas favorites done in the traditional style. You can buy it here.