Christmas With Clay Crosse

Track Listings

1. Angels from the Realms of Glory

2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

3. Away in a Manger

4. When I See a Christmas Tree

5. O Holy Night

6. Jingle Bells/Deck the Halls

7. O Little Town of Bethlehem

8. We Three Kings

9. Joy to the World

10. Good Christian Men Rejoice

Tracks:

Angels from the Realms of Glory
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Away in a Manger
When I See a Christmas Tree
O Holy Night
Jingle Bells/Deck the Halls
O Little Town of Bethlehem
We Three Kings
Joy to the World
Good Christian Men Rejoice

Customer Reviews:

Images of lounge singers dancing in my head.......2005-12-16

If you like bad Vegas-style Christmas music, then this CD is for you. When I listened to the first track, I got an image of a lounge singer in a leisure suit snapping his fingers along with the tune. To give the artist his due, this is probably not the type of music he normally sings and he may be quite good in his normal genre. The real culprit here is the producer who thought these were good arrangements and that they fit the artist's voice. The album was $2.97 at my local bookstore and I can see why.

Something Different for Christmas.......2003-11-20

I admit it. When I first got this CD, I wasn't that impressed with it. Since it was after Christmas, I only listened to it once and then put it away for the year. I was recently digging through my Christmas music and decided to give it another try. Boy am I ever glad I did.

If you buy this CD looking for Clay Crosses' normal Adult Contemporary style, you'll be disappointed. The style here is a jazz influenced big band. Or is it a big band influenced jazz? Either way, it's not your normal CD and takes a couple listens to really appreciate. But that's also what's nice about it. With nine of the ten tracks being standards, the arrangements bring a breath of fresh air to them.

The only song this doesn't really work for is "Away in a Manger." Even with repeated listens, I haven't gotten into it. The others all have varying degrees of success, but they've all grown on me. I'm especially taken with the second half of the CD, which does seem stronger. "Jingle Bells/Deck the Halls" is fun. And I'm thrilled to have a recording of "We Three Kings" with the words, even if it's only four of the five verses (picky, I know). The CD closes with a very fun arrangement of "Good Christian Men Rejoice." And "When I See a Christmas Tree" captures getting into the Christmas mood perfectly.

This CD isn't for everyone, but if you're willing to try something different, you'll find this is a fun, fresh approach to Christmas music.

BLUE CHRISTMAS.......2003-11-16

I haven't figured out why so many artists (particularly contemporary Christian ones) want to do Christmas songs as relics from the big band era. Not that I have anything against that wonderful period of music, trying to breathe life into traditional carols by "big banding" them has gotten tired. First, Russ Taff, Kathy Troccoli, and now Clay Crosse. It's not that they are bad, but if you already have a good collection of holiday cd's, this one offers nothing new. Crosse's voice is so obviously effected, he loses the heart and the spirit of these songs. Nice try, Clay, but listen to Steven Curtis to understand how to really make a good Christmas album.

Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review

1. Angels from the Realms of Glory
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
3. Away in a Manger
4. When I See a Christmas Tree
5. O Holy Night
6. Jingle Bells/Deck the Halls
7. O Little Town of Bethlehem
8. We Three Kings
9. Joy to the World
10. Good Christian Men Rejoice