Having small children in the home I’m always looking for some new music to listen to, because there’s only so many times you can listen to Raffi or Cedarmont Kids. And Christmas is always a big deal in our home. So when the opportunity to check out a kids’s Christmas CD made itself available, I thought, “great!” But, overall, I’m a little disappointed with the effort.
I suppose partly because my kids are under 5, I expected something with broad appeal even for youngsters. In the end, I think this has a small niche for the upper elementary grade students who might enjoy the over synthesized music before they move their way into their teens and would find the whole project, “un-cool.”
Now, some tracks are pretty good. The opening, “Here We Come-a-Caroling”, is a nice rendition and the harmonies of the children are well done. This is also true of the classic Advent song, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” It has a rather middle-eastern melodic sound to it that fits it nicely. And for nostalga sake, the “Christmas Time is Here” makes you think you’re watching the Peanuts Christmas special already.
Yet, a good number of the other tracks sound like recycled Euro-Pop from the late 90’s and I wonder how much it is even in style. The over synthesized nature of the music detracts from the message of the words at places.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it as an overall good “children’s” Christmas CD. If you’ve got some junior high age students, they may connect with it, and other than a few well-done songs, the synthesized style of music on most of the tracks seems forced and does not support the words. So, this won’t be one I’ll be introducing to my kids right yet.
Working out Salvation with Fear and Trembling 