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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
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 Not traditional = Not boring Nov 16, 2009
Lots of humor, clever arrangements, more original songs. An upbeat addition to your holiday music collection. The roster of performers seems to have changed slightly from their first CD, but the quality of the vocals is happily consistent. Only criticism: Starting to sound a little too polished, with occasional studio effects that make you wonder how much of what you hear might NOT be their voices alone. Only other criticism: Studio version of their mistake-riddled 12 Days of Christmas really doesn't work. They should have recorded it straight (or not at all) and left the legendary live version alone.
Christmas Cheers brings on the Cheer! Nov 10, 2009
Straight No Chaser's second Christmas album is filled with upbeat numbers and fantastic new arrangements of well known tunes. The album captures the liveliness and fun of Straight No Chaser without taking away from their well-tuned harmonies. My favorite arrangements demonstrating this are "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Jingle Bells". The group seems to get tighter sounds with each new album which makes me very excited for 2010's anticipated non-Christmas release.
This album has it all! Nov 08, 2009
I loved this album. The selections are perfect, with beautifully crafted harmonies and arrangements. Some songs are fun and light and make you laugh. Others are more traditional. Either way, the songs work beautifully, and I enjoyed each and every one.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
More a cappella fun from SNC Nov 05, 2009
I'll leave it to you, the reader, to research the Straight No Chaser phenomenon if they're new to you. For those of us already in the diehard fan club, this new recording just cements the brilliance of the group's arrangements and vocal chops. The sense of humor evident in many of the numbers is the perfect antidote for those who suffer from Christmas-is-just-SOOOO-serious syndrome.
The recording is quite good, with just a bit of cupped-hands/boxy coloration on some of the lead vocals. Imaging is spectacular on my system, with lots of apparent depth and good use of panning on some of the songs. There is unbelievable instrument mimicing, too. You won't believe at times that these guys' voices are all you're hearing.
I think two of the selections aren't quite up to snuff, stylistically speaking, but I'll leave it to you to figure out which two. Your mileage may vary.
My only OMG moment was in reading the song titles on the back cover. Someone at Atlantic's graphics department managed to misspell Dreidel (they spelled it "Driedel." Shame on them!). It's nice that the group cites the sources of some of the snippets they incorporate into their material.
This will definitely go into my Top 10 Christmas CD collection. With dozens of discs in my collection competing for the honor, that's saying something.
And an afterthought: sometimes SNC reminds me a bit of Manhattan Transfer in their precision and extra-tight harmonies. Both are Atlantic Records artists. Can you imagine a supergroup made of these two acts? Maybe they could call themselves "Straight No Transfer."
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Another excellent SNC Offering Nov 04, 2009
Straight No Chaser is hands down one of the most entertaining groups to come along in years. And the fact that they were "rediscovered" decades after first performing makes their trek all the more amazing. Last year they released their first official CD [[ASIN:B001G0LBXS Holiday Spirits]] which soon soared to the top of the charts. Their latest release, "Christmas Cheers," comes on the heels of the excellent EP [[ASIN:B002JLQXRC Six Pack [Amazon Exclusive]]]. The songs are a mix of timeless classics and entertaining comical songs mixed with original material. They are definitely the holiday go-to guys.
Kicking off with the peppy "Christmas Can-Can" which includes original lyrics featuring melodies from several traditional holiday songs (as well as the "Can-Can" from "Orpheus in the Underground"); in an arrangement only they could come up with. Other stand out songs include "We Three Kings" which is performed to the melody of "Mission Impossible," the fantastic Vince Guaraldi tune "Christmastime is Here," the always pleasing "I'll be Home for Christmas," a funky version of "Let it Snow" listeners won't recognize, and a great version of "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" which allows the bass singers to finally sing... lyrics. The album concludes with a studio version of "12 Days of Christmas," a medley of numerous songs and garbling of the lyrics - and the song that made them famous. It is a nice crisp alternative to the live version released last year.
Fans of the a cappella group will not be disappointed. And it doesn't have to be the holiday season to enjoy the songs. And if you are fortunate enough to see them live, you will be amazed - they sound exactly like they do on their CD's, with the added bonus of their interactions with the audience and each other.
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