Published on Dec 19, 2000
Christmas has become commericial. I know this. Anyone who’s
grown up on A Charlie Brown Christmas knows this. ‘Tis the season
to be jolly – unless that overweight woman ahead of you tries to
grab the last set of leg cozies you were going to buy for your Aunt
Agnes. (Is it me, or is Christmastime the only time you see
television ads for crap like Chia-Pets and The Clapper?)
What bothers me more than the commercialization of the hoildays
is when Christmas albums are released, and though they may have
good intentions by donating proceeds to charity, the albums seem to
be concocted just to sell. And as I sit here holding Christmas Of
Hope, a disc I bought a few years back (and appears to be out of
print), I can’t help thinking that this is one of those
examples.
I know I should encourage people to seek this disc out and buy
it, simply because all profits, according to the record label, are
donated to City Of Hope, and I don’t want to discourage people from
giving to charity. But sometimes, I think you’d be better off
whipping out your checkbook and writing a $20 check to the charity
than picking up this disc.
Why am I being grinchy about Christmas Of Hope? For one thing,
will someone explain to me how the hell “New Year’s Day” from U2 is
a CHRISTMAS SONG?!? Cripes, using that logic, I could successfully
argue that Venom’s “Welcome To Hell” quailfies as well. This track
should have been deep-sixed.
The other thing that bothers me is the track selection, and the
sometimes stone cold renditions of these holiday favorites. Elton
John’s “Step Into Christmas” could well qualify as one of the worst
holiday songs out there, simply put. Mariah Carey sounds good on
“Silent Night,” but there is emotion lacking in her performance.
And while I admire Wynton Marsalis’s talent, I don’t know if a jazz
rendition of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” quite fits
the mood. (It could well be also that, as I wrote this review,
Chicago was about to be hit by its third significant snowfall in 10
days, and I’m absolutely sick of the white stuff.)
That all said, there are some performances on Christmas Of Hope
that don’t make me lose hope. The Eagles’s rendition of “Please
Come Home For Christmas” might be a little stale, but I grew up
hearing it, and I still like listening to it from time to time.
Aaron Neville (“Bells Of St. Mary’s”), Aretha Franklin (“Joy To The
World”) and James Brown (“Merry Christmas, Baby”) all get things
right. And even John Mellencamp turns in a respectable performance
with “Teddi’s Song (When Christmas Comes).”
Christmas albums, I realize, have to be somewhat commercial, or
they would sell as well as space heaters on the equator. But there
has to be some real emotion in the performances as well; otherwise,
it sounds like the artists are just going through the motions.
There are some good songs on Christmas Of Hope, but for the most
part, this disc shows what happens when that emotion is
missing.