Published on Nov 27, 2000
The more time I’ve spent listening to Rockapella’s music over
the past year, the more I’m convinced that these five guys should
be much bigger stars than they are. From the power of their last
studio album
2 to seeing them perform live in concert in Chicago, they
have done nothing but impress me. (Put it this way – I’ve
never had a band’s manager apologize to me for the band
backing out of an after-show, and Rockapella had a damn good reason
to do so.
That, my friends, is class personified.)
So you might be surprised, as I was, when I sat down to listen
to
Christmas, the new holiday CD from Scott Leonard and crew,
and found myself feeling a little unimpressed. Fortunately, they
quickly do gain their momentum back, and
Christmas proves itself to be a pleasant album you’ll want
to add to your collection of holiday music.
Maybe it was the way that Rockapella chose to open the album, by
tackling “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” – admittedly, not the
most exciting holiday song out there. So, I’m willing to concede
that, on this track, they just might have been limited by the
source material. But even the original track “The Hope We Hold”
isn’t able to pull the disc out of the doldrums. (A medley of “Glow
Worm” and “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” doesn’t
help matters.)
Fortunately for Rockapella,
Christmas quickly gets back on track after this slow start.
Their take on the holiday classic “Silver Bells” reminds the
listener just how magical this group can be. A swing-influenced
version of “Winter Wonderland,” the holiday heartbreaker “Christmas
Without You” and special spins on “Have Yourself A Merry Little
Christmas” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” all shine as
well.
And then, there is the centerpiece of this disc – the band’s
take on “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”. (Memo to whoever was
responsible for the soundtrack for
The Grinch: You really dropped the ball by passing on this
track.) Admittedly, I had to adjust to the way that Rockapella
attacked this track, only because I’m so ingrained to hearing the
version on the television special for 30 years – but once you take
this version on its own merits, it quickly reveals itself to be an
absolutely fabulous track. True story: we had this on at
Thanksgiving, and both my four-year-old daughter and my
almost-two-year-old cousin were happily bopping along to it.)
Maybe if the tracks on
Christmas had been differently spaced out, the disc would
have gotten off to a better start. But even despite the slow start
to
Christmas, Rockapella prove that they could probably pick up
the phone book and turn it into an exciting piece of music.
Christmas is the kind of disc whose true beauty is revealed
on repeat listens – and clocking in at under 40 minutes, it’s a
disc you’ll have lots of time to listen to again and again. Every
so often, a Christmas album comes out that’s destined to become a
holiday standard. Even as an imperfect disc, I’d like to think that
Christmas is destined to become one of those.