Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve And Other Stories

As far as I'm concerned the only CD one needs for Christmas is Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Eve And Other Stories. This album is Metal, Christmas style. If you know nothing of TSO, the first thing I have to tell you is that they know how to play classical styled music properly. They take these great classic Christmas tracks and make them grandiose, but still very faithful. However, they sometimes change the lyrics to tell different stories depending on the song.

An Angel Came Down starts off the album, and wow is it pretty, sweet and gentle. A great lead in for a Christmas album. But to be honest when it comes to this album I want the intrumental stuff. That's where I get my musical wood.

Ask and you shall recieve.

The second track is a medley of O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night, and it comes blasting out with all of Santa's guitar might, because you know that red nosed money grubber swings an axe, and it's probably an SG.

A Star To Follow is a really cool exercise in Classical styling, right down to the boys Choir and mini church organ. It's nice and festive, even when the beat kicks in and it gets all fun and joyous.

Then it's back to the instrumentals for the next few tracks. The first of which is First Snow, which is very upbeat and totally rocks out, almost to the point where you can easily forget this is supposed to be a festive number. Which to a small degree is bad, considering the point of the album.

I love the Nutcracker. You love the Nutcracker. We all love the Nutcracker, and The Silent Nutcracker clearly loves the Nutcracker. The accoustic version presented here isn't only faithful, but it's absolutely gorgeous. Especially with Silent Night mixed in for sweet flavour.

But don't worry it gets all bad ass on the next track. A Mad Russian's Christmas is just that. It starts off all nice and mellow, before picking up speed and strength and turning completely balls to the wall heavy. It's one of those tracks that should have you banging your Santa touque wearing head, and throwing your evil eye into the air.

The Prince Of Peace is really nice, but it's one of those Christmas songs that I would typically skip, because it's a bit typical. While listening to it, you so can picture this performance being done in some big Baptist Church down south on Christmas Eve.

I bought this album originally for one song, and one song only. I was looking for Carol Of The Bells done totally Metal for years, but could never find it. The reason was that the band gave it a different name, Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24. This is the biggest, most bad ass Christmas song ever recorded. It thunders, rumbles, and makes Christmas a beautiful thing for me. My only complaint is the song is too short.

Good King Joy follows that up, and it's back to the more typical Christmas music. I mean it's still heavy, but the singing's back and it's all Christmas snow falling pretty. However, it breaks down into this really cool jam sounding section around the halfway marker, that's all groovy and cool. Think Bing Crosby crooning some Blues out freestyle, while Eric Clapton lets loose. Sadly those aren't the musicians performing on this track, but it helps get the point across. It's a pretty cool arrangemnt based on a song as simple as Joy To The World.

Ornament is really pretty in a very typically Christmas style, which is to say that it makes me feel suicidal and excessively depressed. This is why I typically hate Christmas music. It always sounds so sad, eventhough it's supposed to be celebrating the birth of a saviour. You'd think that would be more of a reason to be all warm and happy and a lot more uplifting than most of the music showcases.

The only Christmas song on this album to retain the original title is The First Noel. This is an instrumental accoustic version, and doesn't last long before moving on to Old City Bar. This is one of those depressing sounding tracks, but lyrically very modern. "In an old city bar / That is never too far / From the places that gather / The dreams that have been / In the safety of night / With its old neon light / It beckons to strangers / And they always come in / And the snow it was falling / The neon was calling / The music was low / And the night / Christmas Eve / And here was the danger / That even with strangers / Inside of this night / It's easier to believe / Then the door opened wide / And a child came inside / That no one in the bar / Had seen there before / And he asked did we know / That outside in the snow / That someone was lost / Standing outside our door / Then the bartender gazed / Through the smoke and the haze / Through the window and ice / To a corner streetlight / Where standing alone / By a broken pay phone / Was a girl the child said / Could no longer get home / And the snow it was falling / The neon was calling / The bartender turned / And said, not that I care / But how would you know this? / The child said I've noticed / If one could be home / They'd be all ready there / Then the bartender came out from behind the bar / And in all of his life he was never that far / And he did something else that he thought no one saw / When he took all the cash from the register draw / Then he followed the child to the girl cross the street / And we watched from the bar as they started to speak / Then he called for a cab and he said J.F.K. / Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away / And we saw in his hand / That the cash was all gone / From the light that she had wished upon / If you want to arrange it / This world you can change it / If we could somehow make this / Christmas thing last / By helping a neighbor / Or even a stranger / And to know who needs help / You need only just ask / Then he looked for the child / But the child wasn't there / Just the wind and the snow / Waltzing dreams through the air / So he walked back inside / Somehow different I think / For the rest of the night / No one paid for a drink / And the cynics will say / That some neighborhood kid / Wandered in on some bums / In the world where they hid / But they weren't there / So they couldn't see / By an old neon star / On that night, Christmas Eve / When the snow it was falling / The neon was calling / And in case you should wonder / In case you should care / Why we're on our own / Never went home / On that night of all nights / We were already there".

Every time I hear Promises To Keep I picture the Whos of Whoville Christmas morning right before the Grinch returns their stuff. Andria says it reminds her of the church scene from the first Home Alone movie. Either way it has that wonderful boy choir Christmas effect.

This Christmas Day has a very modern Christmas style, but with some real balls. This one busts it out just right, but without going over the top.

An Angel Returned is basically a reprise of the first track. Which is cool and nice, and works for the purpose of this CD.

The album finishes with two "post script" songs. The first is O Holy Night, which is performed the way that the song should be done. It's pretty, delicate, and gentle. A faithful rendition.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is done with a bit of an accoustic Latin flair, but still very faithful to the classic so many of us know. It's a nice little closer. As far as Christmas albums go, this is the one to get, if you are only going to get one.

8/10 - content

8/10 - production

7/10 - personal bias