Your favourite interpretations/versions of the following Christmas songs:

I don't see Hayley on that list...and you're in NZ.

I think Hayley's new CD is really good but I am biased.



My limited edition copy includes:

1. The Little Road to Bethlehem
2. Carol of the Bells
3. The Christmas Song
4. Veni Veni Emmanuel
5. Silent Night
6. Christmas Morning
7. Sleigh Ride
8. River
9. Winter's Dream
10. The Little Drummer Boy
11. Corpus Christi Carol
12. All With You
13. The Coventry Carol
14. Peace Shall Come
15. Toki no Tsubasa ni Notte

Interesting - there's a few versions I've not heard of. I wonder if Sarah McLachlan's efforts can redeem her from her previous dire album releases?


Gabriel's Message - (Never heard of it!)
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Riki Michele
In the bleak midwinter - Kevin Smith (from the album "Noel"
Little Drummer Boy - Mark Kozelek
O Come O Come Emmanuel - Sixpence None the Richer
O Holy Night - Sam Phillips with Stephen Murray & Jenny Gullen (from the album "Noel" coming 2nd)
O Little Town of Bethlehem - Riki Michele (with Bruce Cockburn's version 2nd)
Silent Night - Sam Phillips (with Over the Rhine's version 2nd)
The First Noel - Over the Rhine (instrumental only: that's why it's not butchered)
What Child is This? - Sufjan Stevens (yeah I guess so...everyone butchers it)



PS - sorry - tried Hayley - she's too commercial for my tastes but she does make it far better than the standard supermarket Christmas junk spewed out these days.

I'm surprised to see the "too commercial" being applied to Hayley. I can understand if she doesn't work for you but she isn't being promoted as much as I'd like to see...at least not in the US. If you've sampled her other recent CDs you might agree that she does her own thing.

To some extent that is true....other lesser artists with more sex appeal get promoted, despite singing far less fluidly. Hayley's Christmas album however is typical MOR. Middle of the road arrangements; middle of the road instruments, backing a sublime voice. Hayley's voice is typically 'diva-esque' - she is classical and classically gorgeous in singing, but her album arrangements are so typically commercial and bland. This isn't so much a criticism of Hayley: she is after all, foremost a performer, rather than a singer-songwriter, and doesn't have a 'band sound' nor any originality in the musical arrangements (except those given to her by her producer).

Her 'Hine E Hine' track is delightful, however the session guitarist in the background is lazy and clearly paid to do the job, rather than contributing any coherence or synergism to her vocals. Even her arrangements on 'Silent Night' are conventional, with no minor key transcription nor any originality to the musical arrangements. It really gets to me when she sings "Sleep in Havenly Peace" rather than "Sleep in Heavenly Peace" and 'Christ the Saaaaviour is borne" rather than "Christ the Saviour". The worse bit is 'Amazing Grace' where the Salvation Army sound creeps in and then competes with her in a mellodramatic climax.

Is that nit-picking? Lol. Sorry. She's a great singer with a great voice however the kind of forced articulation which classical singers are so prone to doing renders the voice so unnatural to a pop audience.
I'll wait until she has an album when she truly 'comes into her own'. I'm afraid it's not this Christmas, however I do like her a lot so I'll keep waiting in hope....

YouTube - 2008 Christmas Extravaganza Spectacular - Mannheim Steamroller - Veni Veni (O Come, O Come Emanuel

O Come Let Us Adore Him (go to bottom of page and watch the Shepherd's video)
Awaited


YouTube - Mannheim Steamroller - Stille Nacht

YouTube - Christmas Song - Bing Crosby - Oh Holy Night

YouTube - Christmas Music: "The First Noel", Andy Williams

YouTube - Three Kings and I TSO

YouTube - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo [Timeless Version]

YouTube - Carol Of The Bells - Windham Hill Artists

I know I got off track. It's the holidays.

Hey! That I will agree with

Actually I also agree with the less than stellar instrument backing on many tracks throughout her catalog...although when I listen to her CDs I'm focusing on her voice 99% of the time.

One third of her new CD is listenable to me but nothing amazing. There are 3 or 4 tracks that I'll continue to listen to year-round.

I'm anxiously awaiting her next CD...which is all I can hope for 'cause I've given up on seeing her live since she doesn't seem to have any plans to tour the US anytime soon.

I'm sorry for the topic derailment...I promise not to blabber about Hayley anymore

Leon Redbone - Christmas Island

Yeah....I'm hoping more, that Hayley will get paired with the 'right' producer to bring the best of her vocals out. It is so frustrating hearing her paired with average session musicians and the limited vision of a producer! Get on the Hayley fan site and demand a better album producer like Pierre Marchand, Larry Klein or T Bone Burnett!

Christmas is in Summer in NZ, right? So, should it be Summer Magic, not winter?. And what's with the coat?

OK, first of all, you guys are making me break my promise.

I do think she could become very popular in the US but I don't see that happening unless her management steers her in a new direction...which many fans don't want. I'm happy with Hayley as is. I think her natural progression will please even more. I was a member of HWI until I quit after I was hassled for compiling my huge Hayley photo album. I think they were just upset that mine was the best collection ...so then I was banned...go figure.

The album is available worldwide as "Winter Magic" and in New Zealand under the title of "Christmas Magic".

I like the coat. She looks gorgeous IMO.

Lol...which promise might that be?

Was that Richard who banned you from the HWI site? I tried reading the site (Hayley is fairly big in the UK ... compared to everything else I listen to btw ).

My worry is that Hayley is a pretty voice and not just another pretty face too. She is very marketable in the commercial pop market and just about every album done by her production team have taken her further and further from her roots, to the more slick and pristine produced pop sound. I fear she may be in her late 40's before she can pull her true artistic vision together, and abandon all of the puppeteers controlling her music and output. She deserves so much more.

So do her fans

Lol - it's too funny hearing about your Hayley photo. If it's the HWI forum, then it has to be true!

I'm sorry for the topic derailment...I promise not to blabber about Hayley anymore

I'm not sure who actually banned me, this was in July. I had a link in my sig to a photobucket account with 500+ pics of Hayley and I was instructed to remove the link and make the photobucket account private. I swiftly deleted my forum membership and was then hassled(stalked) by some HWI management by way of them registering at Webshots just to threaten me by leaving messages in my Hayley! album.

What a great bunch of fans they are...way to go guys, that's how we promote Hayley eh? But hey, I still credit HWI at Webshots, afterall, I am a nice guy.

As for Hayley's direction, I hope she isn't headed for the "slick and pristine produced pop sound". I'd like to see her continue to mix it up with Celtic, Folk & Classical. I can tolerate a dash of Pop. Her voice can do no wrong unless it's recorded poorly (compressed) which bothers me with several tracks from past CDs.