Sara Groves Christmas is a Merry one
Posted November 28, 2008
By Nathan,
After seven albums of new material Sara Groves first Christmas record, O Holy Night, was a long time in coming. Making the transition from her emotionally charged lyrics to simple Christmas songs may seem a step down for being one of the most esteemed song writers in Christian music but the Groves alters both the classical tunes and lyrics of traditional holiday tunes to offer a fresh batch of songs.
If it bothers people that she changed the holiday hymns that we all love (with the exception of “silent night”) Groves has a perfectly good excuse: with twelve song and not a big musical well to draw from diversity was a necessity to keep the verity in the album and keep it from becoming boring. What is nice about O Holy Night is that in addition to the tweaking the classics she adds five full length new songs which is more than usual.
Sara Groves son is featured on “it’s true (Toby Groves)” which helps raise the emotional intensity (which pushes sweet to over doing it) of an already emotional soft tune that has a Christmassy tune. Her voice is key on the opening track “star of wonder” which after a long intro is a perfect fit for the first song. One of the cleverest and enjoyable songs is “toy packaging” a song which many mothers can relate to; throw in the upbeat tune and the song is a highlights. Unfortunately not all of her new music has the same charm of complexity as “toy packaging” like “a cradle in Bethlehem” which is far too simple.
From the very note “it came upon a midnight clear” is clearly altered and in some parts absolutely drags the song down; however it could be argued that it is the more original music song that just lacks a Christmassy beat. “To be with you” could have been sped up the second time through after the chorus but it was not so it’s only a pretty good ballad instead of a great one but the jazzy “have yourself a merry little Christmas” is a very Christmas friendly track that is quite pleasing to the ears.
Some moments on O Holy Night made this writer was to hit the skip button on Sara Groves altered classical songs (“angels we have heard on high” and “Gloria”), but that and a few simple songs aside the album as a whole that will manage to be entertaining and remind listeners what the meaning behind Christmas is.
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