Great Christmas Project
Posted November 23, 2010
By gizmodad,
Coming off the back of their popular Christmas release in 2007, the Centricity Music family returns again this Christmas season with Bethlehem Skyline: Volume 2. The newest installment in the Bethlehem Skyline series welcomes newly signed artists Lanae Hale and Me In Motion, along with Sixteen Cities, Matt Papa and Andrew Peterson as well as the return of Downhere and Jason Gray.
Bethlehem Skyline Volume 2 opens up with "Give It Away" by new artist Me In Motion. This song is a lot slower than what you from the band and encourages us to open up our arms and hearts to those who are lonely at Christmas time and take all our selfishness away. Me In Motion then puts the rock in the following song "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree". This song displays the crunchy pop/rock sound that we're used to from the guys from Me In Motion, and is not only the best version I've ever heard of this song but also the best Christmas song I've heard in a while. By the 2nd chorus you'll be dancing, especially when Seth sings with his usual passionate higher pitched voice.
Following these two songs is Downhere's version of "Christmas In Our Hearts" and "Silent Night". You may have already heard these two songs off the bands 2009 release, How Many Kings. It was a little bit distracting to have the very slow and soft "Silent Night" follow the energetic tunes from Me In Motion, and I think Downhere's vocalist sang a little too low to keep me interested. Then again I guess most versions of this classic carol are performed in the same fashion.
Jason Gray follows with an upbeat performance of "Do You Hear What I Hear", which is one of my favourite Christmas carols. Centricity makes a good choice to assign Jason to cover this song because his vocals fit the song perfectly. Jason then goes on to perform "Love Has A Name", a nice little acoustic ballad that is written by Jason. It adds a bit of original flavour to the album as a whole.
High Valley return to the Bethlehem Skyline series with their own unique version of "Away In A Manger" in a country/bluegrass style. This is the most interesting version of this song that I've ever heard, but it was nice to see that High Valley have performed a unique and original country version of the song. These guys definetley have potential and it was a shame that they only got to perform one song on this album.
Lanae Hale's performances add a bit of a female touch to an already male dominated project. Her rendition of "Carol Of The Bells" almost sounds haunting with her high pitched vocals, the "Merry, merry, merry, Merry Christmas!" lyric and the female backing vocalists.Lanae then brings us her own Christmas song "Starving Artist Christmas" which is a humorous song about clearing the assumption that all musicians have money. Lanae sings about how even though she has two jobs she still can't afford food or heating. The clever use of rhyme was the most enjoyable aspect of this song, along with the ding-dong's in the introduction.
Debut artists Sixteen Cities bring their own Christmas song "Morning Star" to the table, a song with simple lyrics in the chorus, "The Morning Star pierced through the dark, Hallelujah Christ is born, He's the greatest gift we could receive, Hallelujah Christ is born! This was the first song I've heard from the band and Josiah Warneking's vocals were soft and amazing on this song. Sixteen Cities then perform their own soft rendition of "O Holy Night".
Andrew Peterson's "Long, Long Ago" has a country feel to it and is a simple song stating reflecting on the fact that "Christ came to Bethlehem long,long ago". Here is another country/bluegrass artist I feel should have had another song on this project. Matt Papa closes the album with "Little Drummer Boy" and "Hope Has Come". "Little Drummer Boy" is a heavier version of the song and isn't the best I've heard, but still does the job nicely. Bethlehem Skyline Volume 2 ends on an epic song with "Hope Has Come", that leaves the listener with the message that "Hope has come, Let us adore him..... Now in flesh appearing".
Whatever mood your'e in at Christmas time, Bethlehem Skyline Volume 2 has a wide variety of songs and themes to suit your mood. This quality of this project far surpasses that of its predecessor. The highlights were Me In Motion's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", High Valley's "Away In A Manger" and Lanae Hale's "Starving Artist Christmas, as well as Jason Gray's performances. My only concern was that some artists only got to perform one song, therefore only showing half of their full potential. However, this project is a reflection of the talent of Centricity artists and the quality of the Centricity Music label itself. Bethlehem Skyline Volume 2 is a great compilation of Christmas music gems and a must have for all fans of Centricity artists. This a great Christmas project! View All Music And Book Reviews By gizmodad | View gizmodad's Profile
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