Twisted Christmas with Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister - 2006 - Twisted Christmas

Year: 2006

Genre: Hair Metal

Codec: MP3 320kBpS 44.1kHz

Review by James Christopher Monger

Holiday-themed albums need to either be pretty good, horrifically terrible, or completely original to cause even the jolliest head to turn. Twisted Christmas, a ten-track collection of yuletide classics from the band that once writhed atop a convertible singing the song "Burn in Hell" near the end of Pee Wee's Big Adventure, manages to achieve all three. Twisted Sister was always a group that would occasionally transcend their hair metal image with some truly majestic and powerful rock & roll, so it comes as no surprise that they filter the beloved Christmas carol through the same makeup-smeared sieve that brought the world "I Wanna Rock," "Wake Up the Sleeping Giant," and "The Prize." In fact, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" sounds so much like a reimagining of "We're Not Gonna Take It," the listener can't help but become outraged at all of the injustice in the world. "Deck the Halls" sounds like a Ramones tune, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," featuring guest vocalist Lita Ford, could have launched a thousand lighters at any stadium in the late '80s, and the absolutely embarrassing "Heavy Metal Christmas" ("12 silver crosses, 11 black mascaras, ten pairs of platforms, nine tattered T-shirts, eight pentagrams, seven leather jackets, six cans of hair spray, five skullhead rings, four quarts of Jack, three studded belts, two pairs of spandex pants, and a tattoo of Ozzy") is almost impossible to turn off without seeing it through to its loathsome but charming end.

Tracks

1 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Blane, Martin) 4:48

2 Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Traditional) 4:39

3 White Christmas (Berlin) 3:56

4 I'll Be Home for Christmas (Gannon, Kent, Ram) 4:08

5 Silver Bells (Evans, Livingston) 5:05

6 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Connor) 3:39

7 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Cahn, Styne) 3:09

8 Deck the Halls (Traditional) 2:52

9 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) (Torme, Wells) 3:40

10 Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas) (Snider, Traditional) 5:14

11 :36

Swingin Rockablly Xmas with Brian Setzer Orchestra - 2002 - Boogie Woogie Christmas

Boogie Woogie Christmas

Year: 2002
Genre: Rockabilly, Swing
Codec: MP3 320kBpS 44.1kHz

Review by Hal Horowitz

Brian Setzer takes his horn-fueled big band on a sleigh ride into Christmas/holiday music with generally impressive results. Meshing his rockabilly guitar solos with brassy charts and a lounge/Vegas sensibility that is part tribute and part retro characterization, Setzer dusts off and polishes up obscure nuggets like Kay Starr's "(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With the Bag" and Lionel Hampton's swinging "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus." He rocks up played-out chestnuts "Winter Wonderland" and "Jingle Bells," slightly altering the latter's lyrics to, "Oh what fun it is to ride in a '57 Chevrolet." Elvis' "Blue Christmas" succeeds despite, or maybe because of, its obvious inclusion, narrowly missing a parody of the original due to Setzer's reverb-heavy guitar solo. A rough, blues-heavy "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" successfully kicks the tune into classic urban R&B territory, with the bandleader's guitar getting down and dirty and the horns blasting away like Doc Severinsen's orchestra. Ann Margaret sounds a little tentative playing the sultry sex kitten next to Setzer's slick Bobby Darin on a nevertheless frisky duet romp through "Baby It's Cold Outside." But the album's obvious highlight is an intricately rearranged, instrumental big band blowout of "The Nutcracker Suite," originally written for Les Brown's orchestra in the '50s. It displays the group's stop-on-a-dime chops and swings like mad. A 30-piece choir backs Setzer doing his best Presley mannerisms on a smarmy "O Holy Night" and closes the album on a serious note with a prayerful "The Amens."

Tracks
1 Jingle Bells Pierpont 2:22
2 Boogie Woogie Santa Claus Rene, Rene 3:02
3 Winter Wonderland Bernard, Smith 2:40
4 Blue Christmas Hayes, Johnson 2:48
5 Santa Claus Is Back in Town Leiber, Stoller 3:48
6 Baby, It's Cold Outside Loesser 3:43
7 The Nutcracker Suite Tchaikovsky 7:13
8 (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With the Bag Brooks, Irving, Stanley 2:48
9 Sleigh Ride Anderson, Parish 2:40
10 So They Say It's Christmas Setzer 4:46
11 O Holy Night Adam, Dwight, Traditional 4:49
12 The Amens (Traditional) :59

The Nutcracker - Classical Xmas with Peter Tchaikovsky

The Nutcracker CD1
The Nutcracker CD2

Conductor: Evgenij Svetlanov
Performer: The USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Year: 1988
Genre: Classical
Codec: MP3 320kBpS 44.1kHz

Rewiev by HZ
Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (1816) and composed by Peter Tchaikovsky in 1891–1892. Well-known to everyone who have ears and any kind of audio equipment.

Tracks:
01. Overture [3:15]
02. The Decoration of The Christmas Tree [3:55]
03. March [2:29]
04. Children's Galop and Arrival of the Guests [2:20]
05. Arrival of the Drosselmayer [5:58]
06. Dance of the Grandfathers [7:23]
07. The Magic Spell Begins [7:50]
08. The Battle [3:18]
09. In the Pine-Forest [4:22]
10. Waltz of the Snowflakes [7:29]
11. Le royaume des sucreries [4:23]
12. Clara et le Prince [4:43]
13. Divertimento : Chocolat, danse espagnole [1:13]
14. Divertimento : Cafe, danse arabe [3:48]
15. Divertimento : The, danse chinoise [1:09]
16. Divertimento : Trepak, danse russe [1:02]
17. Divertimento : Danse des flutes [2:32]
18. Divertimento : Mere Cigogne et les clowns [2:08]
19. Valse des fleurs [7:01]
20. Danse du Prince et de la Fee Dragee [5:22]
21. Variation 1 : Tarentelle [0:41]
22. Variation 2 : Danse de la Fee Dragee [2:21]
23. Pas de deux [1:20]
24. Coda [3:33]
25. Apotheose [1:57]

Happy New Year!!!

1

2

3

Disc 1:
01 - Yello - Jingle Bells
02 - Abba - Happy New Year
03 - Cyndi Lauper - Early Christmas Morning
04 - The Platters - Silent Roly Night
05 - Kenny G. - Passages
06 - John & Yoko - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
07 - Celine Dion - Ave Maria (Schubert)
08 - Queen - Thank God It's Christmas
09 - Human Nature - Last Christmas
10 - Bing Crosby - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
11 - Michael Bolton - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
12 - Stewie Wonder - The Christmas Song
13 - Aaron Neville - Bells Of St. Mary's
14 - Connie Francis - Silent Night, Holy Night
15 - Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby
16 - James Brown - Merry Christmas, Baby
17 - Kisha - As Long As There's Christmas
18 - The Eagles - Please Come Home For Christmas
19 - John Mellencamp - Teddi's Song
20 - B.B. King - Merry Christmas, Baby
21 - Loona - Another Christmas Without You
22 - Glady's Knight & The Pips - The Christmas Song
23 - Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town


Disc 2:
01 - Wham! - Last Christmas
02 - Diana Ross And The Supremes - Twinlke Twinkle Little Me
03 - Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
04 - The Platters - Jingle Bells Jingle
05 - Johnny Matris - When A Child Is Born
06 - 3T - Endless Christmas
07 - Jackson's - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
08 - Bryan Adams - Run Rudolph Run
09 - Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas
10 - Gary Glitter - Another Rock N'roll Christmas
11 - Sinead O'connor - Silent Night
12 - Boney M. - Mary's Boy Child
13 - Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry
14 - Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
15 - The Pogues Feat. Kirsty Mac Coll - Fairytale Of New York
16 - Bocelli - Ave Maria
17 - Celine Dion - Brahms' Lullaby
18 - Mariah Carey - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
19 - Richie Sambora - O Come All Ye Faithfull
20 - Joan Osborne - Go Where I Send Thee
21 - Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas
22 - Frank Sinatra - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
23 - Paul Mc. Cartney - Wonderfull Christmas Time
24 - Jane Mc. Donald - White Christmas
25 - Simon & Garfunkel - 7 O'clock News, Silent Night