Monday 15 December 2014

Advent reviews...12!

"The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas"

Emma: ****
Charlie: **.5

Emma: A surprisingly listenable compilation of well-curated Christmas hits from the 20s through 70s. Dolly Parton is on here! And Elvis and Bing and some people I don't know but still danced to. Better than I expected.

Charlie: As a compilation of classic recordings, it's hard to go completely wrong with this one. About half of the selections here are solid gold; if you don't have them available, this is as good a way as any to get them. On the other hand, they're mixed in with should-be-forgotten-by-now terrors such as the Beach Boys' half-hearted Santa's Beard, which wins dual prizes for poorly-scanning lyrics and making one minute fifty-seven seconds feel like an eternity. In short, half of this album gets full marks and the other half gets a zero. Mine it for the good bits, and throw away the rest!

Put it in your pile: Yes

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