91 DAYS LEFT UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Because It's Christmas here (Amazon GB)
Stream Because It's Christmas here (Spotify)
I've always loved an early Christmas release - mid September is more than OK for me as then serves two purposes. Firstly, for those that love Christmas it is an excuse to listen to new seasonal songs way before it is generally acceptable - 90 or so days to explore a new album before you have to mothball it for ten months of the year. Secondly, it gives the album chance to find an audience - the fanbase will probably lap it up but the label / artist has time to promote it in the run up to the big day. That was the marketing strategy of Barry Manilow and his festive opus Because It's Christmas. I'd grown up with the sounds of Mr Manilow in my home - swooning along to ballads like Look Like We Made It and Sandra, whilst getting my groove on to the likes of Could It Be Magic, New York City Rhythm and Copacabana. I had no pop snobbery (it certainly wasn't considered cool at my school to be a Fanilow) so was delighted when my mum bought home his very first Christmas album. It was a bit of a departure from the style of Mr Manilow that I loved but I soon immersed myself in his Yuletide jazz infusion of traditional carols and new Xmas magic...
The album opened with the crystalline tones of The Divine Mr M ushering the listener into The Christmas Song. The a cappella intro feels like it comes from a midnight clear before a resonant piano joins in alongside a gentle percussion. The laid back vibe to the song lets you luxuriate in the spirit of the season as Barry's soothing voice conjures up memories from days gone by. The pace is picked up on Jingle Bells - a contemporary cover of the Bing Crosby/Andrew Sisters classic with fab freestyle girl group Expose trying something new here. Their layered harmonies are a timeless treat whilst horn blasts add to the frivolous sense of fun. Barry sounds like he's having a ball and it is nigh on impossible not to feel uplifted. Silent Night/I Guess There Ain't No Santa Claus sees an original song introduced by the evergreen notes from the carol. It is a bittersweet, bluesy jam that has some of the most theatrical lyrics this side of Elf The Musical. Perhaps he was inspired by his Live on Broadway opus from earlier in the year but this is the most mesmerising, tongue-in-cheek soliloquy you can imagine.
I'll argue til the end of days that The First Noel/When The Meadow Was Bloomin' should have been edited and released as a Christmas single (particularly in the UK where we lap that type of song up each and every December). Quite honestly, it is perhaps the most lovely Christmas ballad you will hear since Frankie Goes To Hollywood's The Power Of Love. No denying the sheer majesty of a Barry piano-vocal duet and both instruments are stunning here. Because It's Christmas, the album's title track, may have actually been a more obvious single. Flawlessly blended with excerpts from Handel's Messiah, it is filled with lyrical messages of hope and promise. It is because it shamelessly plays to every cliche that makes it feel such a rousing opulent gem (play next to Cliff Richard's Saviour's Day and tell me it shouldn't have achieved the same chart success in the UK). KT Oslin joins for Baby It's Cold Outside and, regardless of what you make of the recent distaste of the lyrics, this is a flirty, seductive dance fuelled by the jazzy score and coquettish vocal performance from Ms Oslin (Barry is on full on suave persuasion himself). White Christmas is such an indelible standard that part of the joy of hearing it on different artists albums is just to hear the voice you love singing such a glorious classic. There's a reverence to Barry's vocal whilst the orchestra is a spirited gripping feast.
I'm always delighted by the vocals acrobatics of Carol Of The Bells/The Bells Of Christmas and it works well as part of the story of another new Barry song. It is as if Mr Manilow has heard the bells and it has sent him into a reflective reverie. He conveys his inner thoughts in an eloquent way that most of us can only hope to achieve. The sax break adds to the poignant melancholy and it is all so vivid that pictures of winter wonderlands are painted in your mind's eye. Good thing there's a festive Medley to bring these images to life. There's the cinematic soundscape of Joy To The World with graceful symphony orchestral manoeuvres before Barry goes all Judy with Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. As heartrending as it is heart warming, the intricate choir which accompanies him makes it feel like a convivial singalong. From one standard to another, Barry closes out the holiday period with We Wish You A Merry Christmas/It's Just Another New Year's Eve. It ends the album on a high note and also means you can dip into Because It's Christmas right until the calendar becomes 12 pages once more. Thoroughly reco-ho-ho-mended...
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