The Christmas music that isn't - L&M W/O III

When you get a little older and you've seen your share of Christmas's, Christmas music gets a little....you know.......redundant? That's why I haven't bought any new Christmas music in years.....that is until tonight, when I attended a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert and was overwhelmed with the performance, but that's another review.

The Lost Christmas Eve is the third alleged Christmas album that TSO has released. I say alleged because any similarity to conventional Christmas music is strictly accidental and that's fine with me. I guess you could say it's Christmas music for people that can't stand Christmas music anymore.

True, we have a couple requisite Christmas standards like "What Child is This" performed in TSO's inimitable Classical Orchestral Heavy Metal style but for the preponderance of the twenty-three tracks the only connection to Xmas is the word Christmas Eve.

The Lost Christmas Eve is (surprise) a concept album not unlike TSO's masterpiece Beethoven's Last Night or for that matter Savatage's Dead Winter Dead or any of their other seven rock opera style concept albums

For those not familiar with the Savatage connection let my edify you. No less than three members and former members of that tradition rich band (Jon Olivos, Al Petrelli and Johnny Lee Middleton) performed on this album with Olivos, in conjunction with Savatage producer extraordinaire Paul O'neil and Robert Kinkel, being a member of the creative triumvirate as well. Yes, TSO is an extension of Savatage, sort of an outlet for their softer more formal side.

The Story line

Briefly The Lost Chistmas Eve revolves around an angel being sent to Earth by the Lord, "to bring Him the name of the person that best continued the work of his Son on Earth".

Favorite songs

The rocking song "Faith Noel" with not one but two old time Christmas carols, starts with a brief intro of "The First Noel" goes through a guitar driven symph rock bridge then diverges back into "God Rest ye Merry Gentlmen".

The slow building, power ballad "The Lost Christmas Eve" with heavy bass and acoustic guitar.

"Christmas Dreams" is a great up tempo ballad sung by my favorite singer from the concert, a fabulous singer named Michael Lanning. This guy is great!!!! Better in person than on the album.

"Winter in Wizards" A trickey, clever number featuring great piano playing with the band and violins joining at length.

Want a little Blues with you Christmas music? "Christmas Nights in Blue" is your song, Excellent!!

The well titled "Christmas Jam" is a hard rock/heavy metal jam that will knock your socks off. (especially in person)It has just enough bells and sundries to sound a little Christmasy. (made up a new word)

"What is Christmas?" A nice medium paced song with a big sound.

"Wish Liszt" From a Franz Liszt number

"What Child is This", A better version of the song you know and love. Powerful!!

"Christmas Canon Rock" A takeoff of Pacabel's Canon, wonderful!!!


Conclusion

The strength of The Lost Christmas Eve is, it can be all things to all people. To non Christians (there are a few billion) and those just sick of Xmas music, it is ear candy, a serious composition of beautiful melodies played in an imaginative enthralling style, by musicians of unquestioned ability.

Then for the the Xmas aficionados there are enough familiar Xmas melodies to satisfy them that this is indeed a new style of Christmas music - though many of the familiar melodies are instrumentals and classical classics, such as Mozart's -"Queen of the Winter Night" and Pacabel's "Canon" are indeed classics but not in the Christmas sense.

Now for the former group here is the good news, The Lost Christmas Eve so little resembles sappy mainstream Christmas music and is overall so inspiring that, you may want to play this music all year.

Author's Note

Admittedly I wrote this review while under the influence...........of the marvelous TSO rock concert that just enthralled me.

Was I influenced? Who knows, what do you think?