Search - :: The Christmad Compact Disc: 16 Original Christmas Hits

Possibly The Greatest Christmas Album Ever!

Mark Bumgardner | Concord, NC United States | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Christmas season of 1984 saw Band Aid have a huge international hit with "Do They Know It's Christmas?", so it was only natural that the following year that particular song would be the lead track on this incredible compilation. Well ahead of it's time - the great Christmas Album craze of the late 80s wouldn't come for two more years with 1987's "Very Special Christmas" - this collection gathered seasonal fare from various decades, with a strong concentration on the 70s.



Anyone who lived in Europe during the 70's will be familiar with most of these songs - Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody", "Thank God It's Christmas" by Queen, Elton John's "Step Into Christmas", and lots of others which were always played regularly on the radio during the weeks leading up to Christmas. A few lesser known (but still interesting) tracks are included as well such as Jona Lewie's "Stop the Cavalry" and Mike Oldfield's "In Dulce Jubilo". The album ends on a traditional note closing with "When A Child Is Born" by Johnny Mathis and Bing Crosby's "White Christmas".



This album was re-released by EMI in 1989 with a slightly different track listing under the title "It's Christmas", adding tracks from John & Yoko, and Greg Lake, both which I seem to remember being on the original cassette version of the album when it was released in 1985. Other tracks by Kate Bush, Cliff Richard and a few others were added as well. Both CDs are very difficult to find now, having been out of print for well over a decade. Fans of Christmas music will want to search out either title."