Search - Arthur Lyman :: With a Christmas Vibe

A great disc, in spite of some odd track numbering

Western music fan | Texas | 12/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lyman Fan is correct about the odd editing on this disc, but I know why it was done. This version of the album was released in the mid-'90s, at the height of the hidden track craze. There were a couple of methods used to hide a track, and one of them was to place the bonus track at the end of the album's reported last track, following a long period of silence. The thinking was that the average person would believe the CD had ended and remove the disc, while the more persistent listener would be rewarded with a bonus song. Rykodisc tried to do that here, but made the odd decision of assigning a track number to most of the bonus track, instead of having it completely exist as part of track 12, as was the norm.



The good news is, this won't affect the average listener. If you are listening to the disc straight through, the transition will be seamless. You will only know the track number has changed if you happen to be looking at your display. On the other hand, if you jump directly to track 13, you will miss a little bit of it, which is unfortunate. You may not be bothered by it, since that part of the track is purely sound effects, and not the song proper. I can't blame a "purist" for being disappointed, however.



Personally, I transferred this CD to my hard drive so I could add it to my Christmas rotation, and I used a sound editor to remove the silence and to consolidate both parts of the bonus track into one file. It works well, and I will tell you that this is a fun version of "For Auld Lang Syne." The firework sound effect will really put you in the New Years' mood.



The bottom line: don't let this one little quirk keep you from buying the disc. It's sure to liven up your Christmas parties for many years to come."

Poor Audio Editing Tracks 12 and 13

Lyman Fan | Oregon, United States | 07/14/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I have many Arthur Lyman albums, first one bought in 1958. I have bought seven Lyman CDs from Rykodisc.This CD, With a Christmas Vibe, has a "bonus" track 13 ... but track 12 Silent Night/Joy to the World has nearly two minutes of silence after the music ends, then, viola, there are a few seconds of the beginning of track 13 ... which ends mid phrase then picks up the phrase again when track 13 starts. I also found bad editing in Hey Jude on Rykodisc's Lyman release, Sonic Sixties. I complained to Rykodisc, but they responded with lame excuses, implying there was nothing wrong with the audio editing. I looked at the tracks with an audio editor so I know the tracks are poorly edited. As I am a long-time Arthur Lyman fan, I certainly like the music, but I rate this CD low because of the poor audio track editing."

Christmas Exotica

I'm George, George McFly. I'm your | City Of Lakes, MN | 09/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Lyman Fan" must have gotten a bad disc because mine sounds fine. Based on the MUSIC, this is a 5-star recording. Listen to the audio samples and see for yourself. This is a Christmas must for any lounge/exotica fan. Now all we need is a Martin Denny Christmas album!"