Audio CD review:
Olivia Newton-John - 20th Century Masters - The Best of Olivia Newton-John: The Christmas Collection

Olivia Newton-John - 20th Century Masters - The Best of Olivia Newton-John: The Christmas Collection

Band: Olivia Newton-John Title: 20th Century Masters - The Best of Olivia Newton-John: The Christmas Collection Rating: Release Date: 23 September, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Christmas Never Felt Like This Before 2: The First Noel 3: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 4: Silver Bells 5: (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays 6: What Child Is This? 7: Away In A Manger 8: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 9: O Holy Night 10: White Christmas 11: Ave Maria 12: Silent Night

Customer Reviews a smorgasbord of music yes--and a hint as to where you can get a solo version of "Away in a Manger" My favorite track is by far "Christmas Never Felt Like This," a song that was originally recorded for a benefit compilation CD in the mid-90s, and clearly had the most production value put into it (most of these tracks do sound like the 'live' recordings they are, and had little post-production). While it would have been nice to get some new material for the reissue of this CD, i agree with some reviewers that the songs do work seamlessly and don't sound like they were gathered together from different sources-and i'd prefer they are all on one CD anyway so I CAN just pop in one single Olivia Christmas CD. NOTE TO OLIVIA FANATICAL COLLECTORS: Olivia does a solo rendition of "Away in a Manger" on a christmas collection called "Cooking Christmas. " it's out of print, but you can still get it used here on Amazon. . 3.5 Stars, Truth Be Known. I Agree About the Duets. Her voice is soft, beautiful, and soothing, but sometimes--as is the case with her rendition of "Ave Maria"--she sounds a bit uncomfortable. Olivia has a vocal gift that she doesn't always share with us as often as we'd like, which is why we long-time fans know enough to grab any Xmas offerings she tosses our way. I'm not especially fond of the duets, particularly that goofy version of "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" in which she seems to want to mimick Shirley Temple during the mid-section. Other than that, all the songs with just her on them are lovely, and the two standout tracks, the lovely smooth jazz feel of "The First Noel" and her beautiful rendition of "Silver Bells" with the London Symphony Orchestra make this collection a more than worthwhile purchase. . Program your CD player to skip the duets Ugh: add to this Vince Gill and Clint Black and this CD has just become a drag. It's true: nice to have an ONJ Xmas CD, but I couldn't get passed Kenny Loggin's whining on the 3rd track. I'd love to have an Olivia Christmas CD that was just her. . You can see a complete list of all Olivia Newton-John discography, or go back to the Olivia Newton-John tabs