Jewel - Joy - A Holiday Collection

Jewel has concocted an intriguing and at times beautifully inspired holiday album, playing it straight with a big orchestra and backing voices for the first half of the record with standards such as "Joy to the World," "Winter Wonderland," "Silent Night," as well as a lovely rendition of "Ave Maria." Things finally get sparkling in the last half where Jewel does a low-key, kid version of "Rudolph" and sings her own compositions. Her moving "Face of Love" and "Hands" are certain to become holiday standards, capable of being sung in a country, pop, gospel, or R&B vein and deserving of an audience as wide as the nation itself. The record's centerpiece, however, seems to be a six-minute-plus medley that mixes "Go Tell It on the Mountain" with the recent hit "From a Distance" and her own "Life Uncommon." Nonetheless, her stunning adaptation of "Gloria" inspired, in part, by Bach's B-Minor Mass, two tracks later is as powerful and lovely a Christmas vocal performance as you will find anywhere. Produced by the legendary Arif Mardin, Joy is destined to become a holiday classic. --Martin Keller Amazon.com

 My New Favorite Holiday CD
Yes, this one even pushed the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack out of number 1. It's a wonderful collection. My favorite Christmas song is "O Holy Night" and I have a very hard time finding good versions of it. This one is beautiful. The only downside is that she only performs one verse. I would have loved to hear the entire hymn, even if it would have been 10 minutes long! But it's still great. December 14, 2007

 Joy A Holiday Collection by Jewel
One of my favorites in my Christmas music collection. I listen to it every day during the season. Her song "Face of Love" I added to my Christian CD and listen to it year around. Her voice is like an angel singing. December 13, 2007

 Pretty flat I hate to say.
Jewel's Christmas album is just an ok cd. It's too bad because I love Jewel, she is a gifted singer/songwriter. Joy only has a few great tracks, she does a Christmas version of Hands, probably the best on the album and beautiful rendition of Ava Marie but the rest of the songs lack inspiration. Songs like Winter Wonderland and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (sung with her mother) are cute but I can't think of any of other songs that are worth mentioning. This is Jewel's worst album, I highly recommend her other albums instead. November 26, 2007

 First half sparkles...second half fizzles - still a favorite.
I really enjoyed songs such as: Joy To The World, O Holy Night, Silent Night, Winter Wonderland, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, and Ave Maria

These songs fell a little flat for me:
Hark the Herald, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Face Of Love
Medley: A. Go Tell It On The Mountain/B. Life Uncommon/C. From A Distance
I Wonder As I Wander, Gloria

The most exceptional song by far was: Hands (Christmas Version) November 1, 2007

 Insipid
A generally uninspired album - at times it sounds as if Jewel is simply phoning her performance in. Her voice isn't powerful, and when the orchestra gets loud she simply gets drowned. The better tracks are definately those where the production is kept to a minimum (Rudolph, I Wonder). In a few others (O Little Town, Go Tell it on the Mountain) her voice gets unpleasantly thin, which I found distracting.

Overall this is a forgettable set; personally, I really wasn't moved in a Christmasy sort of way. If you're a Jewel fan it's maybe worthwhile but other folks will find that there are better holiday albums available. January 2, 2007

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