Clay Aiken - Merry Christmas With Love

Clay Aiken may look wide-eyed and unassuming, but when it comes to figuring out what his fans want for Christmas, he's got it all figured out. On Merry Christmas with Love he so cannily anticipates the musical sugarplums dancing in the heads of his devotees that you half expect him to climb down the chimney and hand-deliver it. Key to the dozen-song collection's appeal is its straightforwardness: Parting ways with the sea of celebrities who use holiday discs as an excuse to cut loose, Aiken banishes irony and coyness so absolutely here that certain carols--the medley "Hark the Herald Angels Sing/O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night" especially--take on church-like tones; expect tree trimmers to put aside their tinsel and contemplate the meaning of the season. Yet don't expect them to miss out on any merriment. On less chestnutty selections like the ballads "Mary Did You Know" and Celine Dion's "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day," Aiken lets it rip, reining in a passion and pure-heartedness so believable that fans will wish he, rather than the guy in the red velvet suit, were Santa Claus. -Tammy La Gorce Amazon.com

Christmas music

I bought this for one song, "Mary, Did You Know?", but they are all good. September 28, 2008

Perennial favorite

It's always Christmas in my heart and for 2 months a year I get to drag out the Christmas music. And who has a more angelic voice? I love this album. I had to buy 3 more to give as gifts to foreign exchange students who had never heard of him before and fell in love. May 9, 2008

good music

Beautiful music from Clay. I bought it especially for "Mary did you Know" and was not disapointed. Rest of the songs are very lovely too. January 27, 2008

The Best Voice EVER!

My whole family voted hundreds (probably thousands) of times for Clay when he was on American Idol. We joined his fan club and keep in touch with what he is doing through "claymation" PLUS we have all read his book. Guess we are REAL fans (oops.. we also have one of his larger posters on our kitchen door so he joins us for dinner each day (really... we're NOT crazy). . We recently heard he was gfoing to be in a play on on Broadway called SPAMALOT... Anyway... our review is we love anything Clay does! Wish we could tell him directly how proud we are of him. Sincerely, Sharon The Paul Hudson, Peterson families. January 20, 2008

Clay Makes A Classic Christmas Album

Clay should have won American Idol, but this is also the only good album he's made yet. He does the classics well. It's your standard Christmas album, take the songs as is, use the Clay voice, and it's a hit. The originals on the album stink, which is why his other stuff is no good, he has bad original songs. But his covers are very good. "O Holy Night", "Mary Did You Know", "Winter Wonderland", are among the highlights.

Overall, if you're looking for an original album, look elsewhere. These are just Christmas songs with the Clay voice. That said, he has a great voice. So if you're looking for the Christmas standards, look here, looking for something more original? Grab Relient K's Christmas album.
January 10, 2008

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