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Track Listings
| 1. Whatever Happened To Christmas |
| 2. Christmas Song |
| 3. Christmastime |
| 4. I'll Be Home For Christmas |
| 5. You're A Mean One Mr Grinch |
| 6. Winter Wonderland |
| 7. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas |
| 8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen |
| 9. White Christmas |
| 10. Calling On Mary |
| 11. River (Bonus Track) |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is rather special and not just a seasonal cash-in as some fans have whinged. Aimee's voice seems ideally suited to the festive tracks and it was obviously going to be a given that she'd stir things up and make the songs her own but it's surprising just how well the arrangements of the songs really work. They're quite sparse in places and understated but they're all the better for it. It's also quite refreshing as I felt that 'The Forgotten Arm' suffered from being over hampered with instruments and the like. The two new tracks, 'Christmastime' and 'Calling On Mary' are typical Aimee tracks and sit well here and the cheekiness of 'You're A Mean One Mr Grinch' sees Aimee really fooling around and having fun. A few more tracks would have been nice but you really can't knock this.
Cheers Aimee!
Cheers Aimee!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Looking at the front cover of the second edition (the one that I own), Aimee doesn't exactly seem to be in the Christmas spirit and this reflects the generally downbeat music contained within. Nevertheless, the album works brilliantly. The first edition of the album (the front cover picture of which appears on the back cover of the second edition) contains ten tracks, six of which are Christmas standards, two of which are original songs and the other two are covers of rarely-recorded Christmas songs. The second edition includes one bonus track, which is a cover of Joni Mitchell's River. This song was never intended to be a Christmas song but it now seems to be accepted as part of the Christmas repertoire, and I'm not complaining. It is exactly the kind of song that you would expect to find on a downbeat Christmas album. Aimee performs it brilliantly, but if you've already got the first edition of the album, I don't think it would be worth buying the whole album again just for that track
The set opens with a cover of Whatever happened to Christmas?. Though written by legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb, I don't remember hearing this song before, but it's a great song that deserves to be heard more frequently. The other rarely-recorded cover is You're a mean one Mr Grinch, which features male vocals by Grant Lee Phillips. This Broadway song fits the mood but not really the style of the album, so I can understand why some people don't like this track. I definitely hadn't heard the song before I heard Aimee sing it, but I'd like to hear it in a setting that suits it better.
The two original songs are Christmastime (co-written by the album's producer Michael Penn) and Calling on Mary (co-written by Aimee). The latter song includes the phrase that gives the album its title. Both songs are excellent. Of the other songs, Aimee comes nearest to being cheerful on God rest ye merry gentlemen, which perhaps sounds even better as it contrasts with much of the rest of the album. Aimee also turns in a particularly good performance on Have yourself a merry little Christmas, though perhaps she's hoping that her listeners have a better Christmas than she's having. I'll be home for Christmas (ideally suited to this album), The Christmas song and White Christmas also sound brilliant, but I wish Aimee sounded more cheerful on Winter wonderland.
Despite my slight reservations about Winter wonderland, this is a brilliant, mellow Christmas album. Although recorded during better times, this album seems particularly appropriate for the recession-hit times in which I bought it. I'm thinking that Christmas 2009 may be difficult for a lot of people and this album might just capture the mood of the time.
The set opens with a cover of Whatever happened to Christmas?. Though written by legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb, I don't remember hearing this song before, but it's a great song that deserves to be heard more frequently. The other rarely-recorded cover is You're a mean one Mr Grinch, which features male vocals by Grant Lee Phillips. This Broadway song fits the mood but not really the style of the album, so I can understand why some people don't like this track. I definitely hadn't heard the song before I heard Aimee sing it, but I'd like to hear it in a setting that suits it better.
The two original songs are Christmastime (co-written by the album's producer Michael Penn) and Calling on Mary (co-written by Aimee). The latter song includes the phrase that gives the album its title. Both songs are excellent. Of the other songs, Aimee comes nearest to being cheerful on God rest ye merry gentlemen, which perhaps sounds even better as it contrasts with much of the rest of the album. Aimee also turns in a particularly good performance on Have yourself a merry little Christmas, though perhaps she's hoping that her listeners have a better Christmas than she's having. I'll be home for Christmas (ideally suited to this album), The Christmas song and White Christmas also sound brilliant, but I wish Aimee sounded more cheerful on Winter wonderland.
Despite my slight reservations about Winter wonderland, this is a brilliant, mellow Christmas album. Although recorded during better times, this album seems particularly appropriate for the recession-hit times in which I bought it. I'm thinking that Christmas 2009 may be difficult for a lot of people and this album might just capture the mood of the time.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I am an Aimee Mann fan and this is the fifth of her albums I have bought. As with some of her work there is a slightly downbeat (though not depressing) tone. I really like her voice and her stripped-down take on some Christmas standards. This is an album that I am sure will grow and grow on me (except perhaps the Mr Grinch track). Everything else is great. Highlights are her own, "Calling On Mary" as well as "Whatever Happened To Christmas" "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "White Christmas". It is not a karaoke, rip-off version of old favourites but an original re-working of them and well worth the money. This is a very nice album to own and listen to at this time of the year.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
come on ?!
In itself a pleasant, albeit brief, holidays album.
However ..., to re-release this two years later with a new cover and merely one bonus track is sheer commercial... Read more
However ..., to re-release this two years later with a new cover and merely one bonus track is sheer commercial... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2009 by G. De Wilde
Classy Christmas Fare
Aimee Mann, loved and lauded for her sharp, original songwriting, doing cover versions? Surely not?! Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2006 by not_a_real_folkie
Christmas songs you can listen to
An enjoyable and well put together collection of Christmas songs, from the traditional to the humorous.
Published on 22 Dec 2006 by Brett Jordan
Not the usual quality from Aimee Mann
I had pre-ordered this before the launch date and when I recieved the CD, I was very disappointed. It is little more than a collection of cover versions of Christmas songs sung by... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2006 by J. Desmond
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