During the fall of 1992, I can remember thinking: why in the world is Amy Grant releasing another Christmas album? Granted, it had been nearly ten years since her previous one, but how many Christmas albums any artist can release in a career. In this case, two were just fine.
The production values on her second Christmas creation are considerably better than her first, which is not surprising, given that Amy Grant had become a pop sensation in the intervening decade. Orchestration replaces the synthesized keyboard bits of the previous effort. The result is an album that sounds fuller, more professional, and bigger in just about every way possible. Some of the quaint charm of A Christmas Album was lost in translation, but the difference in sound is obvious, and the overall feeling of this album is grander; more stately.
With a CD changer, you can play both albums without giving a thought to which one of the two is better. Indeed, the difference in sound earns them their respective places in a complete Christmas album collection. Furthermore, taken together they practically embody the very essence of your typical Christmas album while also proving to be a benchmark for quality.
More songs about Jesus and less about roasting chestnuts would be preferred, but for many listeners this is a moot point. Something about the combination of Amy Grant and Christmas just seems right and two albums, both worthy of repeated listening, may not be enough. Perhaps next century she'll treat us to another.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Lisa ReidOnce again, Amy Grant has released a memorable Christmas album. Like her first, titled A Christmas Album, this is a mixture of old favorites and new songs by Grant and others. Unlike the other album, though, this one is much more slickly produced. Several numbers have complex string and horn arrangements; depending on the listener, these could be seen as either enhancing the music or detracting…Similar sounding releases
2001Jaci VelasquezChristmas
2005Point of GraceWinter Wonderland
1998Twila ParisPerennial: Songs For The Seasons Of Life
2004Sandi PattyHymns of Faith...Songs of Inspiration
1998Michael W. SmithChristmastime
2002Steve GreenWoven In TimeMore from Amy Grant
2005Rock of Ages...Hymns and Faith
1994House of Love
1983A Christmas Album
1997Behind The Eyes
1997Takes A Little Time
1999A Christmas To Remember
