What I Really Want For Christmas

[ComicList]

Discuss, review and rate What I Really Want For Christmas, released October 2005.

[Luther]

As with any Christmas album (and, for that matter, BB-related album), there's a certain cheese factor. But the production is good, I think, and I like the new songs. Best of all, the band sings background vocals, thus avoiding another GIOMH tragedy.

[The Real Beach Boy]

Excellent Christmas effort, a notch below the original '64 album but miles ahead of the '77 effort.

[Don't Back Down]

I keep listening to this more and more. Surround sound, and headphones, sounds supurb in both. I'm not one for Christmas songs, I actually never heard some of these songs until I bought this album, and I love it. The a capella intro to "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" is so smooth. I love how Brian mixed a saxophone with the harmonies around it, while the sax becomes a "voice" following the falsesetto - my favorite bit on the album. My favorite tune on here is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" I just enjoy the beat and of course the sax solo (the solo gets better as the song fades) sadly we don't get Jimmy Kimmel where I live so I wasn't able to watch Brian perform this on there live, but anyhow...I give this album a 4, not as good as the Beach Boys' Christmas album  but I do agree MUCH better than the '77 material. This will be playing on Sunday for sure. *This definately was played while I was opening my presents, along with the Beach Boys' Ultimate Christmas.

[JRauch]

When the Christmas-album was announced, I expected something embaressing. What I got is the best Christmas-album ever!!!

You really feel the love and care Brian put into every single moment. He didn´t treat the tired old standards like, well, tired old standards, instead he treated them with the respect they originally deserved. And because of his passion for christmas he had a lot of joy during the recording. And imo that makes the difference to most of the other christmas-albums. The two new songs are among the best he has written for decades. Very touching and catchy at the same time. Great singing throughout the whole album. His new band may not be the Beach Boys vocally, but this time they came amazingly close. The sound is also fantastic, thanks to Mr. Linett.

"What I Really Want For Christmas" is in terms of arranging, producing and singing among the best records Brian has ever made.

[st2580smile]

My hat is off to Brian and the band.
Auld Lang Syne alone is worth the price of admission.
The band pulls off vocals the original boys could never.
Even the Freshmen themselves would/should be jelous.
Pete

[Luther]

On the Spector/Wilson Xmas album debate, I do think that Linett has gotten great, clearer sounds from the instruments without losing their power, which I prefer. As much as the wall of sound interests me, I can't listen to it for too long. Too muddy. That said, I do prefer Spector's overall.

Meaning my overall Christmas album rankings go:

1) Spector
2) BW
3) BB
4) God, I hate Christmas and its albums, so nothing else even counts as music to me.

[Andrew G. Doe]

... is a much better album.

[artie]

Not sure why this has to be constantly compared to Spector's. Spector did all the secular tunes and Brian concentrated on the religious ones. Brian did not employ full orchestras. It's like comparing Beethoven to Gershwin. It's hard to get "The First Noel" grooving like "Frosty The Snowman" which is, by the way, the single greatest Christmas song ever. Ronnie Bennett Spector can melt glass with that voice.

This is a great album. Christmasey is truly a joy. A splendid track/arrangement. The end of We Wish You A Merry Christmas is vintage Brian/BB.

Great playing throughout, and Brian's voice is a TON better than GIOMH.

Solid 4.

[Jay Morgan]

I'll give it a 3, and while I think Brian and the band are in good voice and form, I still find I enjoy listening to the Beach Boys' Christmas offering more. Perhaps it's the five originals on the first side that I enjoy so much.

I do think 'Christmasey' is the best song on this album, or it's at least my favorite to listen to.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Like every BW-involved album since 15 Big Ones in 1976, this release falls into the would've, should've, could've category. There are a few highlights, much filler, and a few "why did he do that"s. These are some random thoughts; I apologize for going long...

-The artwork/packaging is terrible; it cheapens the product.

-The sequencing is questionable. I keep hearing "On Christmas Day" as the opener and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" as the closer, with the little kids' voices and that bass harmonica tailing off. And why did they bunch all of the hymns together like that? It brings the album down.

-The bonus tracks should've been either re-recorded (how long would that take-2 days?) or integrated into the album, not tacked on the end. "Silent Night" (with dit-dits?) should've been left in the can.

-While "The Man With All The Toys" is surprisingly good, and "Auld Lang Syne" is exceptionally good, do we really need another version of "Little Saint Nick"? We already have 4-5 versions on the BB's Ultimate Christmas CD! And like it/him or not, Mike Love's lead on "Little Saint Nick" is so good and identifiable, Brian cannot not do it justice.

-The 2 new songs are good, but they're not great. WIRWFC is a re-working of "One For The Boys" and I hear a lot of "Fairy Tale" in "Christmasey". And those former songs weren't exactly classics.

-A big highlight is "The First Noel". When Brian hits that high note near the end, I get a special feeling, almost goosebumps. And the harmonies at the end of the song are the most impressive harmonies I have heard on a BW track in a long, long time. Seriously, I'm talking about going back to 1967!

-My biggest problem is with the rest of the hymns. While I have no problem with the choice of songs (I like them all), I don't feel that Brian has the kind of voice to do them justice. Brian's voice today is more suited to upbeat, pop/rock songs. On "Joy To The World", he sounds fairly spiritual and emotional. But on the rest of the hymns he's just belting them out, almost rushing them, as if he's just trying to get through them. Sometimes I feel that he's shouting at me. While some like that Brian sang all the verses, I find some of the hymns going too long.

-In my opinion, almost every song Brian recorded as a solo artist would've benefited by having The Beach Boys sing either the lead or backgroung vocals. This album is no exception. These songs did not reach their full potential. I can't help but think how this album would've sounded with contributions from Mike, Al, and Bruce.

-Some people have praised Brian's arranging on this album. I find him rehashing a lot of his old tricks.
Is there anything new or groundbreaking on this album? With Christmas music, there's so much you can do with it, although sometimes to the song's detriment. I just feel Brian played it too safe.

-There's plenty of music, a wide variety of songs, and the sound is great! Brian's vocals will keep it from being a perennial classic, and I'm not sure if any one song will emerge like "Hey Santa" or "Little Saint Nick".  I feel it was a quickie. I think Darian and Jeff had more to do with the recording than we will ever know. I wonder what Clive Davis really thinks? Is he rushing to sign-up Brian for his follow up rock & roll album? What does the general public think about this album? Did it crack the Top 200? Was there a single released?

-I give it 2 1/2 stars out of 5, mostly because of the quantity of the music, not quality.

[Aegir]

Damn.

I liked the album until I read SJS's review.

[I. Spaceman]

It's a pretty darn good review. Bravo, SJS.

[Jim McShane]

My hat is off to Brian and the band.
Auld Lang Syne alone is worth the price of admission.
The band pulls off vocals the original boys could never.
Even the Freshmen themselves would/should be jelous.
Pete

Interesting observations Pete. I've wondered how the earlier stuff would compare myself, so I took the time to compare some BBs versions vs. the versions on this CD. Here's a brief summary of my thoughts

The Man With All The Toys: The WIRWFC version has so much more energy and drive than the old BBs version. Jeffrey Foskett's falsetto is every bit as good or better than Brian's was on the BBs cut. The added sax/vocal section is wonderful, and completes the song in a way the old one never did for me. It's probably the best integrated sax work on any BW recording. So I much prefer the WIRWFC version.

Little St. Nick - I prefer the pace and rhythm of the vocals on the BBs recording, otherwise they are pretty much equal to me. So I give the edge to the 1964 recording - although what might be my favorite recording of LSN is Jeffrey Foskett's "Tributes and Rarities" cover. He does the old ML bass parts really well, and his leads are spot on.

Auld Lang Syne - two magnificent performances. The Ultimate Christmas version without Dennis' spoken word section is a killer. So is the new version. I can't make a choice here, it's not possible. a tie.

Overall - IMHO, the 1964 album has no tracks on it to compare with "Christmasey" or "What I Really Want For Christmas". Toss in the bonus of "On Christmas Day" too. The traditional carols/songs? Both recordings have nice performances of them. So on balance, I find WIRWFC to be my favorite. The proof is in the listening - I only listened to the Ultimate Christmas CD once this year, I must have listened to WIRWFC a hundred times.

[I. Spaceman]

Jeffrey Foskett's falsetto is every bit as good or better than Brian's was on the BBs cut.

So why does Brian need to be there, then? If Foskett IMITATING Brian is, nay just as good, BETTER than Brian himself, why not have the wonderful, earthshaking, heartbreaking Wondersplints rerecord ALL The BB records!!!!!!! The technology is so much better now, and Foskett is such a better singer than Brian was! And this band is so much better than those musicians Brian was FORCED to use in the 60's, because these Wonder-guys were too young at the time! Those were just TEMPORARY versions of the songs until the REAL versions could be waxed. Let's send our thoughts in to Melinda now and get this underway! Time's a-wastin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Luther]

The Man With All The Toys: The WIRWFC version has so much more energy and drive than the old BBs version.

I strongly agree with this, Jim. I recently did the same, comparing old versions of those available to the new ones. I really disliked the Beach Boys version after having been listening to the new one so much recently. It isn't even close for me. In fact, I also prefer the new Little Saint Nick, with the exception of Brian's lead. He's into it, but he just doesn't enunciate enough for my taste. It gives me no pleasure to say I like Mike's lead better.

[Luther]

Jeffrey Foskett's falsetto is every bit as good or better than Brian's was on the BBs cut.

So why does Brian need to be there, then? If Foskett IMITATING Brian is, nay just as good, BETTER than Brian himself, why not have the wonderful, earthshaking, heartbreaking Wondersplints rerecord ALL The BB records!!!!!!! The technology is so much better now, and Foskett is such a better singer than Brian was! And this band is so much better than those musicians Brian was FORCED to use in the 60's, because these Wonder-guys were too young at the time! Those were just TEMPORARY versions of the songs until the REAL versions could be waxed. Let's send our thoughts in to Melinda now and get this underway! Time's a-wastin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, come on, Ian. He didn't say that everything the current band is better than everything the original band did. He was referring to one part on one song. Don't be such an antagonist...

[I. Spaceman]

Don't tell me what to do, man. Dig?
It was meant as a joke.

[Luther]

Dug.

[The Real Beach Boy]

Little St. Nick - I prefer the pace and rhythm of the vocals on the BBs recording, otherwise they are pretty much equal to me. So I give the edge to the 1964 recording - although what might be my favorite recording of LSN is Jeffrey Foskett's "Tributes and Rarities" cover. He does the old ML bass parts really well, and his leads are spot on.

Little Saint Nick is a 1963 recording.