Elvis Presley Christmas Duets - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Elvis' most cherished holiday classics reinterpreted by today's biggest female stars with Elvis Presley! The album features 'Blue Christmas' with Martina McBride, 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' with Carrie Underwood, 'Here Comes Santa Claus' with LeAnn Rimes, 'Santa Clause Is Back In Town' with Wynonna Judd 'Silent Night' with Sara Evans, 'White Christmas' with Amy Grant plus Gretchen Wilson, Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John and three Bonus Tracks.

Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Elvis just stopped in for the holidays. October 15, 2008
33 out of 38 found this review helpful

I love this. The first track I listened to was "If I Get Home on Christmas Day" because that is my favorite Elvis Christmas song. I love the way they updated the music without trying to make it sound trendy or phony. Next I listened to Winter Wonderland - they really made the rhythmic elements of this song shine while still allowing James Burton's guitar solos to stand out deservedly. After that, I listened to "The First Noel": This just flat-out brought tears to my eyes, that's how beautiful it is. I don't want to spoil it for you, but, on "The First Noel", they added a beautiful almost baroque-esque string arrangement that really tugs at the heart strings. Ahhh, right now I'm listening to "I'll Be Home for Christmas"...it's so amazingly and divinely beautiful. The illusion of "duets" created by adding these talented female singers to Elvis' already existing tracks is very effective. Yes folks, we get to have Elvis right here with us for one more Christmas - and thankfully we'll have this cd to listen to for lasting memories. 5 holly-jolly stars.

2 out of 5 stars

Why Ruin A Good Thing October 14, 2008
17 out of 29 found this review helpful

I wonder just how much more the "Elvis Franchise" can be milked.....such as this collection of some of his better Christmas selections. The worst part is adding some of the divas of country music and making some "pseudo-duets".Question is: If a song is great already, why tinker with it? The country divas do NOTHING to add to these songs. Sounds like they're just going through the motions, sometime out of sync, somtimes no heart in the songs. The "King" totally outshines them & he'd be rolling in his grave if he could hear this. It's not a BAD cd, but if you want your money's worth, go for the original Christmas issues and not this feeble attempt.

3 out of 5 stars

Good, But Not Great October 15, 2008
17 out of 26 found this review helpful

I have been an Elvis fan ever since I can remember and it's tempting to just award 5 stars no matter what Sony/BMG release. Problem is it makes the whole idea of reviews totally pointless and predictable. With that in mind I wanted to give an honest opinion.

With such big names and all the build up my expectations were high with this release, but I have to say that I was left disappointed. Some of the tracks just didn't seem to sound quite right. For instance on Silver Bells, Anne Murray (who I think is great) just didn't seem to have the passion. I did enjoy Merry Christmas Baby though along with the last 3 bonus tracks, which are not duets (The First Noel, If I Get Home On Christmas Day and Winter Wonderland).

The trend these days is towards the so called eco-friendly cardboard design and this release is no exception. The packaging I found to be flimsy resulting in possible damage over time. Many of the Cd's in the store had parts of the cover either missing or bent.
The design also makes removing the disc tricky leaving the inevitable finger and thumbprints and the accompanying booklet is a bit disappointing containing a few words from each of the contributing artists and the rest made up of credits. Incidentally, there are better versions of this CD available internationally with extra tracks featuring local singers. The Canadian release for example, contains On A Snowy Christmas Night with Renee Martel and has a different design case following on from the 30#1 Hits.
George Klein on Elvis Radio was asked the other day whether Elvis was interested in duets after a rumor went around that Elton John wanted to sing with Elvis in a song titled "Bad Blood". GK's response was an absolute no except for the obligatory movie songs, which makes me wonder if Elvis would have approved of this release after all .

1 out of 5 stars

Would ELVIS have wanted this???? November 11, 2008
11 out of 31 found this review helpful

I have not yet listened to this CD, therefore I feel it unfair for me to knock or try to review the final outcome of these altered recordings. I will however state my opinion about the "idea" behind this album. Elvis Presley is an icon, a true legend, the King Of Rock & Roll. These new country teenie-bobbers (such as Carrie Underwood) are a flash in the pan today, but will soon be forgotten in a few years. Elvis Presley will NEVER be forgotten. It is a joke to even begin to think about inserting these girls voices into Elvis' classic recordings and trying to pair them up next to Elvis' talent....and then slapping HIS name on the album, as if it were an actual album that Elvis himself approved of and wanted the public to hear.

It was different with Hank Williams & Hank Williams, Jr. or Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole....they were trying to pay tribute to their fathers (such as Lisa Marie Presley has done in recent times)- but the women on these recordings were, are, and always will be complete and total strangers to Elvis Presley. I don't personally think that Elvis WANTED to do duets with very many people; that is why there are only a few- those being with Ann Margaret, or a live performance with Frank Sinatra.

I think that NO ONE should have the right to be able to alter Elvis' music in this way. I am extremely familiar with his work. I know every word to these Christmas recordings of his- and I know that he did NOT need any "help" by any of these women to sing these songs, or to make them sound good. They were already perfect; so don't mess with them.

To sum up what I am trying to say....if Elvis Presley was not there himself to give them permission to do this to his music, then it should not have happened at all. He may not have wanted this- in fact I don't really imagine that he would have been a fan of all of these women singers. He might not have found them to be talented at all in his opinion. Who knows?

ELVIS shaped a generation- Carrie Underwood won a big karaoke contest (in most part based on her looks, because there is nothing that sets her voice apart from any other new female singer out there).

ELVIS had style, class, talent, originality, and will forever go down in history as the greatest entertainer that God ever put on this Earth- Gretchen Wilson however, is a woman who claims to be the ultimate "redneck", but is from Illinois. She comes off as being the girl who would always be the drunkest one at the bar each night, and spouting off obsceneties as she downs one shot after another and then leaves the bar with someone different night after night. She appears to me to posess NONE of the qualities that Elvis presented to this world....and I just don't find people like that to be worthy of messing with Elvis' recordings.

On another note, if this project were done by pairing Elvis up with other greats that might have come closer to being in the same ballpark as himself (such as the late Ray Charles, or Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Loretta Lynn, etc.- then I still wouldn't really agree that it should be done, but I would find it to make more sense and I would be more open to accepting it and giving it a fair listen.

Fans of these new country women (who all pretty much sound alike, and are doing well in their careers mostly because they are all a bunch of eye-candy, and because REAL country music died somewhere in the late '90's) probably will not agree with me....and that is OK. I respect everyone's own personal music taste. I am just a guy who misses the days when the artists didn't have to look like Playboy bunnies or clean-cut GQ models in order to sell records. It was their talent, the words of their songs, and the uniqeness of their voices that made them stars. I miss the days when people like Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, KT Oslin, George Jones, Bob Dylan or even Hank Williams, and many such as that were making the hit songs on the radio. They might not have all been the best-looking people out there, but they definetely had talent, and when you heard their voices- you knew right away who you were listening to. They had feeling and emotion in their voices- they weren't just trying to belt out words, and see who could hit the highest octave or hold a note the longest (like I feel that Celine Dion tried to do when paired up next to Elvis' voice on a show that picks it's winners based on these things that I mention, along with physical appearance). They did not blend into one another and all sound the same like I feel the stars of today do. This opinion is coming from a guy who is 31 years of age....not someone that young people would feel is simply an old-timer with a closed mind. I am just simply passionate about the music that I love.

In closing, this album may be something that could easily be enjoyed by young girls out there who aren't really all that familiar with Elvis Presley's work- but who are fans of "new" country....but if you are like me, and you truly are an Elvis Presley fan- then stick with ELVIS' real Christmas albums, and not this CD.

5 out of 5 stars

Old is Gold! November 7, 2008
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

November 6, 2008 - the date I met up with 2 very old friends and what a suprise it is was. Firstly James Bond 007 - great show and Craig is smashing.

Secondly, I bought and listened to the "new" album from Elvis with duets with the biggest Country and Gospel female stars of today. What a cheerful start to Christmas. The new digitally mixed album with new orchestrations and vocal was like Elvis never left us. I love ONJ's duet, simply smashing... American Idol Underwood is super too.

Now this is one Christmas album that people will listen to for generations (just like the concept of the now classic Natalie Cole's Unforgetble). For me, it is also Elvis back to his roots of Country and Gospel. Amen for that !

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