December People, The: Rattle & Humbug

It's Christmas…………… the inimitable cry when you know it is the season to be jolly. Well, Magna Carta Records have allowed The December People to put their own slant on takings. When I say own slant what I really mean is record eleven well known Chrimbo carols in the style of various bands. This is an interesting idea which works well in some places, but falls a bit flat in other places.

So who are The December People? Robert Berry (vocals and bassist), who is best known for working with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer in the group 3, Gary Pihl (lead guitarist), former guitarist with Sammy Hagar and a stalwart of Boston since 1985, wow has it been that long? Mike Vanderhue (drummer and percussions) who is the current drummer with Y & T, Jack Foster (second guitar), a well renowned international solo artist and last but not least David Medd (keyboards) of the awesome band The Tubes.

You are either going to be turned off by now or intrigued with what has been created. This is basically an album of fun, popular music accessible for all ages, that really only has a limited appeal, for obvious reasons which you may buy into because a) you are a completist of any of the above artists, b) you are intrigued by the idea or c) you are jolly and want to deck the hall with Rock N Roll. Don't write it off completely as some of these tracks do work, funnily enough, having the bands signature sound weaved into the carol.

The stand out moments that really worked well were, "What Child Is This ", "Joy to the world / Jingle bells", "Up on The Rooftop / Feliz Navidad", "God rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / The First Noel" and "The Night Before Christmas", where the group have really caught the sound and essences of the bands within the structure of the song.

I played guess the "in the style of which artist" for a bit of fun with some people I know, which created quite an interesting debate, as they tried to pick the groups out.

See Christmas can be fun? Don't believe me? Give it a go.

Track Listing
1 What Child Is This (In the style of U2)
2 Joy to the world / Jingle bells (In the style of The Who)
3 We Three Kings (In the style of Sting)
4 Little Drummer Boy (In the style of ELP)
5 Up on The Rooftop / Feliz Navidad (In the style of Santana)
6 I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day (In the style of Queen)
7 God rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / The First Noel (In the style of Boston)
8 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (in the style of ZZ Top)
9 The Night Before Christmas (In the style of Led Zeppelin)
10 Angels we Have Heard On High (In the style of Peter Gabriel)
11 Carol Of The Bells (In the style of YES)

Added: December 3rd 2010
Reviewer: John OBoyle
Score:
Related Link: Magna Carta
Hits: 2511
Language: english

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