1. Christmastime Is Here 2. O Come All Ye Faithful (feat. Jason Gray) 3. Little Town Of Bethlehem 4. All I Want For Christmas Is You 5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 6. Little Drummer Boy |
6 songs on "Christmastime Is Here". Pretty much the standard Martel mix of carols and contemporary songs, soft reverent ballads with a couple of rockers. Of the latter, "O Come All Ye Faithful" featuring Jason Gray is plenty impressive and enjoyable. For those who don't automatically hate it, "Little Drummer Boy" is also very nicely done (although I can't help but feel he missed a golden opportunity by not doing the "Peace on Earth" mash-up with himself taking the Bowie part). And I have to say this. If you want to hear Marc Martel do a Christmas song so magnificently that you don't even think of Freddie Mercury, I'd recommend "O Holy Night" from Marc's first holiday EP, "The Silent Night".
The nicest thing, to me, about Marc Martel's Christmas EPs is that he always makes hard copy CDs available through his web site. Not a lot of artists would bother with hard copy for an EP, let alone 3 of them. Marc Martel is an exceedingly gifted singer, songwriter, musician and producer and he puts a lot into his Christmas recordings, and it shows. They deserve a place in your collection. Even if I can't stop thinking about Freddie Mercury when I listen.