TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA — Christmas Eve and Other Stories (review)

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA — Christmas Eve and Other Stories album cover Album · 1996 · Symphonic Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
martindavey87
It's bad enough hearing the same Christmas songs non-stop on the radio between the 1st and 25th of December. What's even worse is that in this day and age of commercialism, most supermarkets (in the UK, at least), start playing these songs over the radio as early as the first week of November! Sounds crazy, right? So it's understandable that, between seven weeks of the same songs every year (which only seems to get more tedious as you get older), that heartwarming spark of nostalgia is replaced with utter contempt for the holiday season.

Or perhaps that's just me. I am borderline sociopathic, mind you...

Thankfully, here's the Trans-Siberian Orchestra to get us through the monotony of the Christmas period.

Sounding exactly like the metal band Savatage, but with an orchestra (which funnily enough, is exactly what this is, for lack of a better description), Trans-Siberian Orchestra ("TSO" for short) take all the classic Christmas carols that we've come to love, and gives them the full rock opera treatment, with styles ranging from rock, pop and jazz, and an assortment of vocalists, including a kids choir thrown in for good measure. There's a feeble attempt at a storyline in there somewhere, but I wouldn't bother digging too deep into it.

TSO are a great and certainly unique group, but this album as a whole just feels slightly lacking. The musicianship is incredible, and the music covers a lot of ground, from epically bombastic tracks to beautifully emotional ones. However, some of the tracks seem the complete opposite. Lifeless, dull, lacking any real emotion or depth.

Some of the highlights include 'A Mad Russians Christmas', 'First Snow', 'Promises to Keep', and the epic 'Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24', which is probably the true highlight of the album and interestingly enough was also used on Savatage's album 'Dead Winter Dead'.

Arranged by rock producer Paul O'Neill, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's debut album 'Christmas Eve & Other Stories' is an ambitious record that doesn't quite hold up as well as subsequent releases, but that's mostly due to the fact that their later output is just so damn good. It's a good album though, and still worth listening to if you're fed up with hearing the same, rehashed Christmas hits every year.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Infinite Void Hardcore Punk
WITH SAILS AHEAD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hemasanctum Melodic Black Metal
THE MOSAIC WINDOW
Buy this album from MMA partners
Zona De Aprendizaje Hardcore Punk
MATAR A GRAX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Metropolitan Hardcore Punk
NOVA CHARISMA
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Bizarre Adventures Of Grapeboi Hardcore Punk
GRAPEVINE GOSSIP
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Orphan - Porcelain (OFFICIAL VISUAL)
ORPHAN (OK)
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Orphan - Vacant (OFFICAL VIDEO)
ORPHAN (OK)
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Orphan - Mag Dump (OFFICIAL VISUAL)
ORPHAN (OK)
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Orphan - Act One: Calluses / Dying Light (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
ORPHAN (OK)
Bosh66· 3 days ago
ORPHAN - Revenant (Visualizer)
ORPHAN (PA)
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed