Ordering here:
2009 holiday release, the first Christmas album from the legendaryFolk/Rock singer/songwriter. Christmas In The Heart is Dylan's 47th album and follows the worldwide success of his album Together Through Life. In a commitment to ending hunger, all of Bob Dylan's U.S. current and future royalties from sales of Christmas In The Heart will be donated in perpetuity to Feeding America, guaranteeing that more than four million meals will be provided to over 1.4 million people in need in this country during this year's holiday season. 15 tracks including 'Here Comes Santa Claus', 'Winter Wonderland', 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' and many others.
I really, really wanted to write this one off. Especially after TTL, which for a long time I thought was a total disaster - and still think is a triple bogey at best. But sure enough, I found myself at 9:03 P.M California time downloading CITH off iTunes within the first three minutes of its release.
My first impression? So warm, so comforting, so nostalgic. And not just in a "it's getting to be late Fall, so let's get in the mood for Christmas" way. No, in a pure Americana kind of way. This is a Rockwell painting come to life, it is not some kind of ironic commentary on the past... it is a memorial to the past. Dylan does this perfectly. It baffles me, but I really think this will turn out to be one of his most memorable records.
Let me venture to say that this is also a vocal masterpiece. Forget those low-quality clips on amazon.com.. when you hear this the way Bob Frost intended it, you will curse yourself for ever cursing it.
And surprisingly, there are no real low points. It is just raw and perfect from "Here Comes Santa Claus" to "Little Town of Bethlehem." It makes you think of a bright, white, hopeful day. Logs on the fire, ancestors passed on, old dusty pictures that were never digitized. This feels like something old that turned up in a cross-country move. A brilliant, sharp, autumn feeling like those old first days of school.
"Amen."
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