Each year, there are tons of new releases as musicians of all kinds either try to record old standards or present their own new Christmas compositions. Most of them are largely forgotten and only a few become lasting favorites. Jars of Clay is one of the latest bands to take a crack at recording a Christmas album. Overall, it's kind of an uneven effort but it also has a few bright spots.
It's safe to say that as alternative bands go, Jars of Clay is an acquired taste. Fans of the band's music will no doubt rejoice when they hear Christmas Songs as it is very much in keeping with their signature sound. For the uninitiated, the songs can be a little jarring at first but slowly will start to grow on you.
It took several runs through the CD before I could really fashion a firm opinion about it. Overall, the band did better with their original compositions than the songs by other artists they were covering. There is a nice mixture of both here.
The CD includes two instrumentals, "The Gift of St. Cecilia" and "Evergreen," with the latter invoking more of the feel of the holiday season. They cover several carols including a terrific version of "Gabriel's Message," that is certainly the strongest one here.
They also tackle a couple of pop Christmas standards, "Christmastime Is Here" and "Wonderful Christmastime." While "Christmastime Is Here" is pretty good, it's still hard for me to imagine anyone other than the kids from Peanuts singing this song. Band member Steve Mason mentions "Wonderful Christmastime" as one of his favorite songs and that's probably how it made its way onto the album. But the original tune is so unusual in and of itself, that it's hard to come up with a cover that will do it justice.
For me, the best selections were their cover of "Drummer Boy" and their original "Hibernation Day," with the latter being the real highlight. I can see it being a song that will get a lot of airplay on the radio in years to come.
In summary, this is a pretty good CD, and will certainly be one that fans of Jars of Clay will want to own. Time will tell whether it will be another holiday classic.
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