The first holiday album from Clay Walker - one of country's most popular performers, with 11 #1 singles from four platinum and two gold albums - 'Christmas' is a joyous mixture of the traditional and modern, from 'Silent Night' and 'White Christmas' to Jose Feliciano's 'Feliz Navidad.' Featuring Nashville's best session players plus classical musicians,a posse of background singers, The Nashville String Machine and a children's choir, 'Christmas' offers a country Christmas at its best.
The CD is filled with familiar, somewhat musty, Christmas songs. However, Clay does an admirable job of making the songs sound fresh, ironically by giving them an old-fashioned sheen. Although the CD is country-tinged, the sound is more reminiscent of traditional pop. "I'll Be Home for Christmas," for example, opens with a chorus of female singers that could be straight from a 1940s Bing Crosby song. Likewise, "White Christmas" features beautiful, cascading harp music. Clay's voice has never been spectacular, but he sings these holiday chestnuts with enough verve that his somewhat flat voice doesn't become a major debit.
The biggest surprises are "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Feliz Navidad," featuring Clay singing facilely in Spanish. He sounds fantastic, perhaps the highlight of the CD. Highly recommended for Clay Walker fans as well as devotees of old-fashioned Christmas music.
As Walker is no longer with Warner Brothers, this collection has sadly not gotten any promotional push (the generic CD cover artwork lacking Walker's image doesn't help either). Spread the word, this CD deserves to be heard by all.