The Christmas Sessions
The Christmas Sessions | ||||
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The Christmas Sessions is the first Christmas album by American Christian rock band MercyMe. The album, produced by Brown Bannister, was released on September 27, 2005. The band, who greatly enjoy Christmas, had previously recorded Christmas songs and enjoyed the process so much that they wanted to produce a full-length album. After releasing a studio album in early 2004, they decided to take time off; they realized they could record a Christmas album over that period and began work in December 2004. The band, aiming to produce a rock-oriented album, recruited Bannister, a noted rock producer, to produce it. In addition to one original song, "Joseph's Lullaby", the album consists of covers of both modern and traditional Christmas songs that the band members had listened to when growing up.
Upon its release, The Christmas Sessions received positive reviews from critics. Praise was offered for the album's production qualities, as well as the change in direction for MercyMe and the band's take on the traditional songs. Minor criticism was directed at lead vocalist
Background and recording
According to Bart Millard, the lead vocalist for MercyMe, the band enjoys the Christmas season greatly and had recorded songs for compilation albums like WOW Christmas: Green and had liked the process of taking older Christmas songs and altering them; Millard said that the band "had so much fun doing it that we found ourselves wishing we had a Christmas record of our own".[1] After the band released their third studio album Undone in early 2004, they decided to take some time off, and realized they could record a Christmas album over that period. Although MercyMe had started as a rock band, they become associated with the adult contemporary genre after their single "I Can Only Imagine" became successful. In creating The Christmas Sessions, the band incorporated more elements from rock music and other genres; Millard described it as "the most 'rock' album we've done" and noted they did not concern themselves with the album's direction, saying "we didn’t have to worry about which direction we went. We just made the record we wanted to make".[1]
MercyMe began recording the album over Christmas 2004, and put the "finishing touches" on it over the following summer. The band brought in rock producer
Composition
The Christmas Sessions has been described as a rock
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Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [6] |
Christianity Today | [5] |
Cross Rhythms | [3] |
Jesus Freak Hideout | [9] |
The New York Times | (positive)[8] |
The Christmas Sessions received positive reviews from music critics. Rick Anderson of
Commercial performance
The Christmas Sessions was released on September 27, 2005.
The album spawned a number of charting songs. Three songs ("Joseph's Lullaby", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "Little Drummer Boy") charted inside the top ten of the Billboard
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" | Edmund Sears | 4:39 |
2. | "Gloria" | Traditional | 4:13 |
3. | "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" | Traditional | 3:31 |
4. | "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" | Johnny Marks | 2:31 |
5. | "Winter Wonderland/White Christmas" | Felix Bernard, Irving Berlin | 3:46 |
6. | "Christmas Time Is Here" | Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson | 3:42 |
7. | "Silent Night" | Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr | 4:16 |
8. | "Away" (instrumental) | James R. Murray | 2:08 |
9. | "Little Drummer Boy" | Harry Simeone, Katherine Kennicott Davis, Henry Onorati | 3:18 |
10. | "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day" | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Johnny Marks | 5:07 |
11. | "O Holy Night" | Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight | 3:53 |
12. | "Joseph's Lullaby" | Brown Bannister, Bart Millard | 3:44 |
Total length: | 44:48 |
Personnel
Credits taken from Allmusic[20]
Additional musicians
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Production and Technical
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Charts
Charts (2005) | Peak position |
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US Billboard 200[14] | 64 |
US Christian Albums[13]
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3 |
US Billboard Holiday Albums[21]
|
10 |
Year | Song | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Christ [18] |
US AC [19] | ||
2004 | "O Holy Night" | 24 | — |
2005 | "Joseph's Lullaby" | 1 | 33 |
"Silent Night" | 30 | 6 | |
"Little Drummer Boy" | 10 | — | |
"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" | 22 | — | |
2006 | "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" | 9 | 34 |
"Gloria" | 26 | — | |
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" | 37 | 25 |
References
- ^ a b c d e Thompson, John J. (December 2005). "Well Mercy Me, Children!" (PDF). CCM Magazine. 28 (6): 24–25. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
- ^ Huang, Sherry. "Christmas With MercyMe". Beliefnet. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Cunningham, Daniel (December 19, 2006). "Review: The Christmas Sessions". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (April 27, 2006). "Christian Rock and Mainstream Music Move Closer Together". The New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Breimeier, Russ (October 31, 2005). "Christmas Music Wrap-Up 2005". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ a b Joyce, Mike (November 25, 2005). "Steven Curtis Chapman "All I Really Want for Christmas" Sparrow MercyMe "The Christmas Sessions" INO". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Sanneh, Kelefa (December 2, 2005). "Seasonal Offerings of the Tried, the True and the Offbeat". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Priest, Spencer (September 24, 2005). "MercyMe, 'The Christmas Sessions' Review". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ "The Christmas Sessions by MercyMe". iTunes. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ "Christian Albums (November 12, 2005)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ "Billboard 200 (December 3, 2005)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ a b "Christian Albums (December 17, 2005)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
- ^ a b "Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ "Holiday Albums (November 19, 2005)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ "Year-end Christian Albums (2006)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Retrieved April 9, 2016.
- ^ a b "Chart History - Christian Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ a b "Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- ^ "Holiday Albums (November 19, 2005)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 20, 2013.