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One of the most popular Christmas carols has got to be "Joy to the World," right? Well, this year, the title doubles as the carol as well as what INO Records has dubbed, "The Ultimate Christmas Collection." Combining the efforts of just about everyone on the label, the resulting project is quite a collection of Christmas favorites, all with a distinctly original feel to them. Quite a bit take in, but it's the subject of the following Walk TRu... over the fields we go... laughing all the way...

Track One: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (MercyMe)... this isn't a new song... i was actually listening to this earlier (about a week ago) when i was trying to pick my ringtone for the Christmas season... it didn't make the cut, if you're interested, but i do love the introduction... and for what it's worth, Christmas Sessions was one of my favorite Christmas releases of last year... very fresh arrangements from the MercyMe boys and overall, a nice contemporary-traditional (maybe neo-traditional?) Christmas music experience... this is a great way to start off the compilation... nice rhythm... very solid song... universal appeal... Track Two: Messiah (The Christmas Version) (Phil Wickham)... well, Phil Wickham kind of quietly exploded onto the scene this year... certainly got a lot of people talking about his style of worship and whatnot... this song was on his self-titled debut in a slightly different form... i'd have to go back and listen to the original version to distinguish the two more specifically, but it's most likely a moot point... anyway... the bridge here is rather nice... i like the strain in his voice... it's a pretty controlled tone with enough texture to sound interesting... pretty nice song in the context of Christmas too... nice little drum outro for the close too... i like it... Track Three: Welcome to Our World (Phillips Craig and Dean)... sometimes it's so hard to imagine that Phillips, Craig and Dean are still together after all these years... i think the first time that i noticeably listened to them was when i heard this heart-wrenching song about fatherhood... and little kids looking up to their dads... that song opened up a whole world of PCD music to me... anyway, i have their old Christmas album as well and it's not too bad... this is an adequate version of the Chris Rice song... Track Four: Mary, Did You Know? (Mark Harris)... another modern classic tune for Christmas time... oddly enough penned by the comedian Mark Lowry... i actually saw him perform this song live when i was in college... i didn't thing he was particularly funny, but the song was certainly good... I'm not sure that i really like this version too much, just because the vocals sound a little wimpy... kind of halfway between Steve Green and, um... Larnell Harris maybe?... dang, i guess that makes me old... my point is that it's not exactly a strong representation of a vocal performance... it's okay and all, but not much more for me... Track Five: God With Us (Todd Agnew)... hmmm... seems like i was JUST talking about this song... bummer... score that one for bad foresight and planning... now i have to think of something different to say about it... it's quite a vocal contrast to Mark Harris, though Todd Agnew's vocals are quite a contrast to just about anybody... i do like that there's a newer song about the three wisemen from the first person perspective... and i like the whole concept of recognition that they have... sometimes it's fun to try and figure out what these people were thinking when they decided to basically drop everything and go off on a caravan to find Jesus... they must've known something... "How do you prepare to meet your Lord?"... nice thought... i suppose the next logical step is to wonder what, if anything, would compel me to drop everything in life and go seek Jesus... no matter where the journey leads... a lot of times i think that only the rapture will have that effect... though, to some extent, i've already done that... i mean, some days anyway... it's a daily struggle to set aside your own priorities and live for someone else's purpose... hmmm... i guess there's something to the story of the magi... Track Six: Angels We Have Heard on High (SONICFLOOd)... oh dear... i know that i have something of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to this rendition of SONICFLOOd, but man... i just flat out don't like this song... i don't like the arrangement... i don't like the vocal... it's just not a good version of this song... it sounds tinny and it's kind of annoying... i appreciate a good re-working of a classic song and all, but this just isn't very good at all... maybe i need a breather... time to go stretch...

*** INTERMISSION (maybe it's cheating but i'm falling behind on this typing and i need to go stretch) ***

Track Seven: Hallelujah (Darlene Zschech)... okay, i'm back... for those interested, i got a pear and i refilled my bottle of water... none of that really matters... anyway... Darlene Zschech is no stranger to the music industry because of all her work with Hillsong and also, to a much lesser extent, as a solo artist... this is a pretty song... i rather like the vocals and the melody... it's not a song i could sing along with all that easily, but it's certainly one that would work well as part of a Christmas presentation at Church or something... actually... well... it probably wouldn't work, but some churches somewhere probably have someone with the right talent to pull it off... i'm just thinking out loud... anyway... i like it... Track Eight: Strange Way to Save the World (4HIM)... i've always been somewhat torn on this song... it's a pretty nifty song overall, and i like the concept and all, but part of me just gets all defensive about the whole questioning God part... i mean, it's such a natural response and a song should certainly be about honesty and such... well, you know what... i'm probably overthinking things... this is such a strange way to listen to the song... the way God managed to redeem us by sending His son down to mingle with humanity, die and be raised again... to suffer, to hang out with the "lowly" folks, to be harrassed at every step of his ministry... yeah... it is pretty strange actually... you know what though, i would never call my wife, "just an ordinary girl"... she's way better than all the other girls... anyway... 4HIM does a nice job with this one... Track Nine: Breath of Heaven (Sara Groves)... and now it's starting to get REALLY good... not to take away from the rest of the album, but this is a strong back-to-back showing towards the end... Sara and Derek? nice combination... this song sounds so haunting and alive with the strings in the background... and i know that Amy Grant kind of made this song really popular in churches and such, but man... i'll take this version oer Amy's any day... such a nice tone to Sara's vocals and the arrangement is really nice... and it's a nice follow up to a song from Joseph's perspective... i've always liked that part where the lyrics go "help me be strong, help me be, help me"... that's a neat little writing style... i've experimented with that in the past and it's always pretty fun to find phrases that work out well in that context... well done... Track Ten: Lo How a Rose E're Blooming (Derek Webb)... and now for Derek Webb's contribution to the album... of course, it should be no surprise that he chose a classic hymn that's not exactly among the popular collection of Christmas carols... some nice lyrics to this song too... i've always enjoyed the lyrics to the more traditional hymns since they tend to have a bit more substance... this is interesting... the way that he's singing it is very common in the way that the Wesleyan (and probably other) Church sings hymns in their services... in that the second to last verse tends to have a lot of extra instrumentation accompanying it - some that doesn't even seem to fit the song... i always wondered about that when i experienced that... you know, sometimes it's a little distracting... but it's also something that's kind of quaint and joyous at the same time... and it covers up those singing out of tune... anyway... a nice moment on the CD... Track Eleven: Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer) (Nicholas Jonas)... and we wrap things up with none other than Nicholas Jonas... this poor guy... he had an album waiting to come out for the longest time before it was pretty much scrapped and he joined up with his brothers and they put together an album that got pushed back several times before finally releasing... naturally, he's solo here... he's got a definite "kid" voice to him (which makes sense being a kid and all)... but it's a pretty good track... now he's really taking it up into the stratosphere with that bridge... anyway... time is running out and in the interest of finishing this up in time and going about my business... i'm going to say farewell... this is a pretty nice collection of Christmas tunes... not sure i would agree with ultimate, but if you enjoy the artists represented here, it's worth checking out... thanks for walking with me...

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