A pretty good alternative compilation from 1991 featuring some recognizable names. Crash Test Dummies do a pretty straight-up version of "The First Noel," The Wedding Present tackles Elton John's "Step Into Christmas," Young Fresh Fellows perform "O Little Town of Bethlehem," Henry Rollins recites "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the Hoodoo Gurus do "Little Drummer Boy (Up the Khyber)," in a Russian folk version. Other cuts include "Blue X-mas (To Whom It May Concern)" by Drunken Boat, "Silent Night" by the Primitives, "Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella" by Carnival Art, "O Holy Night" by Divine Weeks, "Kings of Orient" by The Odds and "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Clockhammer. UPDATE: This is a more than necessary update, as a reissue of this album for 2012 on Funzalo Records, despite having the same title and cover art, is for all intents and purposes a completely different album. Only Clockhammer, Divine Weeks, and Drunken Boat cross over to the new version. The other songs are gone, replaced with 12 other tunes, seven of which are done by a band called Sirsy. Six of those songs are standard pop songs and carols done in a blues-mama belting style, not terrible but not particularly remarkable, either. The seventh song is an original called "Some Kind of Winter," a not-bad ballad. The Jolly Boys give a Caribbean reading to "Long Time Ago in Bethlehem," aka "Mary's Boy Child," and "Christmas a-Coming." Robin Lane, she of the 70s-80s act Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, has two songs, "My Xmas List" and "A Winter's Night," both from 2011, and the final song is "Christmas Gets Me Down" by Luca, a decent mid-tempo power pop number. I can't imagine why the current producer thought it was a good thing to rip off the name and cover of a previous classic holiday compilation; a different title and cover art was clearly called for here. Nevertheless, the current version of the album isn't exactly terrible by any means, it's just not the classic album that's been hollowed out and strung up. If you click the cover art, it will take you to an Amazon page that shows 3rd party sellers with copies of the original; click the Funzalo link and it will take you to the "updated" album.
A Lump of Coal, various artists (First Warning)
A pretty good alternative compilation from 1991 featuring some recognizable names. Crash Test Dummies do a pretty straight-up version of "The First Noel," The Wedding Present tackles Elton John's "Step Into Christmas," Young Fresh Fellows perform "O Little Town of Bethlehem," Henry Rollins recites "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the Hoodoo Gurus do "Little Drummer Boy (Up the Khyber)," in a Russian folk version. Other cuts include "Blue X-mas (To Whom It May Concern)" by Drunken Boat, "Silent Night" by the Primitives, "Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella" by Carnival Art, "O Holy Night" by Divine Weeks, "Kings of Orient" by The Odds and "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Clockhammer. UPDATE: This is a more than necessary update, as a reissue of this album for 2012 on Funzalo Records, despite having the same title and cover art, is for all intents and purposes a completely different album. Only Clockhammer, Divine Weeks, and Drunken Boat cross over to the new version. The other songs are gone, replaced with 12 other tunes, seven of which are done by a band called Sirsy. Six of those songs are standard pop songs and carols done in a blues-mama belting style, not terrible but not particularly remarkable, either. The seventh song is an original called "Some Kind of Winter," a not-bad ballad. The Jolly Boys give a Caribbean reading to "Long Time Ago in Bethlehem," aka "Mary's Boy Child," and "Christmas a-Coming." Robin Lane, she of the 70s-80s act Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, has two songs, "My Xmas List" and "A Winter's Night," both from 2011, and the final song is "Christmas Gets Me Down" by Luca, a decent mid-tempo power pop number. I can't imagine why the current producer thought it was a good thing to rip off the name and cover of a previous classic holiday compilation; a different title and cover art was clearly called for here. Nevertheless, the current version of the album isn't exactly terrible by any means, it's just not the classic album that's been hollowed out and strung up. If you click the cover art, it will take you to an Amazon page that shows 3rd party sellers with copies of the original; click the Funzalo link and it will take you to the "updated" album.
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