Christmas with Gloria

This is a really good christmas cd and I have heard a lot. This cd is one of my personal favorite but of the way Gloria draws you into her world of christmas. All the songs hear are done nicely and I love the title track it is very pretty. My favorite is This Christmas it is the best track. I love the way her voice songs on the song. She hits all the notes right and it just a classic.

For the love of god, please let it snow Gloria in!

If I hear that song one more time, I think I will scream! It is not only the worst rendition of Let It Snow I have ever heard, I would say it is one of the worst songs ever recorded. If you waste your money on this CD, I hope Gloria buys a good tune-writer with it!

Merry Christmas Gloria !

This Christmas album is an honest proposal from a veteran artist who has nothing to prove. And judging from all the very diverse musical styles found on this album, Gloria was once again in the mood to demonstrate what a versatile performer she is. The R&B flavoured rendition of "Silver Bells", the album's opener, is awesome, and possibly the best song of the album; but there are many other highlights such as the surprisingly endearing "This Christmas", the heartfelt and moving title track, the elegant "Arbolito de Navidad" (sung in her native Spanish), and striking renditions of "White Christmas" and "Silent Night".

Some songs don't work as well, though. Her rendition of "Let It Snow" is drained out of the excitement that this song is supposed to capture; and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" both suffer from patchy choir-like vocal arrangements that considerably slow down the tempo on these already downbeat compositions. One could argue that the production of the album is sometimes flat, with an emphasis on programmed keyboards and sequencing that make the music sound cold and detached. Gloria's vocals certainly are as vibrant and playful as ever, yet one gets the feeling that with a better production this Christmas album would have been much better.

In spite of those comments, this Christmas album always manages to find its way back to my CD player each December. Maybe it's just Gloria's magic - her voice takes over the generic production and turns most of the songs into something special.

So in short : it's definitely not as good as the Carpenters' "Christmas Portrait" or the Wilsons' "Hey Santa !", but it's miles ahead of Whitney Houston's Christmas debacle released in 2003 (what a train wreck that one was !). So listen to the clips and make up your mind, but if you like Gloria, chances are you'll enjoy this one tremendously.