CD Review

Artist: Josh Groban

Title: Noel

Label: Reprise Records

Website: www.joshgroban.com

Released: October 9^th 2007 

5 Stars 

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey 

Possibly one of the greatest singers of our time, Josh Groban’s well-cultivated vocals linger between a baritone and a tenor, on the cusp…like birth signs. This twenty-six year old vocal phenom seems to be lending his pipes to the traditional festivities of Christmas this season with his album Noel.  A traditionalist at heart when it comes to Christmas, I have a hard time with Christmas CDs being ‘reinvented’ by newer artists. Now and again you get a gem to add to your Christmas collection like Neil Diamonds’ Christmas CD, or Kenny G’s soft sax, or Groban’s friend Michael Buble’s Christmas collection, but mostly Christmas is dedicated to the likes of Bing Crosby singing ‘White Christmas,’ or Boney M, or The Carpenters, or Aled Jones (pre-puberty)…or at least it should be. Now and again you can add a newer artists Christmas renditions to your collection as they’ve managed to sing Christmas songs clean and traditional without trying to outdo the songs, and Groban’s Noel is one you can add to that list. 

In fact, buying a Groban CD should have a money back guarantee with a big red sticker on the front saying ‘If you don’t like this music you are tone deaf. Please return the CD to the music store so that someone who appreciates music can buy it.’ It’s not the dreamy ballads that seem to strike deep into the hearts of many an ardent Grobanite that make his songs so delightful, but it is the skill and aptitude of this intelligent artist to draw together a powerful ‘behind the scenes’ team such as a great musical father figure as David Foster to do the arrangements, or working with talent like Faith Hill, and Brian McKnight, or attending to all the details of his songs that makes Groban’s albums such a rich experience to listen to.  

In Noel, Groban has managed to flow effortlessly between the standard Christmas songs like ‘The Christmas Song,’ ‘Silent Night,’ ‘It Came Upon A Midnight Clear,’ and traditional songs like ‘Panis Angelicus,’ ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’ (with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and ‘Ava Maria,’ but also enriching music forever by adding such songs bound to become classics like ‘Thankful,’ wrote by David Foster.  Brian McKnight and Groban bring a new level of harmony to ‘Angels We Have Heard On High’ whereas Groban and Faith Hill’s ‘The First Noel’ is a gospel overture. Hill is Groban’s female counterpart for vocals and the two seem to belt out a stunning version of this classic. However, knowing that ‘Hymne a l’Amore’ from Groban’s Closer album is a favourite for his French speaking fans, he will add his eloquent version of ‘Petit Papa Noel’ to this fan-bases most enjoyable collection. Anyone who has seen a Josh Groban concert this last year will be excited to hear violinist Lucia Micarelli perform a solo on the Henry VIII tune inspired ‘What Child Is This?’ But it is the song ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ which is Groban’s greatest achievement on this collection as it is both sung beautifully, but also has a series of military officers speaking about missing their loved ones at Christmas (pull out the hankies for this one!).  

It’s an impossibility for me to say anything negative about Josh Groban as a singer, or as a person as he keeps his private life private (a skill he could teach to the likes of many young Hollywood walking rehab disasters) and his music at the forefront, which seems to hit the mark every time with uncanny accuracy. He is a beacon of hope that music still has substance.  

Most of all, I’ll enjoy listening to Ava Maria on Groban’s Noel collection this season, as it was my Grandfather’s favourite, and I know Groban’s rendition would have been a favourite for him. So sit back with your own glass of eggnog beside a sparkling tree of lights, slip this CD in and reminisce about this last year and think about the year to come. With any luck, you will be able to see snowflakes falling outside and a Church bell ringing in the distance somewhere.         

Silent Night

Little Drummer Boy

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Ava Maria

Angels We Have Heard On High

Thankful

The Christmas Song

What Child Is This?

The First Noel

Petit Papa Noel

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

Panis Angelicus

O Come All Ye Faithful