Review: “The Glenn Medeiros Christmas Album” by Glenn Medeiros (CD, 1993)

Today’s Pop Rescue festive find, is 1993’s The Glenn Medeiros Christmas Album by American singer and songwriter Glenn Medeiros. Will this Christmas album Change My Love For You, or will you be hoping for a Silent Night? Read on…

Glenn Medeiros - The Glenn Medeiros Christmas Album (1993). — Glenn Medeiros – The Glenn Medeiros Christmas Album (1993).

This 11 track single-less CD opens with a gentle piano, organ, and sweeping strings of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Glenn is soon on the mic with some wonderful drifty/breathy vocals. This works well in this classic song, and perhaps at times his higher register make it almost androgynous at times as the track softly plods along. The track lends Rob Mathes a great guitar solo as it heads into the final furlong. It’s a nice Christmassy start to the album.

Then it’s Feliz Navidad, and rightly the tempo and percussion picks up for this. Steel drums are straight in alongside some guitars played in a Spanish style. Glenn, although Portuguese, sings the song in both Spanish and English. He does so perfectly and with seemingly little effort, and it works well against the steel drum and shuffling percussion.

Next up is Merry Christmas Darling, and this track takes us into a more up-beat Christmas song. Here, Glenn seems quite at home singing this more pop-styled song. It plays it fairly safe in the mid section with a meandering music and lyrical segment that eventually finds itself again. That aside, it is a nice soft and warm song, although I could easily imagine Mariah Carey belting this out in a much more festive way.

I’ll Be Home For Christmas follows that, opening with the haunting sound of an oboe. This switches to Glenn’s soft vocals as he sings over a simple acoustic guitar. The track builds slowly with more strings from The Stamford Festival String Orchestra. It’s a simple song, and that works to its benefit as it could easily have been over-baked.

Then it’s on to Silent Night, and this gives us the first appearance of The Honolulu Boy Choir, who fit perfectly alongside Glenn and the sweeping strings and oboe of the Orchestra. The Choir’s vocals give us a great off-set to Glenn’s vocals which remain soft, warm, and drifting here in this traditional song.

Ave Maria follows on from that, and it’s hard to really comment on this song, given that it takes a ton of skill to deliver these lyrics at the required range. Here though, Glenn switches from soft warm vocal to a more formal delivery, and he’s backed by the Orchestra again, allowing for the oboe and strings to deliver the medley.

Drums of course make for the intro to next track, The Little Drummer Boy. Instead of the usual military styled drummed snare, here we have a shuffling snare and bass drum, as the Honolulu Boy Choir come in on the vocals. This shifts to Glenn via a load of of synths and a nice little jaunty sequence. This builds slowly and as a result, it’s a fairly catchy interpretation.

That’s followed by The First Noel and this gives us a high-hat ticking, piano, and acoustic guitar strummed building song. Glenn sounds at ease here, as percussion joins him and the track builds. This version takes on a more up-beat pop-rock sound and that works well. There’s even a sultry spoken word section just to get all Glenn’s fans’ hearts all a-flutter.

The Orchestra take the lead with next song What Child Is This (Greensleeves), before Glenn throws in his higher-register vocals alongside a piano. This minimal song really allows Glenn’s vocals to shine in power and range as the orchestra mostly keeps out of his way.

Angels We Have Heard On High is next, and this takes another more modern up-beat take. Here, Glenn delivers a middle-of-the-road pop-rock vocal backed by the Choir again, which acts as a perfect contrast to his vocals. The piano tinkles away as the oboe returns for the fade.

The album closes with O Holy Night, and nice simple track that allows Glenn’s vocals to shine once more. He’s flanked by brass and strings, and the return of the piano that teases its way through the song. It’s a nice warm ending to this Christmas album.

Glenn Medeiros – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (1993)

Verdict

Over all, this Christmas album has a really nice sound to it – it gives enough ‘tradition’ and also a glimmer of more up-beat times without butchering a track with something too fresh.

Highlights include opening song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Silent Night with the Choir, The Little Drummer Boy, and What Child Is This (Greensleeves). You’d be hard-pushed to find something here to dislike, as it sits skilfully in a middle spot with only a few beats or a few vocal riffs to throw it either way. Whilst some of the songs are less singalong like Ave Maria or Angels We Have Heard On High, what you do get is a nice album with a mixture of Christmas songs and carols that will likely sit nicely in the background to your Christmas.

Glenn’s higher vocal register here sometimes makes it not sound like he’s singing it, and you end up relying on the ‘Boy Choir’ to give the bass notes, but his ability to throw the lyrics and his warm, soft, vocal range around is done with great ease.