Ok so finally I come to the Dylan Christmas album Christmas in the Heart. I bought this some weeks ago, the deluxe version which included ten Christmas cards of the album cover! I didn't dare send them to anyone. I held off listening to it for two reasons. 1. I don't like the premature arrival of Christmas - the Christmas trumpery and the Christmas songs in shopping centres in September and 2. the fear based on snippets heard that it was a terrible album.
I've listened to it a few times this week and I'm relieved. It's a Christmas album with a mixture of the secular and spiritual, the serious and jocular. A good listen and well worth the wait. Best tracks ? Must be Santa - where the list of reindeer names include US presidents from Eisenhower to Clinton - and O Come All Ye Faithful - just to hear Dylan sing in Latin.
All proceeds from the album go to feed the hungry.
Of course the critics have had a great time trying to analyse the album. If it's by Dylan then there must be some deeper significance, hidden sub plot. It's just a collection of favourite Christmas songs delivered in a traditional way. Here and there the man has difficulty with high notes - as on Hark the Herald Angels Sing - but come on, it's Bob Dylan after all.
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