THE CHRISTMAS ATTIC

This seems to me like a rerun of their previous album "Christmas Eve and Other Stories". There are 14 mild vocal tracks and 3 very good instrumentals (Midnight Christmas Eve, The March Of The Kings and Appalachian Snowfall). So simply what I will say is that if you like "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" then you'll like this one but if you didn't like their first album then this is not going to win you over to them either.

" In this room where shadows live and ghosts failed learn time forgives, welcome friends, please stay awhile, our story starts with one small child who spends this night in an attic dark where dreams are stored like sleeping hearts."

Hey, Christmas' coming.I had to find something new to listen to along these long and cold december's nights! Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a good choice, in my honest opinion! I'm not speaking about the nice cover of this good 1998 album, but of the concept of this second effort by the band.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra was formed in 1996 by Paul O'Neill who soon approached long time friends Robert Kinkel and Jon Oliva to form the core of the writing team. They started writing not just albums, but rock operas!

Tracks' theme is about the story of an Angel who was asked by Good Lord to return to Earth on the night of Christmas Eve and leave the one thing behind that would most benefit all of mankind. The quest's main point was that the Angel had to do that mission bringing nothing with him from the heavenly world!

Seven main vocalists, many choristers (even child-choristers), strong and melodic electric guitars, important part for keyboards with all its delightful colours. Rock operas, by their nature, often need the voices to change as the characters change whilst rock bands, normally, only have one or two great vocalists to work with.

I admit this is not a sure progressive-rock effort, being part of the "difficultly definable" so called ART ROCK. The unique story on which the album is based on, is a reassuring evidence for any good prog-rock lover! Paul O'Neill realized that putting the songs within the context of a story would give it a third dimension that would make an additional emotional impact possible. After many listenings I have to say this is definitively a good album! One you have to buy for the next Christmas holidays! What I like most are the songs "Boughs of Holly", "The World That He Sees", "The March of the Kings/ Hark the Herald Angel", the classic based tune "Christmas Canon" and "Appalchian Snowfall".

Merry Christmas to you all, dear prog-rock friends!

I'm quite suprised to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra as a progresive band and on this sight. But I am a very big TSO fan, so I figured, 'tiss the season' and I'll review their two Christmas Albums I have, being this one, and the 'Lost Christmas Eve'. Each reseaving 4 starts from me, but for very different reasons. So on to the Christmas Attic Review.

This, as the title reveals, is a Christmas Album, like most of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's albums. As a Christmas album, it has a story tying all songs together, which gets told within the first song 'The Ghost of Christmas Eve' which is a great song, and one of my favourit by TSO. The story is besicly about a young child finding all these letters in a trunk in an attick about Christmas stories. So all the songs are christmas related. Some of them are your tipical Christmas songs, but all song have a rock twist.

Highlights of this album include (As noted before) 'The Ghost of Christmas Eve', 'Find Our Way Home', 'The Snow came Down', 'Dream Child (A Christmas Dream)' 'An Angel's Share' and my favourit song from the album 'The Musical Box' (Not to be mistaken by the Genesis masterpease song of the same name). Each of these songs are great to listen to all year round. The rest of the songs are good, and not to be descounted. Each song is very good and great for the Christmas season.

Normaly, I would rate this as only rate this album as having three stars. Really, all the song are good.....but not essential. The aspect that gives this album four stars, besids the fact that it is the perfict Christmas album to put on when you get bord of the classic Christmas songs, but how this album is put together. All the songs flow perficly from one to another. It's an album you can put on and just enjoy from start to finish. Unlike 'The Lost Christmas Eve" that get's a four starts from the superior songs, this album has superier collaberation of the songs. It's not so much how good the songs are...but rather how well their put on the album. If they put the songs on the album any other way, it would have been less enjoyable to listen to, but the way they put it all together makes it an excellent addition to any music collection, weither or not it's progressive.

This album, along with the 'Lost Christmas Eve' are Essential to any progressive collection for the holidays. Any other time of the year they're good but non-essential. So it will reseave 4 stars for being essentail two months out of the twelve. (Although, if you're like me, you'd listen to it in July just because you can).

4 stars.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - 'The Christmas Attic' 1.5 stars

More of the same.

This isn't different at all from the first effort of this band. I find the music to be even cheesier and horrendous. Although my two reviews of the band have been extremely negative so far, I think this band is incredible. Some of their adaptations and reworking of classic Christmas songs are jaw-dropping. It's just that this band can throw so many bad songs on an album to completely water it down to being just about nothing. The choice in the vocals could be one of the worst experiences I have had in being a listener to music.

'The March of the Kings' and 'The Three Kings and I' are really just about it on this album. The rest of the album might contain a children's choir here and there, or a group sounding like the eagles singing accompanied by an acoustic guitar ballad. I was once again very disappointed to how an incredible live act could put such horrid music on a disc. 1.5 stars for just two worthy songs.

If you heard Trans-Siberian Orchestra's first album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories, there isn't much point to listening to this album. It is the album I find the least enjoyable of their Christmas Trilogy.

The main problem with this album is that it doesn't have any of their best instrumentals, and that has always been were Trans-Siberian Orchestra shone the strongest (especially on their Christmas albums, where the stories were less interesting). Without these, the album lacks much else to make it truly amazing. Really, it follows the formula of their first album, but with less success.

There's not much to be said about this album. Nothing in it is particularly offensive or outright bad (if you like Christmas music and theatrical music), but nothing stands out. The only song I ever really listen to off of this one is The Three Kings And I (What Really Happened), because I find the whole concept quite amusing.

If you are a fan of their music, this album will still be enjoyable, but otherwise there's really not all that much here.

The Christmas tree is in the room and the cat is wondering what those two things on two legs are up to now. A turkey is being filled with all kinds of stuff called "the family's old recipe" by the woman whose left hand is deep inside the turkey. No horizontal jogging tonight, then.

I am trying to get the final decorations sorted out when trying to get into the mood by listening to this album. This is my annual deep dive into the cheesy world of Christmas albums. An annual punishment, if feels. Although last year's descent into hell was pretty good. Jethro Tull's Christmas Album, that is.

I am not sure who is the vocalist here. But Jon Oliva from Savatage is the usual suspect and I guess it is him again. Trans-Siberian Orchestra has become a pretty massive band in the USA where all sorts of cultural naffness is sure winners. All of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's albums falls into this category. But in particular this album. All cliches are on display here. Choirs, electric guitar molestations of Christmas carols and a general rampage through Christmas carols which is good enough in their own right. What does Trans-Siberian Orchestra adds to this ? Well, they take out good paychecks from this band and their albums. Far more than they ever earned on their regular bands. So employments are secured. But the music in this album is overblowned, molested Christmas carols which is almost as bad as Justin Bieber's own Christmas album.

This is an album for fat greasy US truckers on highway nine and for those who thinks Christmas carols is best with a heavy rock sound to them. So why one more star than I am describing here ? Well, the arrangements are quite good. Cheesy as heck, but still pretty good. There are some good melody lines on this album. That inbetween cringe worthy melody lines. Some human intelligence has been applied to good effect throughout this album. That aside, this is not a Christmas album I will ever lend my ears to ever again. I am not that fond of cheese.

2 stars

This is TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA's second album released in 1998 two years after their very successful debut. Yes this is more of the same in that it is of the same style. Again we get a concept album dealing with that young angel. This time the Lord has sent him down to earth on the night of Christmas eve, this time to leave the one thing behind that would most benefit all of mankind. The problem for the angel was that he couldn't bring anything with him from heaven to leave. All of this is detailed in the liner notes as we are told of the angels thoughts, concerns and quest.

It turns out the gift that was left behind was a gift of "belief" to this one particular child who with the angel's help (unknown to the child) realizes that the Earth is a magical place and as such this child could make this world a better place. Hey it's Christmas and like the debut this can be an emotional ride if you let it be. Like the first album it's the instrumentals that really standout for me. Again we get the same six members or former members of SAVATAGE helping out. Once a year i'd much rather play something from this band than any other Christmas music that i've heard. 3 stars.

Second part of TSO's Christmas trilogy!

After the success of the first entry, Paul O'Neill and the guys from Savatage decided to make a second effort while they recorded their fabulous The Wake of Magellan. So, in terms of production both albums sound very similar and they contain the trademarks of the band like the wonderful piano melodies, the typical guitar crescendos, great vocals and polyphonic chorus, being The Wake of Magellan the heavy side of the band and The Christmas Attic the mellower one, just like Dead Winter Dead and Christmas Eve and Other Stories were also very related in style and sound.

But despite a pair of truly good moments, The Christmas Attic it's maybe the less inspired of the Christmas Trilogy because a pair of truly cheesy songs like The Three Kings and I or The Music Box. For my taste most of the singed songs are not at the same level as the instrumental ones, which are normally the best songs of the TSO's Christmas albums anyway.

Best tracks: Boughs of Holly (a fine instrumental song with all the Savatage/TSO trademarks!), Christmas in the Air (a song singed by the great interpreter Jody Asworth which introduces the style of Beethoven's Last Night) and Appalachian Snowfall (another fine instrumental)

Conclusion: despite its weak moments The Christmas Attic is another good hard rock-prog-symphonic Christmas album by Savatage's side band Trans-Siberian Orchestra which contains another outstanding neo-classical work of the very talented guitarist Al Pitrelli and a pair of fine compositions of Jon Oliva and the very missed Paul O'Neill.

My rating: ***