DECEMBER

December is the Christmas album from The Moody Blues. Like The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, December came out late in the band's career. The album contains originals and covers of classic seasonal tunes. Also of note is the fact that the Moodies are down to a trio here - just Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge are official band members on this album.

The sound presented on December is similar to that of the preceding album, Strange Times. Sorry to anyone who was expecting something like the classic seven albums of Days of Future Passed through Seventh Sojourn.

The album begins with "Don't Need A Reindeer". The lyrics may be a bit corny, but it's a decent pop tune about cherishing loved ones at Christmas.

The next track "December Snow" is a pleasant ballad with some really nice keyboard moments. Much the same can be said about most of the tracks on this album, really.

"In The Quiet of Christmas Morning (Bach 147)" starts off with a very nice flute moment. I found myself kind of wishing that this piece had been left as an instrumental, but it's nice enough.

"On This Christmas Day" is a slice of pleasant Beatles-esque orchestral pop. Perhaps not too coincidentally, the next track is a cover of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". It's probably as decent a cover as you could reasonably hope to hear. It doesn't stray too far from the original, but it has the Moodies' sound.

The same could be said for the cover of "White Christmas" later on the album. I must admit that I've never heard the original versions of the other covers, but there's nothing offensive about any of tracks on this album in my opinion.

Really, "pleasant" and "decent" are precisely the words that the music on this album brings to my mind. This is an album made by a band who are complacent and are not looking to experiment much with their music. I could do a track-by-track commentary, but I would probably just keep repeating myself.

That said, the Moodies are very competent at what they do and by no means is this a terrible album. It's actually a pretty good album of Christmas pop music if you're looking for something in that genre. However, fans of classic Moodies albums and those who are looking for something more challenging to listen to may find this album a difficult one to sit through.

2.5 stars out of 5, rounded up to 3.

Highlights: "December Snow", "In The Quiet of Christmas Morning (Bach 147)", "On This Christmas Day", "Yes I Believe"