Thursday, 16 December 2010

Daniel O' Donnell - O' Holy Night : The Christmas Album



The fake wreath, the wooly red scarf, the artificial snowflakes and that baby face with the fixed grin and the twinkly eyes. Let's face it, the album cover just screams cheesiness ! But ask your mum or your gran and they'll just tutt and tell you he looks like a lovely handsome man and there's nothing wrong with looking respectable and well-groomed ! Well, 'Wee Daniel', as he is sometimes known (I swear I'm not making this up !) will be just the thing to put a twinkle in your mum's eye on Christmas morning. I'm not sure what your dad would say if he was stuffed into her stocking in person though so his new festive CD is the next best thing !

It's actually very apt that he's released a Christmas album because his full name is Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell. He may look baby-faced but he was actually born in 1961. He was given the Irish Entertainer of the Year award in 1989, 1992 and 1996 and in 2002, he was even awarded an Honorary MBE  for his services to the music industry.

This CD is his 30th studio album and features, according to the blurb, "a selection of Daniel's favourite carols". The tracklisting features fifteen songs and, while there are a few that I had never heard, they're all very festive and set the Christmas scene nicely. (Full tracklisting : Mary's Boy Child -Angels We Have Heard On High - O Little Town of Bethlehem - Little Drummer Boy - O Come All Ye Faithful - Mary, Did You Know? - Away in a Manger - Hark The Herald Angels Sing - Oh Holy Night - Remember Me - Silent Night - Once in Royal David's City - The First Noel -In The Bleak Midwinter - Christmas 1915.)

It won't have you getting up and boogying but after eating all that turkey and Christmas pudding, that's probably a good thing ! As an easy-listening CD of background music, it's absolutely perfect during the festive season.

The CD retails on amazon for £8.99. However, I'd recommend you go for the Gift Edition  which not only costs 4p less but comes with a DVD - how's that for a bargain ?!

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £8.99

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2 comments:

  1. This may sound harsh but I hope I dont have to ever listen to this! lol

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  2. He has probably got a wonderful voice and I love all those carols, but there is something about this man that I really don't like, don't even know why!!

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