Merry War on Christmas!
G. Moses | Men...Of...The...Sea! | 12/29/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After the debacle that was They Called Her Babylon, you'd have every reason to be leery of anything new from Steeleye Span, but this is actually a pleasant surprise. It's hardly groundbreaking; the band plays things fairly conservatively. My favorite seasonal song ever is Span's version of the "Gower Wassail;" if you expect that kind of groundbreaking awesomeness, you will be sorely disappointed. But on its own terms, Winter works.
The album features mostly traditional songs--both Christian and pagan-- with a few originals sprinkled in for good measure. In the former category, it is bookended by "The First Nowell" and "In the Bleak Midwinter." These are songs that you've heard before, in predictable arrangements--but they might as well have been tailor-made for Maddy Prior's voice, and they work beautifully. Another highlight is "Down in Yon Forest," which has intriguingly strange lyrics. It's not actually a Christmas song by nature (see Woven Hand's version), but Span makes it into one very effectively. Prior's gem-like singing is again a highlight. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" is disappointingly subdued, and the berserker rendition of "Good King Wenceslas" is undeniably silly, but overall, a good selection, including songs both familiar and un.
Span originals are always a dicey proposition, but the ones here are hearteningly good. "Mistletoe Bough," with its talk of druids, can't help but conjure up the specter of Spinal Tap, but once you get past that, it's a great song. "Unconquered Sun" is inspiring, and the instrumental title track is appropriately atmospheric.
Let's face it: good Christmas music is hard to come by. It's not that there isn't plenty of it out there, but it's generally drowned out in a dispiriting sea of insipidly familiar wallpaper. Winter easily breaks through that barrier--and to boot, it's the Span's best album since Time. Recommended."
Excellent folk-rock Christmas music
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 09/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Although Maddy Prior recorded a couple of Christmas albums with the Carnival Band, and Steeleye Span as a group had recorded a Christmas song (Gaudete), the group hadn't recorded a Christmas album together until they did this one in 2004. For this album, Ken Nicol wrote two songs (Unconquered sun, Mistletoe bough) on which he also sings. Peter Knight wrote the instrumental title track. Maddy sings on all the other tracks, all of which are traditional though many are obscure.
The album opens with The First Noel, though the group prefer to use the traditional spelling Nowell. In notes accompanying the lyrics, Maddy comments that her spell-check doesn't like Nowell (nor did mine until I added it to my spell-check dictionary while writing this review) but insists that it is the correct spelling. Maybe so, but most people know it as Noel these days. Leaving the spelling debate aside, this is a superb track with which to open the album.
Of the other tracks, the only ones that I am familiar with are See amid the winter snow, Hark the herald angels sing, Good King Wenceslas and In the bleak midwinter. Maddy's knowledge of traditional folk music, including Christmas songs, is impressive and it is great to hear the obscure songs that make up the remainder of this album. That said, they don't have the instant appeal of the familiar songs, so I can understand why they have faded into obscurity rather than becoming standards themselves. However, they work well as album tracks.
This is a fascinating album of Christmas music that sounds exactly as I would expect of a Steeleye Span Christmas album.
"
Christmas Stuff
Peter Franklin | Australia | 05/01/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I have a lot of Steeleye CDs and before that many of their records so I am a bit of a fan.
I was however disappointed with this one. Altogether too Christmassy and 'nice'. I like the harder-edged albums.
"
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1