Search - Supremes :: Christmas Collection: 20th Century Masters

Shrill-ver Bells

johnlarca | San Francisco | 12/30/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I picked up this Christmas CD this year because I have always liked the Supremes and thought it would be a nice addition to the Christmas repertoire. And it mostly is, even though the CD overall is hit-or-miss.My biggest reservation is the sound quality with this "remastered" version. While the instrumental tracks sound fine the vocal tracks are hissy and do not showcase Diana Ross's, uh, "penetrating" voice to very good effect. I know part of this is her nasal vocal quality but other CDs don't have nearly the same snowy background noise (I guess maybe because this is a Christmas CD it's snowy?), which is especially noticeable on the slower numbers. Consequently Diana's tendency to sound shrill in modern sound systems rather than AM radio commercial is really apparent.That aside, some of the tracks are really fun. Although the often heard tunes like "Silver Bells" and "My Favorite Things" still sound polished and professional, the lesser-known tunes are my favorites. "Born of Mary" is a great traditional tune, "My Christmas Tree" is charming, ditto "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Me," and they do a rocking "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." My favorite is "Little Bright Star" where you can hear Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard grooving away as well. (Now that I know about the Tammi Terrell tune from "A music fan's" review I will have to find it.) Florence Ballard's "Silent Night" sounds fine (although a couple of the notes were a little sketchy) but it also sounds like it was sung into a big void because of the reverb and spare arrangement. Perhaps because of the back-story involving Ballard the overall effect was a little empty and depressing rather than inspiring.However, the biggest drawbacks are numbers that showcase Diana Ross. Although a "bonus" track not included on the album version, "Noel" adds nothing to the disc - it only demonstrates Diana's limited vocal range and has this creepy portion where she talks over what sounds like herself singing ('cause Mary and Florence were busy?) And although a group effort, "Joy to the World" is overwrought and frenetically paced. But the strangest number is the "Children's Christmas Song" where Diana talks to a bunch of Berry Gordy's kids and her brother(?) while marshalling them into singing woefully out of tune with her. Diana's weird vocal inflections, annoying over-annunciations (which also especially mar the "Christmas Song") and bizarre, "mid-Atlantic" accent give the impression that she is a spinsterish, play-by-the rules governess rather than a young, sassy woman barely out of her teens. She doesn't seem like much fun on this number."

My Favorite Things!

11/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, this collection is phenomenal! What a great collection of fabulous Supremes Christmas music. The remastering is first rate. The booklet, photos, essay by historian Andrew Skurow and annotations are wonderful.This collection is exactly the same as the 1999 reissue, same bonus tracks, same booklet, etc. The ONLY difference is the cover, which I understand is because Universal Music wanted to make all their Christmas releases uniform, and thus the banner across the top and enlarged photo on the front. Others have complained that there are other Supremes songs that should be here. I agree, but it's just a few songs found in the vaults, but that are available on other collections. I've also read taht some fans would rather have the mono version of the original album, but I disagree. This CD is in full glorious stereo. The mono LP had no backgrounds, and most of the mixes were inferior. Motown did a perfect job on this one! Treat yourself to a great Christmas CD!!!"

Okay but, the 1999 CD is superior

johnlarca | 11/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc is just okay. The sound is fine but it's missing the detailed booklet that was included in the 1999 issue. Of course the highlight of the disc is Florence Ballard's poignant "Silent Night which by far exceeds the sometimes childlike delivery of the other songs on this disc. Hopefully one day in the near future we will get the Complete Christmas sessions featuring the far superior mono versions of all these songs, plus "O'Holy Night also led by Florence and O'Little Town of Bethlehem."