Great start to a wonderful series
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 10/04/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Although I usually buy Christmas albums by individual artists, I also enjoy various artists compilations. For country fans, they don't get any better than this series (four volumes at the time of this review).Many of these songs have been taken from Christmas albums by the individual artists - and have been very well chosen - but there are also tracks by the Mavericks (Santa Claus is back in town), Gary Allen (Please come home for Christmas) and Tracy Byrd (Christmas like Mama used to make it), none of whom have yet recorded a Christmas album.The songs here are a well-balanced mix of the familiar standards and some original songs. The original songs include the tracks by George Strait, Tracy Byrd and the Tractors. Of the standards, Reba's cover of Away in a manger (the most traditional-sounding song here in what is mostly typical nineties country) is my favorite, but every track is excellent.This is the kind of country Christmas album you can play without offending too many people, and might convince some that country has more to offer than they thought - the previous reviewer is living proof of that."