Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Lost Christmas Eve (2004, Lava)
Christmas
is a wonderful time, hampered only by the fact that we are doomed to hear the
same old Christmas carols being played again and again. However, one group has
dedicated itself to updating our stuffy festive-music catalogue: the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or ‘TSO’ for short. Of course, TSO is not an
orchestra at all, but in fact a group of technically-proficient musicians with
a penchant for playing traditional Christmas songs in a symphonic-metal style –
a sound they perfected on The Lost
Christmas Eve, their final album in a trio of Christmas-themed concept
albums dubbed the ‘Christmas Trilogy’
Running
at almost 70 minutes, The Lost Christmas
Eve is packed full of festive magic and instrumental prowess. The album
contains many thrilling and long-overdue updates of traditional Christmas
carols: you haven’t heard The First Noel until
you’ve heard the melody being played simultaneously on two wailing guitars.
There are also plenty of original tracks, such as Christmas Jam, Christmas Jazz and Christmas Canon Rock, which prove
that TSO can master any style (when played in the context of a Christmas-themed
narrative).
Over
the course of 23 tracks, The Lost
Christmas Eve weaves a rich tale about an angel sent from heaven to save a
man who hates Christmas, his wounded heart leaving a trail of blood in the snow
that only the angel can see. “Why can’t Christmas disappear / and pretend it
never saw me?” vocalist Robert Evan laments in the heart-breaking What is Christmas?, his powerful tenor
and intense emotion rivalling even the most expressive Broadway actor’s.
Clearly
this is a magical album, so why don’t we hear The Lost Christmas Eve being played as we go about our Christmas
shopping? Perhaps adults were just too cynical to enjoy the album’s wide-eyed
innocence and childish narrative, while children were too impatient to sit
through the long and technical instrumental passages. Perhaps too many people
dismissed it as some kind of elaborate joke (which, I can assure you, it isn’t)
or simply proclaimed it “the shittiest bunch of shit you could ever possibly
imagine, honestly, it's that bad” without opening their hearts to the Yuletide magic contained within.
But despite their lack of fame, TSO still enjoy a small and loyal following (of
mostly grown men) who truly believe that they are, in the words of one fan,
“the best Christmas band in the world.” I find it hard to disagree.
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