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The problem with Donny Osmond's Christmas at Home was that I couldn't stop listening to the first track. I have ten more CDs lined up behind this one and I'm sitting here hooked on Donny's and (producer) Darrell Brown's awesome arrangement of Angels We Have Heard on High. And I'm thinking: where could Donny possibly go from here?

I did finally listen to the whole CD (although I kept going back and listening repeatedly to several cuts). Where it went after Angels (which rocks) was a place where Donny settles into a pop vibe--or perhaps light Christian rock--that works for me on every track. The arrangements feature Donny Osmond doing what he does better than anyone: interpreting popular songs in a uniquely animated and expressive style. His voice has lost nothing since his heyday in the 70s, and his showmanship has only grown.

This is a very ostentatious record. Sony pulled out all the stops, serving up a variety of elaborate instrumentals. Rounding out the production are a legion of backup vocalists, many of them Osmonds. And then, there's Donny, one of the great pop singers of my generation, at the top of his game and turning out an inspired performance.

I like a lot of things about this record. Like the fact that superstar Donny Osmond and megalabel Sony chose to make a 55 minute Christmas CD. Over the years I have taken some swipes at the major labels, for complacency and a tendency to make stars instead of music. But not this time. A record that runs significantly over the standard 40 minutes indicates that the people who made it liked what they were hearing in the studio and chose to see how long they could ride the wave. The production values are very high, but darn well worth it, because Donny justified the investment with one of the strongest performances on a Christmas record that I can remember.

I like almost all fifteen tracks. My favories were some of the less well-known contemporary tunes: I've Been Looking for Christmas by Kevin Savigar and Patti Smythe; After December Slips Away by Bonnie Keen and Lowell Alexander; A Soldier's King by John Barlow Jarvis and Kenny Horton; Christmas List by David Foster and Linda Thompson Foster; The Kid in Me by Don Koch, Dave Clark, and Dan Dean; Come to the Manger by Peter McCann and Orrin Hatch; and the increasingly popular Mary, Did You Know by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene. All of these songs were written within the past ten years. Call me a maverick, but I love it when new and different songs are included on a Christmas record.

This is a very strong showing by Donny Osmond and a CD I will listen to for many years to come.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2000)

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Donny Osmond

Christmas at Home

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Track List