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Our Review

Merry Christmas from Jerry Allen is a creative pop gem, sparkling with contemporary synth treatments of classic carols and one original (the multi-layered "Alleluia"). Allen's effervescent personality pervades the music; his voice is clear, joyful, and emotive as he moves through the material. In his lower register, Allen demonstrates a thrilling richness ("O Holy Night").

The styles shift from song to song, but the overall mood is upbeat. Allen opens with lovely, ethereal harmonic choruses of "Away" on "Away in a Manger." On songs like "Angels We Have Heard on High," Allen applies a funky, rhythmic setting with great percussive effects and fun "Gloria" accents. Other songs, like "What Child Is This?" and "Silent Night," are more reverent in approach. "Joy to the World" employs a gospel-style, pop approach.

The liner notes provide precious little information, so I have to make some guesses regarding the production of this release. I assume that the multiple voices here all belong to Allen through the magic of overdubbing, and that he drives the instrumentation. On occasion, the cascading orchestration washes over the vocal aspects, but that blur is likely intentional.

This talented fellow manages to assemble all the inventive pieces together on Merry Christmas from Jerry Allen to create a lively holiday album. Nice!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

All vocal and musical arrangements by Jerry Allen

"Alleluia" written by Jerry Allen (2003)

"The Christmas Star" written by Jerry Allen & Karen Davis (2004)

Orchestration and musical arrangement for "Alleluia" and "O Holy Night" by Tom Rae

Jerry Allen

Merry Christmas from Jerry Allen

Order from CD Baby

Track List