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Our Review

Holiday Strings took me by surprise. Although Michael Angelo Batio is a hard-rockin' guitar master, his Holiday Strings is definitely not rock, and it's no solo guitar effort either; this interesting album is a fully orchestrated--and surprisingly traditional--affair. The artist does it all here, playing every instrument (acoustic and electric guitars, all keyboards and "other instruments"), as well as arranging, engineering, mixing, and producing the music. The result is a pleasing presentation of 11 well-loved seasonal classics (including the traditional Hebrew melody "Shalom Chaverim").

This is easy-listening music, the sort of offering that would provide a great backdrop for holiday gatherings. The synthesized orchestration is well done, but occasionally crowds Batio's superb guitar, which is the true star of the show. The fine arrangements are faithful to these well-known melodies, allowing numbers like "The First Noel" to shine with a fresh, but fully comfortable, approach.

Best of all, one dollar from every sale of Holiday Strings will benefit leukemia research. And isn't that what the holidays are all about?

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

One dollar from every CD sold will benefit the Joey's Angels chapter of the Leukemia Research Foundation.

Michael Angelo: Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Piano, additional Keyboards and all other instruments.

All songs arranged, reharmonized, engineered, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael Angelo at Monster Mix Studio.

Michael Angelo Batio

Holiday Strings

Artist link

Track List