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In the three years I've been writing reviews, Yes, Virginia has never disappointed me, sending a fresh group of rocking Christmas songs each year. On the heels of last year's self-titled Yes, Virginia, the band's latest release, the cleverly titled Oh Holy Night, is their best outing yet. With a nod to some of the best metal stylings of the seventies, Joe Merkel's guitar on We Three Kings and Christmas Suite sets an energetic tempo and tone for what follows.

And what follows is some surprisingly textured rock music. Paul Janocha's relieves Merkel on lead and produces a particularly driving version of Little Drummer Boy. Both Janocha and Merkel play with the precision and control that comes with complete mastery of their instruments and their form. Although many of us remember the recklessness of early rock music and rock musicians, the genre has lost nothing as it has matured and, in fact, may even have gained in these canonical renderings of well-respected licks.

Along with signature riffs, the band manages to incorporate the musical sensibilities of more recent times. I liked the contemporary sounds of Mario Padovani's keyboards and Mac Hines percussion, which blend seamlessly into the rock mix to produce more than simply a "classic" rock record. Although playing to a rock beat, their instrumental styles hint repeatedly at adult contemporary acoustics that are finally brought to bear fully on the title cut, O Holy Night.

Oh Holy Night rocks you hard, and then it lets you down easy.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2000)

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Yes Virginia

Oh Holy Night

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