Matthew West - Something To Say (Christmas Edition)
Artist:
Title:
Something To Say (Christmas Edition)
Type:
Album
Released:
20 Oct 2009 (US), 19 Oct 2009 (UK)
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Review
The five time Dove nominee Matthew West is back with a Christmas edition of his 'Something To Say' album ready for Christmas. The new package includes 5 new Christmas songs, 2 acoustic versions of songs from the album as well as the entire original album. I would love to know why they decided to re-release as opposed to releasing a Christmas EP but that information doesn't seem to be available anywhere on the net, so we'll just soldier on.
I haven't listened to the original album so I'll treat this as a totally new album review, but check out Rich...
Read More The five time Dove nominee Matthew West is back with a Christmas edition of his 'Something To Say' album ready for Christmas. The new package includes 5 new Christmas songs, 2 acoustic versions of songs from the album as well as the entire original album. I would love to know why they decided to re-release as opposed to releasing a Christmas EP but that information doesn't seem to be available anywhere on the net, so we'll just soldier on.
I haven't listened to the original album so I'll treat this as a totally new album review, but check out Rich Smith's original album review for another take on it.
The album comes in a real old timely Christmas fashion, imagine really traditional Christmas music and you have the first 24 seconds of the album. This then explodes into the title track which really makes the most of West's voice even though the attitude of the song is very strong, think Britt Nicole's track Say It and you're not far off.
Moving into The Motions brings the lyrical quality to the album. Many of the following tracks (Life Inside You & Safe And Sound) are kind of predictable and verge on corny subjects but West is able to write them beautifully and accompany them with music which is contemporary enough to leave the corn behind. The album then slows down for a few tracks before being brought back by A Friend In The World and leads nicely into the Christmas songs.
For me, these are the perfect Christmas tunes; modern, funky, passion filled and full of joy. The addition of Christmas bells give it that true merriness and authenticity that Give This Christmas Away needs. These will definitely be heading onto my Christmas playlist on my MP3 player.
The acoustic additions of The Motions and Save A Place For Me aren't as acoustic as I would like, they are merely slightly stripped down versions of the original recordings. Having said that, Save A Place For Me really seems to take it well and it really comes out as a more beautiful version of the original song.
On the whole this is a great album, but I am still unconvinced about the need to re-release an album for the addition of 5 songs.
Written by Suzanne Physick
LTTM Rating 4.5 out of 5
Standout Tracks
Something To Say
Give This Christmas Away
Save A Place For Me (Acoustic)
