"Warmest Christmas Wishes" features 14 tracks, some standards ("Please Come Home For Christmas", "I'll Be Home For Christmas", "O Tannenbaum" and others) and some less-familiar songs such as "Driving Home for Christmas", and "Silently Falls the Snow", and two new originals, "Christmas for the Family" and "Around the Christmas Tree".
Since his debut in 1967, Mr. Humperdinck, now a ripe young 82, has led an active career in music, continuing to record and perform consistently, now into his 6th decade as an entertainer. Mr. Humperdinck has ventured into Christmas music previously, beginning with the 1977 release "Christmas Tyme", followed by "A Merry Christmas with Engelbert Humperdinck" (1980), and "The Magic of Christmas" (1995).
There is a comforting quality to Mr. Humperdinck's new album. His voice, well-matured with a hint of Neil Diamond timbre, is still well-suited to a pleasant round of Christmas carols. To me, there is a sincerity in this record that is missing from some releases from the top artists of our day. The orchestrations are brightly arranged and well-performed, warmly befitting the holiday.
Personally, I enjoyed this record quite a lot. Although it won't stay in constant rotation throughout the season (well, what does? except Jethro Tull), it's a very pleasing, soothing, and happy Christmas album. As I'm writing this, it's snowing outside, and with the instrumental "White Christmas" from the album playing, it's a near-perfect scene.
"Warmest Christmas Wishes" Amazon link
Engelbert Humperdinck website
A digital copy of the album was provided to Merry and Bright! for review.
Copyright 2018 Aaron Henton
I thoroughly enjoyed this as well. Any other year, this would have been at least one of my top five new releases. There have been so many fantastic new Christmas albums this year, though, that it's really been overshadowed.
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