Working, in a somewhat desultory fashion, on my 2013 Xmas Playlist and ran across “Michael Bublé Christmas”.
Completely unbiased *cough* comment (FAIR USE!) added to the album cover art. “Michael Bublé Christmas” is kinda like a thinner-voiced Bing/Sinatra-lite Xmas album, complete with mispronounced vowels, but without the heart one would expect from Bing or Old Blue Eyes. Standard selection of pop Xmas tunes, including the execrable and much to be disdained, “Santa Baby,” and inexplicably sprinkled with a couple of genuine Xmas songs (Silent Night, Ave Maria).
(Confession: no, I did not buy the album. What, ME buy a Michael Bublé album of pseudo-Xmas music? Get outa here! I “listened” to it on YouTube, for review. Michael Bublé performances on my Xmas playlist is simply not on. Thank you, no. If it HAD been any good, I would have bought it as I did with the album below. . . )
OTOH, Josh Groban’s 2007 “Noel,” aside from a few little bobbles (“’round yon virgin –PAUSE, BREATHE– mother and child” in “Silent Night” *sigh* and a few inexplicable pure vowel and diphthong choices) is a real delight and well worth the price on Amazon ($6 mp3/$10 CD). Oh, heck, even the patented Groban melodic variations are pretty good. *heh* A few unobjectionable pop Xmas songs, but mostly real Xmas songs. Eh, besides, he has such a much, much better instrument and music sensibility to work with than Bublé. Did I say, “much”? No, more than that.
Added to this year’s playlist.
Yeah, I don’t get the Bublé thing. Got no heart in his voice. Never have cared much for him.
Head and heart. I don’t think he even understands the stuff he performs. Even in the stuff he does best, he’s like a photo of a painting of the shadow of a statue of. . . a Sinatra impersonator. I know a young gal who walked the aisle at her wedding to Bublé’s rendition of “The Best is Yet to Come.” Later, I made a slideshow of wedding photos set to Sinatra singing the tune. She had never heard ole blue eyes’ rendition. *sigh*