The Christmas Album CD (2011)

[Nikki178]

The hot chocolate analogy would be me. Lol. Hannah_kirstin and Nikki178, thanks for the beautiful reviews. Can't wait till the CD comes out in America!!! Really curious how Josh's new lowlowlow voice sounds like!

It was you! I love your analogy! I love hot chocolate with mini marshmallows hahaha!

[sweetangel16]

Just bought my copy a few hours ago and have had it on repeat since then. Can't seem to get enough! I love Libera and all things Christmas! Here's a quick review. Too excited now and can't seem to focus, so bear with me! Solos are well-distributed among the boys. Personally would've liked to hear more Stefan and Luke though..
1. Joy To the World
2. Still, Still, Still - Solo : Ralph Skan - Very slow and tender. Imagine watching stars under the Bethlehem sky when listening to this. Lower register is very, very prominent in the last stanza of this song. Yay for Josh, Liam, Jonathan, Tiarnan, Sam, Ben (did i leave anyone out?)
3. Carol of the Bells - always loved this song. Libera did a fantastic job. Fast-paced, perfect pitch, diction, and blending. Wonderful descants by Stefan?Cassius? not sure
4. Veni, Veni Emmanuel - Solo : Daniel Fontannaz - Daniel's voice is definitely breaking. Probably has by now. Still, he did a great job on the solo.
5. Once In Royal David’s City - Solo : Eoghan McCarthy - More of the beautiful voice we heard in 'Glory to Thee.' Really love the lower voices in this song. Libera sounds like it has a full choir backing them because of this!
6. O Holy Night - solo: Ralph Skan - Tough to make a song that has been sung so well by so many choirs and singers sound ''new" but Libera does a great job of it. Great solo by Ralph and love the arrangement RP did for the song
7. White Christmas - Solo : Stefan Leadbeater - very christmassy! Imagine walking in a winter wonderland. Stefan is a rockstar! What an amazing solo on the first verse. I would buy the album for this track alone.
8. Corpus Christi Carol - Solos: Ralph Skan and James Mordaunt - not really a fan of the song as it's really slooow, but Ralph and mini James sound great on it. hopefully this isn't the last solo by James..
9. In Dulci Jubilo - fast-paced, light, feel-good song.
10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Solos : James Mordaunt and Ralph Skan - previously released
11. Sing the Story - Solo: Luke Collins - also fast-paced. Luke has a very nice voice. Expect more from this lad
12. Coventry Carol - Solos : Joshua Madine, Ralph Skan & Stefan Leadbeater - song starts with descants by Stefan and Ralph. Then shock, awe! Josh sings the melody in a very LOOOWWW voice. I think this is the lowest anyone has ever gone on a Libera song, but still Josh has a very warm, soothing voice. Dunno if he's a baritone or tenor now. Wonderful blending of the 3 voices on the chorus. Sounds like someone with a bass voice is backing them in the chorus (RP perhaps??_ haha)
13. The First Nowell - Solo : Freddie Ingles - first verse and chorus sung by all. Freddie sings on the 3rd verse. Beautiful tone, clear diction. Well done, Freddie! Nice arrangement for this very popular song.
14. Jubilate Deo - Solo: Jakob De Menezes-Wood - Liam O'Kane sang this on the first Libera album. Jakob definitely does the song justice. His voice is still very high, maybe not as clear as Liam's but still very beautiful. Great job on the descants, Jakob!
15. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks - Solo : Cassius O’Connell-White - sounds even better than the earlier version aired on SOP. Cassius sounds very good! His voice is similar to (Mini) Ben P., so you won't notice the difference that much
16. Lullabye - Solo : Joshua Madine with Jakob de Menezes-Wood & Benedict Philipp - previously released

Three words: OH MY GOSH!!! I wanna get that album too. Anyways, thank you so much for the review, Hannah. Yay for Liam and the rest of the older boys on the second song!!!

Charmaine

[labbie]

For those of you who wish to hear samples of the tracks, go to the Amazon UK home page. There you will see a "Search" option at the top. First, use the pull-down menu to find "MP3 Downloads". Then, in the space labelled "Search", type in "Libera Christmas album". It should take you to a page where you can play samples of the Christmas CD tracks which will be offered as MP3 tracks. Yes, I also was impressed by Josh's beautiful low voice on "Coventry Carol".

[Yorkie]

Great call.

I think I'm really going to love 'Carol of the Bells'

[dani]

Oh my god i did not know that was Carol of The Bells. I am listening to it and i recognize it from the First Home Alone movie .


Veni, Veni Emmanuel sounds good from the sound bite i can hear. Also the First Nowell.

[dearmadine]

For those of you who wish to hear samples of the tracks, go to the Amazon UK home page. There you will see a "Search" option at the top. First, use the pull-down menu to find "MP3 Downloads". Then, in the space labelled "Search", type in "Libera Christmas album". It should take you to a page where you can play samples of the Christmas CD tracks which will be offered as MP3 tracks. Yes, I also was impressed by Josh's beautiful low voice on "Coventry Carol".

Thanks for the info! I think I'm in shock. A good one thou

[Murkskis]

awww, I do like the samples! Thanks labbie!
I'm in awe ...

Wonderful review Hannah!

[dani]

Just heard some of Josh's song !

I have to say I am not sure I am sold on non trebles getting solo's . I listen to Libera because they sing treble , so it's a bit disconcerning to hear a voice so low on a Libera album. It's quite strange and it takes you away from the album almost because it's weird hearing a broken voice . Almost ruins the mood in a sense.

[Yorkie]

Just heard some of Josh's song !

I have to say I am not sure I am sold on non trebles getting solo's . I listen to Libera because they sing treble , so it's a bit disconcerning to hear a voice so low on a Libera album. It's quite strange and it takes you away from the album almost because it's weird hearing a broken voice . Almost ruins the mood in a sense.

It does seem to be a new direction for the group but you need to hear the whole track before you judge it - often the blend of deep and high voices lends a beauty to a song that high or low voices on their own can't achieve. There are a few Libera songs (versions of well known hymns) that I am not so keen on because I think they sound better with a full choir. The review of Coventry Carol mentions that the harmonies on the full track are brilliant so the clip may not do it justice.

[phlibera]

For the Beauty of the Earth and All Things Bright And Beautiful come to mind. I love the full choir version.

[dearmadine]

Just heard some of Josh's song !

I have to say I am not sure I am sold on non trebles getting solo's . I listen to Libera because they sing treble , so it's a bit disconcerning to hear a voice so low on a Libera album. It's quite strange and it takes you away from the album almost because it's weird hearing a broken voice . Almost ruins the mood in a sense.

Ralph and Stefan are also listed as solos for this song and this preview clearly didn't feature their voices. Hope you think otherwise after hearing the full song, not this 10second sample. I think the lower voices backing the trebles makes the song more wholesome and diverse at the same time.

[plumpuff6]

Oooo...I just listened to the samples on Amazon UK! It was AMAZING!!!! Now I am even more impatient for the album to come out!

A few thoughts (though I will probably just be echoing what others have said already, I just wanted to add my bit):

1. "Still, Still, Still"--I am not familiar with this carol but I think the arrangement is very beautiful. Ralph's voice is perfect for this song.
2. "Carol of the Bells"--I love this arrangement! New.
3. "Veni, Veni Emmanuel"-- Daniel's voice is amazing on this song! Gentle and smooth, but with a haunting undertone that suits the song so well; unfortunately it sounds like his voice will soon break since it's definitely lower now.
4. "Once in Royal David's City"--Eoghan's voice is great! He is really an up and coming soloist. I look forward to hearing more from him.
5. "O Holy Night"--Ralph again is in top form. I wonder who is singing the harmony with him?
6. "White Christmas"--Normally I do not like this song, but Libera's version will probably change that, especially since Stefan is singing the solo.
7. "Corpus Christi Carol"--I think James M.'s voice improves with every solo he has. His voice is very clear and innocent and contrasts nicely with Ralph's warm tone.
8. "Sing the Story"--I was really, really pleased with Luke's voice. It's so nice! It also reminds me a little of Michael Horncastle's voice, so maybe one day Luke will sing "Far Away"!
9. "Coventry Carol"--Um, WOW. I was so shocked to hear Josh's voice! It's still very warm and soothing. But I wonder why Libera is now using boys with changed voices as soloists? I remember reading both Sam and Josh had solos on the US tour this summer? Well I suppose that there's a large number of lower voices in the group right now, so maybe RP is giving them a more prominent role, and anyways I did want to know what Josh's changed voice sounded like!
10. "The First Nowell"--Didn't hear Freddie's solo on the sample, but I like the arrangement.
11. "Jubilate Deo"--Nice job by Jakob! His voice surprises me, it can be warm and soothing like in "Lead Kindly, Light" and then clear and high in this song, such a range!
12. "While Shepherd's Watched Their Flocks"--Oh my goodness, little Cassius! It was great to hear from him. I look forward to hearing more from him.

All in all it looks like an amazing album. Can't wait to hear the full tracks! Eoghan, Cassius and Luke are all quite talented and I look forward to hearing them in the coming years. Ralph, James M., Stefan, Daniel and Josh continue to do a wonderful job and appear to be in top form.

[plumpuff6]

Just wondering...how is that some have already obtained the album????

[phlibera]

Because it has been released in the Philippines already.

[Lumi]

I just listened to the sample tracks too... After my first listen I wasn't actually terrible impressed (that's probably just because I'm not very familiar with many of the songs), but that quickly changed once I listened to the tracks again.

Some thoughts:
- Jakob's voice just keeps getting better, I don't get how he hasn't had more solos than this. Form what I heard I also really like the new christmassy arrangement of Jubilate a lot.
- Stefan sounds great on White Christmas, I'm just wondering if there is a part of his solo (in the beginning maybe) where he isn't being backed by the other boys? My initial reaction on the sample track was that you can barely hear him singing lol.
- I kind of agree with dani about the use of lower voices, I hope they won't do that too much in the future. Of course Josh sounds great and I also believe RP knows what he's doing... But nevertheless.
- Corpus Christi Carol is great, I was actually expecting Ralph and James to be singing the opposite parts but it sounds great this way too. Overall, I'm really really impressed by Ralph's solos. While he already sounded amazing before, it's clear that he now has a whole new kind of control over his voice. He actually might be one of my favorite soloists ever.
- Veni Veni Emmanuel is my favourite based on the samples. The slow tempo really does justice to the melody – not to mention Daniel's voice. It's the kind of a solo that many of the boys could probably have done, but somehow I feel that no one could have topped Daniel here. What a hautingly beautiful song.
- While Shepherds – I was in many ways surprised by Cassius here. What a nice and clear voice for his age, it's going to be interesting to hear how his voice will be in a year or two from now.
- Luke has a great voice. And it's also great to finally have Sing the Story on an album.

Oh and, while I don't usually like comparing the different "eras" of Libera, I have to say that their harmonies at the moment to me sound better than ever. Their overall sound is just so stunningly clear and beautiful.
I'm looking so much forward to hearing the full songs, also there is no doubt now whether I'm travelling to London for their concert or not.