I’m going to go out on a limb here, but Frank Sinatra at times is not very great singer. On the first track (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas) of this ‘new’ Christmas release (Christmas in Love) his singing is unsupported, often flat. That’s not the point of listening to Sinatra these days, is it? Sinatra was an undeniable personality and we’re willing to forgive some less than stellar singing for a sense of old-time Christmas nostalgia.

To be fair, the singing is better on some tracks than others. Silent Night is definitely sung with sensitivity and its really fun when Sinatra gets into his true element, swing, later on in the album. Still, a couple of songs are howlingly bad, like The Lord’s Prayer and Ave Maria.

The arrangements are your standard, big, mostly string orchestra or big band with choral backup singing of the 50’s and 60’s. My parents had a lot of these types of albums on record (and a couple of times these recordings sound like they were taken off similar old discs). A good example would be White Christmas; this is the type of song Sinatra shines on, a more modern melody that doesn’t require him to try and classical himself up.

Other fun tracks include the laid-back Jingle Bells, and a couple of swingin’ tracks Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow. Christmas Dreaming, a song I hadn’t heard before, but liked, was a surprise. It’s also a bit humorous to hear the intro to a live radio performance of Winter Wonderland.

Even with a couple of big fat lemons, you certainly get your money’s worth of 18 tracks (about 6 more than your standard new release), and the nostagia level is high. Strangely, the second half of the album is much stronger than the first.  I’d love to put this on while baking Christmas cookies . . . makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, if you know what I mean.

Listen to Christmas in Love on Lala.com or download it on Amazon.

Merry Christmas