Product Description

A portion of the proceeds of this 13-song collection will benefit Toys For Tots. Tracks include ""Maybe This Christmas"" by Ron Sexsmith, ""God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"" by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan, ""Snow"" by Loreena McKennitt, and ""Have Yourself" a Merry Little Christmas"" by Coldplay.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS
Title: MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS
Street Release Date: 11/05/2002
Domestic
Genre: XMAS VOCAL COLLECTIONS

Track Listing

1. Winter Wonderland - Phantom Planet
2. Maybe This Christmas - Ron Sexsmith
3. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Coldplay
4. Green Sleeves - Vanessa Carlton
5. Blue Christmas - Bright Eyes
6. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - Sense Field
7. 12/23/95 - Jimmy Eat World
8. Rudolph - Jack Johnson
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies with Sarah McLachlan
10. Bizarre Christmas Incident - Ben Folds
11. What a Year for a New Year - Dan Wilson
12. Sweet Secret - Neil Finn
13. Snow - Loreena McKennitt

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1375 in Music
• Brand: MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS
• Released on: 2002-11-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Every holiday season produces at least one hip alternative rock Christmas CD. For 2002, it's Maybe This Christmas. Most of the 13 tracks here lean more toward the mellower portion of the alternative spectrum. The title track--a tender and poignant plea for peace and understanding by the wonderful Ron Sexsmith--basically sets the pace for things. Coldplay's Chris Martin proves he's no Sinatra on the band's fairly faithful, piano-driven "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," but there's still something endearing about his occasionally off-key but totally sincere delivery. Jack Johnson puts an apt--and quite amusing--spin on "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (in which Rudolph takes the other reindeers to task for ridiculing him), and Phantom Planet do their best Everly Brothers crossed with Weezer thing and come off entirely likable on the ancient "Winter Wonderland." Most surprising, however, is Sense Field's cover of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)." It's one of those songs that pretty much belongs to its creator, but the band's take on this classic is, in its own way, as enjoyable as John and Yoko's original. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

A Kinder, Gentler Alternative Christmas CD
I buy two or three Christmas CDs each year, and thought I was taking a chance on this one because most "modern" or "alternative" collections of Christmas music are a little too hyper or eclectic for every family member to enjoy during the holiday season.

However, this CD was a surprise... The songs are fun and different, but they all have a pleasant aspect to them so as not to make Grandma spit up her egg nog on Christmas Eve. The little kids will have a good time too, since there isn't anything along the lines of "F*@k Christmas" by Fear (imagine playing that one at the family reunion).

This disc will definitely be sitting toward the top of our holiday music pile when we dig out our Christmas CDs each year after Thanksgiving.

Rockin' easy around the Xmas tree
Christmas music can service a variety of moods including reverence and nostalgia, but Maybe This Christmas is pure entertainment. I haven't had this much fun listening to a Christmas CD in several years! Being on a Canadian label (Nettwerk), several of the artists are from Canada. It's OK, though, as these are my favorite Canadians! Ron Sexsmith's title cut is especially charming, and I don't ever remember hearing a more swingin' take on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" than the Barenaked Ladies version with Sarah McLachlan.

The Americans offer some pretty nifty Christmas gifts too. I've been enjoying the "Ben Folds Live" CD very much in recent days, and here he is with an amusing track called "Bizarre Christmas Incident." I expected an up-tempo "Winter Wonderland" from Phantom Planet, but instead they deliver a real cute little dance version. Jimmy Eat World gets more mellow than their usual frenetic pace on "12/23/95." The tracks from Vanessa Carlton, Neil Finn, and Loreena McKennitt are all excellent. This is one Christmas collection I'll be listening to for several holiday seasons to come.

An Unusual Christmas Compilation.
MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS is a collection of Christmas songs performed by a variety of alternative artists. About half of the songs on the album are traditional Christmas songs while the other half are new Christmas songs. My favorite songs on the album are:

"Winter Wonderland" Phantom Planet

"Maybe This Christmas" Ron Sexsmith

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Coldplay

"Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" Sense Field

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" Barenaked Ladies w. Sarah McLachlan

I bought this album solely because of the Barenaked Ladies with Sarah McLachlan version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". I wanted to play that song on my internet radio show and this is the only album I can find that has the song on it. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed most of the other songs as well. Most of the songs are performed nicely and are written in the Christmas spirit. However, beware of "Bizarre Christmas Incident" by Ben Folds. The song tries to appeal to country humor, but is neither funny nor respectful of country people--the song isn't really even a song and contains the only foul language of any of the tunes on the album. Overall, this is a nice album to play during Christmas time, but skip over "Bizarre Christmas Incident".