Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3942 in Music
• Released on: 2008-10-07
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
2008 release of Peace On Earth by Casting Crowns. Following the highly successful The Altar and The Door album and tour, Grammy Award-winning group Casting Crowns release its first Christmas record. Known for its life-changing ministry of renewal and discipleship, Casting Crowns continues that mission with an album of songs dedicated to the meaning behind this holy season.Casting Crowns has received an American Music Award and 20 GMA Dove Awards collectively between band and lead-singer Mark Hall.

Customer Reviews

Managed Expectations Make This a Good Christmas CD
When I heard Casting Crowns was releasing a Christmas CD, I couldn't wait. I love their music for taking the familiar and making me look at it in a fresh way. So when I got this CD I was a little disappointed with the play list. It is mostly familiar carols. But once I started listening to it, that feeling went away.

Yes, the familiar carols are here and are plentiful. Yet they sound beautiful. There are gorgeous harmonies on "O Come All Ye Faithful." The guitar is fun on "Joy to the World." "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" gets a new melody. With a string background, it sounds like a lullaby. And the instrumental version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is absolutely breathtaking. It is written for violin but the interplay between it and the piano (and to a lesser extent the orchestra) is haunting.

Only one song on here is truly new. "Christmas Offering" is a praise song, and I truly enjoy it. I've only heard "God is with Us" recorded one other place, by Amy Grant on the Gloria project. This version doesn't stray far away from the original. In fact, it is sung entirely by one of the female members of the group.

And that brings us to "While You Were Sleeping." When I first heard them sing it on LIFESONG, I thought it sounded like a Christmas song. Apparently, it originally was. The only change here is the second verse. Instead of going to Jerusalem, it focuses on the hardships of Mary and the baby that first night. The song sounds the same. And it includes the third verse that focuses on America. I'm still not a fan of that verse, but I have softened to it some over the years.

But I've saved the best for last. The disc opens with a new melody for "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," including a new chorus sung by a boy's choir. It really makes the song come alive in a new way.

I wish they had taken the time to write a few more original tracks for this disc. But what is here is certainly enjoyable. I know I will listen to this CD for many years to come.

Best Christmas CD I've Heard
I had heard Casting Crowns singing "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and decided I would buy this CD just for that song. But, as expected from this great group, the other songs are wonderful, too. I will be playing this CD alot during the Christmas season and will still enjoy it after Christmas has come and gone. Even though the songs they are performing are traditional Christmas songs, they sound new, so I find myself listening to the words with new meaning. In one word, I rate this CD as "Wonderful".

Beautiful Christmas Music
It's several weeks since Christmas and I'm still playing this CD. "While We Were Sleeping" is one of my favorites and it would be appropriate any time of the year as it warns America of how we are asleep to what is going on in our country just as the people of Bethlehem were asleep when our Lord was born long ago. Ignorance is no excuse for it was all prophesied. Some of the songs are familiar, but they are done in a new way without compromising the beauty of the original.