One Stop Christmas Shop

[milepost13]

Lots of great Christmas music threads popping up, but I thought we could try to consolidate a little...

If you're like me, as a worship leader, you purchase some albums because you want the entire album, and a lot of singles because you want just that single. But, sometimes, it's hard to determine the worth of a single song just by listening to the sample on iTunes. If we consolidate our Christmas music huntings into one thread, we might be able to save each other some time and money.

If you were to recommend a handful of single recordings of Christmas classics and newer Christmas songs for congregational worship, what are they? Not entire albums, just single songs. Please include the title of the song and the artist, as well as the album title if you know it. If might also be helpful include a description of the recording, especially if it's a newer song that the rest of us might not be familiar with.

[milepost13]

Here's my list:

"Gloria" by MercyMe, The Christmas Sessions - An update of the classic "Angels We Have Heard On High". They've written a new melody for the "Gloria" chorus that rocks, and a bridge with some lyrics that really help to refocus the song.

"O Holy Night" by MercyMe, The Christmas Sessions - It's hard to find a bad recording of this incredible song, but this is one of my favorites and a lot of fun for a modern worship band to play. We add an extra verse (Truly He taught...) to give it a little more meat.

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by MercyMe, The Christmas Sessions - They mash (as many other artists have done) this classic with some music from "Carol of The Bells" as well as some modified lyrics from "Joy To The World" for a bridge. This one is a favorite of our band to play. (there are several more from this MercyMe CD that could make this list, but these are the three that have really hit home runs and are incredibly congregation friendly at our church)

"O Come Let Us Adore Him" by Passion/Matt Redman, Sacred Revolution - Any church band can play this through once and nail it, it's so simple. Our drummer and percussionists love this one, especially the heavy percussion bridge in the middle. It would be an easy thing to add a "verse" or two of the original "O Come All Ye Faithful" to this as well.

"Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy)" by Chris Tomlin, Glory In The Highest - Quite probably my favorite version of this song ever...the music fits perfectly with the lyrics, and the new chorus that CT has written is so much fun to sing. Our band and worship choir are rocking this one already!

"My Soul Magnifies The Lord" by Chris Tomlin, Glory In The Highest - With lyrics coming straight out of Scripture (see Isaiah's prophecies, Mary's prayer, etc.) and another infectious chorus, this is by far the best original congregational Christmas worship song I've heard in a long while. We introduced it with our band and worship choir this past Sunday, and I can already tell that this is one we'll be singing at our church for many Christmases to come.

"How Many Kings" by Downhere, How Many Kings - A great song about the sacrifice that God/Christ made to come to the earth and bring us salvation. We're introducing this one this year, and hoping to make it a congregational song in coming years.

That's all for now!

Nate

[mikeymo1741]

You must've read my mind! I just finished a post (http://mikeymo1741.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-tunes.html)on the same thing, my own list.

Mine's a little more tongue-in-cheek than yours. Here are my top three...



Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 - Trans-Siberian Orchestra. A lot of folks don't realize that this (like many on this list) is a cover tune of sorts. Several members of Savatage formed TSO, and the latter version has become more popular. Serious, head-banging Christmas rock.

Christmas is Coming - Vince Guaraldi Trio. Seriously, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the hippest Christmas album ever, and this tune is the hippest tune on the record. "Linus and Lucy" may get all the press, but "Christmas is Coming" is awesome.

Feliz Navidad - David Crowder* Band. Before all you Jose Felciano fans start jumping on me, this song has been covered by everybody. DC*B's interpretation is my clear favorite, off of the Wow Christmas 2005 album.