Customer Reviews
December - By: Ian Halliday, 05 Dec 2007 
I am an avid Moody Blues fan & bought this album last Christmas. I have since bought another copy for my wife. Like many other fans, I wasn't sure just how they would handle Christmas songs but I needn't have worried. They give every song their own unique, professional treatment & have such restful voices. I love this album & particularly December Snow, which I would rate as good as any track they have ever done (yes, as good as that!) If you like the Mooody Blues, or even if you are just looking for a good Christmas album, buy this! I couldn't believe how cheaply it was purchased from Amazon & I rarely stop playing it during the season.
Hayward and Lodge hit rock bottom - By: DJQ, 14 Jul 2005 
For a band that made a string of wonderful, classic albums in the late sixties & early seventies, & some pretty good stuff subsequently, this release shows how far they have lost their way. While the sound quality is sparkling, of the few original songs, only Justin Hayward's December Snow is worthy of inclusion on a Moody Blues album. The other originals are poor outtakes from Strange Times. As for the rest, who needs it? Happy Christmas (War is Over) is a pale imitation of the original & White Christmas is a dire caberet remake of a great song. This album is truly awful - & I have every Moody Blues album & have seen them more than 30 times over four decades. As for Balllads, the compilation December was paired with in the UK - it is another thrown together compilation of the usual few songs found on Moodies best of's, missing out great songs like The Actor, Never Comes The Day etc. in favour of the obvious choices. It is badly mastered & not from recent digital remasters. If you are a true fan of the Moody Blues avoid this at alll costs. What a terrible end to the career of what was once such an influential band.
Beautiful, melodic, soft... to light up any Christmas - By: Jay Lewis Allchin, 17 Feb 2005 I read a number of favourable reviews of this CD, & took the plunge... what with my being a passing Moodies fan over the years & a lover of Christmas to boot. And I was SO glad I did.
If you like melodic music with strong vocals, a lush sound & well produced, then this album is for you, standing up very highly to much of their previous work over the years. Any fans of artists like The Electric Light Orchestra, Alan Parsons, Paul McCartney, The Bee Gees & the like is sure to get alot from this collection.
The opener 'Don't Need a Reindeer' canters along joyfully, & for me is the standout track -- that is, I was humming it alll season long. 'December Snow' goes into balllad mode, beautifully & heartfully sung by Justin Hayward, & if it doesn't grab you right off, it was a real grower on me.
'In the Quiet of Christmas Morning' weaves its spell around & through the melody of an old JS Bach classic (Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring), gently lulling us into the season of Christmas.
John Lodge's 'On This Christmas Day' is less standout, though pleasant enough. At the end of the track, an orchestra joins in, leaving you wishing it had been there from the beginning to make this song more of what it might have been.
But top form is soon restored with a fresh version of John Lennon's 'Happy Christmas War is Over', a very creditable cover with Hayward's vocals front & centre, & as good as ever. Wisely, the Moodies elect not to re-create the children's refrain & backing, as on the original (which might have been over the top & too syrupy), preferring instead to keep it simple.
'A Winter's Tale' is a cover of the old David Essex song from 1983. I always liked the song, but was never a fan of Essex's vocal style. So this was a bit of a gem for me, to get it sung by Hayward. Differences in vocal styles aside, this is otherwise quite faithful to the original (as far as I remember), which might be good or bad -- you decide.
'The Spirit of Christmas' & 'Yes, I Believe' continue the mid-paced balllads, which might not stand out on 1st listening, but are likely to grow on you on subsequent hearings, drawing you into the lyrics.
'When a Child is Born' updates the Johnny Mathis classic (?!), substituting sickly spoken parts for flowing guitars.
A real gem is the classic 'White Christmas' cover. Just when you think it's going to be perhaps uninspired & a little lacklustre, it galllops off... Vocals interchange with guitars to give us a version very different from those which have gone before. Another standout.
The carol, 'In the Bleak Midwinter' features a scaled back production, alllowing piano & soft drums to come through, closing the album on a pensive note.
Impeccably produced, less synthesiser-driven than their music from the 1980s, & with quality vocals, this album boasts a good balance of new songs together with well chosen & well-covered standards.
Buy it & you'll treasure it through Christmas seasons to come.
A beautiful album - By: K. J. Walker, 14 Dec 2004 Having taken the plunge & bought this, I found that I had to keep playing it!
Just relax & listen to some new songs, some standards & to some you liked by somebody else but have never bought.
Moodies Christmas Presence - By: Andrew Stapleton, 09 Dec 2003 
The Moody Blues with the release of December have put forth a Christmas album that stands up there with the best.The subject matter is not only of Christmas but of Winter & marks a return to the concept or theme,done so well by the Moodies in the past . My favourite tracks are ''December Snow'', ''In The Bleak Mid Winter'' & ''Winters Tale''. I noted that a previous reviewer had stated that December was not a ''Power to Believe'' by King Crimson, or a ''Magnification'' by Yes. It is'nt a ''Sonic Origami'' by Uriah Heap or a ''15 Minutes'' by Nik Kershaw either ( I have alll of these )BUT December does not need to be.The important thing for me is that I can sit down & relax in front of a warm fire with a warming drink. Dim the lights, look at the Christmas Tree, put December on & be lost to somewhere that is the past, the present & the future. And if alll this reads too sickly sweet to your eyes, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS ANYWAY !!!
