"CAROL OF THE BELLS" THE WESTMINSTER CHOIR (2011)

So much of the Christmas season, for me, is all about the music. I have no problems with you if you want to start your Christmas celebrations a little early. After Halloween seems excessive. After Thanksgiving is fair game. Then let’s bring on the real Christmas songs and the fake ones, too. I don’t discriminate. From Dec 16-31, it’s all Christmas music playing on Mental Jukebox.

This is the kind of Christmas song that lingers on in your head long after you’ve heard it. By stripping out all the instrumentation, the Westminster Choir’s version of “Carol Of The Bells” may be the most powerful rendition ever recorded. All focus is on the ensemble of voices that become the instruments themselves. It’s about the high ceiling acoustics. It’s about the electric crescendo. It’s about that lingering feeling inside of you long after Christmas ends. It’s a song that only a group as talented as The Westminster Choir can truly pull off.

“HARK HOW THE BELLS. SWEET SILVER BELLS. ALL SEEM TO SAY. THROW CARES AWAY.”