Bob Dylan : Christmas In The Heart :: Review

Given Dylan’s adoration of the music of the 40’s and 50’s that has infused his most recent works, it’s surprising that he has waited this long to unleash a Christmas album onto the unsuspecting public.  Dylan’s affection and often masterful interpretation of songs that have been handed down from generation to generation has known no previous boundaries so why should one seasonal album be out of the question? One could assume that the disc would feature choice songs and possibly some obscurities because of Dylan’s involvement with his Theme Time Radio Hour program.  If nothing else, Dylan’s crack touring band would be able to pull off the material and then the untiring bard would continue to move forward to his next project.

Hilariously enough, when the official announcement was made that “Christmas In The Heart” would be released on October 13^th, media cognoscenti snickered derisively and Bobcats clutched their chests.  Questions about Dylan’s faith were rampant as was the concern that this album would trigger another born-again transformation.  Critics devoured the record claiming it to be the 21^st equivalent of Dylan’s “Self-Portrait” album.  While others remarked that Dylan’s voice was too far-gone to deliver the goods on a release such as this one.  There was so much bad press about this one album that you would have thought that Dylan recorded with the Jonas Brothers or worse, went on tour with the Grateful Dead again.

The nostalgia fueled “Christmas In The Heart” is diligently deferent to its source material and feels like an album that you might find gathering dust in a relative’s attic.   “Christmas In The Heart” is both magisterial and tacky capturing the imagery of the season perfectly in its execution.  A jaunty version of  “Here Comes Santa Claus” opens the album featuring Dylan’s take on the Gene Autry classic.  Dylan’s croak is juxtaposed against the vocals of his retro backup singers providing an early glimpse of the surreal but festive disc.  “Do You Hear What I Hear” sours on each listen and seems hokey although Dylan does his best to play it straight.  With a wink in his eye, Dylan is more pleasing on the secular fare such as “Winter Wonderland” and the zydeco saturated “Must Be Santa” which provides a jarring wake-up towards the end of the album.  The interpretation of Sammy Cahn’s “The Christmas Blues” feels like a natural fit for Dylan and offers a glimpse at what might have been.  The schmaltzy Hawaiian overkill of “Christmas Island” is redeemed by the simplicity of “The Christmas Song.”

While “Christmas In The Heart” isn’t the abomination it was claimed to be, it also isn’t the strongest evidence of Dylan’s resurgence. However on this album Dylan is guilty of being Dylan and if you don’t like his song choice or performance, then too bad.  On the flipside to that, if the mood were a little looser and less reverent, Dylan would have created one of the more interesting Christmas albums by an established act.

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This post was submitted by greg.