By David
Last year, I posted a review of “It’s Christmas All Over” and (spoiler alert) I liked it. Towards the end of my review, I say:
‘If subsequent Christmas albums from the Goo Goo Dolls have more tracks like “You Ain’t Getting Nothin'” then I’d be in like Santa!’
While they haven’t given us a new album, this year they have released a “deluxe” version… and by “deluxe” they mean the previous year’s album plus two extra tracks. So, for my review of “It’s Christmas All Over (Deluxe)”, read last year’s review first and then, read on…
Both new tracks are strong additions. The first new track is, “One Last Song About Christmas” is a melancholy look at Christmases past and about absent friends and family. The singer paints a scene for us: singing from a barstool and leading the patrons (I’m imagining there are not many of them) in raising a glass as he delivers this last Christmas song. I really like the gentle trumpet playing too.
The last track is a much more upbeat affair: “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”. There is a big band style arrangement blasting away in the background. The full title of the song adds “(feat. Kudisan Kai)”. Now this is not a name I’ve heard before but some Googling will follow the completion of this review. What a voice she has! If I have one criticism of this new addition, it would be that Ms Kai is too low in the mix – I would love to hear more from her.
If you didn’t get this album last year, you have two more (very good) reasons to get it now!