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Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
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Everything You Want For Christmas
Big Bad Records/Vanguard Records
Release: 10/12/2004
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Rated:
Review by:
Jason Warner
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Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made a brief appearance in the
short-lived swing revival that emerged in the late 1990's. I
admit I had forgotten about them. I don't know what it is
about swing bands and Christmas songs, but they really
seem to love putting on the Christmas cheer. A couple
years ago I picked up the Squirrel Nut Zippers' Christmas
album. It was inventive and fresh, becoming one of my
family's favorite seasonal treats. Squirrel Nut Zippers
managed to interpret some classic Christmas favorites, as
well as writing some classy Christmas tunes of their own. It
really is a great album. I was hoping their fellow swingers,
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, would offer up an equally tasty
holiday gem.
The cover of the record is great, depicting a child's pushcart
hot rod done up in rockabilly style with flames and chrome,
sitting beneath a decked out Christmas tree. The lights and
decorations look great, and the chrome on the hot rod is
shiny and polished. The same cannot be said for the music
on Everything You Want For Christmas. While
the songs are not terrible, they are not great either. After
repeated listening the original compositions are familiar to
me now, but that doesn't mean they are good. The more
traditional numbers are much better, "Blue Christmas" and
"We Three Kings," being the best of the 10 (plus one hidden
song) tracks. One of the original tunes, "Christmastime in
Tinsel Town" shows promise.
The musicians of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are obviously
talented, but the production leaves a little to be desired. At
times the horns sound like they could be keyboard
generated. The overall impression I get from the music is
that it just feels clumsy and rushed. Some of the
arrangements were too predictable, and overall the album
has the feel that the band went to the studio, recorded
everything in one take and then said, "that's good
enough."
Am I being too critical of what was meant to be a
light-hearted holiday album? Maybe so, but I feel that even
holiday albums need to be strong musically if they expect to
earn a spot in my holiday collection. Maybe I'm just a
musical snob and I'm being too anal. I know swing music is
supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously, but this
record was just not that fun to listen to. Everything
You Want For Christmas is probably only necessary
for die-hard fans of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, or fans of
generally mediocre swing/rockabilly. Maybe I just missed
the point? |
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