Imagine if Muzak did dance versions of Christmas classics and you've got the basic of Club Christmas 2. The D1 crew (Peter McLean and Keith Kemper) produced this followup to the 2007 edition, Club Christmas.
Is Club Christmas 2 a possible stocking stuffer?
The musical styles range from house to trance to electro and hiNRG as each of these Christmas classics is pumped up in beats per minute (BPM). "Last Christmas," (purchase/download) originally by Wham and redone in eurostyle by Whigfield and more recently Cascada, is a highlight. The chords are quite pretty and the production is the best on the cd.
"Oh Holy Night" (purchase/download) is also quite good with an urgent sounding keyboard pulsating through the chorus. As a Nashvillian, I give kudos to D1 for creating a less annoying version of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" - but come to think about it, that's not much of a challenge considering the original.
Lumps of coal
On the downside, some of the tracks sound overly rushed both in tempo and sound quality. The biggest disappointment is "Felix Navidad" which starts off with a really cool intro, lifting your expectation, but when the piercing synth chorus comes in, its over. There is even a few notes that just sound wrong.
Is Club Christmas 2 Naughty or nice?
Recorded as instrumentals, these tracks would fit the bill for a holiday party where you want people to sing along - karaoke style. I could even imagine this working for an American Idol themed office party contest or video game. Check out the tracks as individual downloads before you buy. In terms of value, the "Club Christmas 2 Dance Mix" (clocking in at over 25 minutes) (purchase/download) is a definite bargain for only 99 cents!
