Christmas Eve and Other Stories

Christmas Eve and Other Stories
Studio album by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Released	October 15, 1996
Genre	Holiday music, classical music, progressive rock/metal, symphonic rock/metal
Length	62:03
Label	Lava Records
Producer	Paul O'Neill and Robert Kinkel
Trans-Siberian Orchestra chronology
Christmas Eve and Other Stories (1996) The Christmas Attic (1998)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Christmas Eve and Other Stories is a rock opera and Christmas album by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The story is about a young man who wanders into a bar on Christmas Eve where he encounters a mysterious old man who tells him a tale about the magical effect of Christmas day on the human race. The album takes familiar classical pieces and adds to them new songs and arrangements from both classic and progressive rock influences for which the group is known. The album also contains a mix of vocal and instrumental songs. The primary musicians on the album are all members of the progressive metal band Savatage (Paul O'Neill, the producer of the album, is Savatage's longtime producer). Jon Oliva, one of the principle songwriters on the album, is also a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and original vocalist in Savatage (Oliva is also the voice of Mephistopheles on Beethoven's Last Night).

As of October 16, 2011, Christmas Eve and Other Stories was the ninth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the Nielsen SoundScan era of music sales tracking (1991-present), with sales of at least 3,190,000 copies in the United States according to SoundScan.^[2]

On November 18, 2004, Christmas Eve and Other Stories was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of more than two million copies in the United States.^[3]

Track listing

1. "An Angel Came Down" (Franz Gruber, O'Neill, Oliva) – 3:52
2. "O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night" (John Francis Wade, Frederick Oakeley, John Reading, Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight, O'Neill, Kinkel) – 4:19 *
3. "A Star to Follow" (O'Neill) – 3:49
4. "First Snow" (O'Neill) – 3:53 *
5. "The Silent Nutcracker" (Kinkel, Oliva) – 2:22 *
6. "A Mad Russian's Christmas" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Kinkel, Oliva) – 4:42 *
7. "The Prince of Peace" (Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley, O'Neill) – 3:33
8. "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" (O'Neill, Kinkel, Oliva) – 3:25 *
9. "Good King Joy" (Lowell Mason, Kinkel, O'Neill) – 6:36
10. "Ornament" (O'Neill, Oliva) – 3:37
11. "The First Noel" (William B. Sandys) – 0:55 *
12. "Old City Bar" (O'Neill) – 6:18
13. "Promises to Keep" (O'Neill, Kinkel, Oliva) – 2:41
14. "This Christmas Day" (O'Neill, Oliva) – 4:20
15. "An Angel Returned" (O'Neill, Oliva) – 3:52
16. "O Holy Night" (Adam, Dwight) – 2:39 *
17. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Traditional) – 1:16 *

• (*) indicates an instrumental

• "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" is performed by Savatage and was first released on the Savatage album Dead Winter Dead in 1995.

• Songs "O Holy Night" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" are bonus tracks.

There is a 2 CD version of Christmas Eve and Other Stories with one CD containing a Special Narrated Version Of Christmas Eve and Other Stories. The narrated CD contains one continuous track of music, with narration by Russell Horton between songs. This special edit was done by Robert Kinkel and was produced by Taro Meyer.

In 2001, the Target retail chain in the United States issued a version of the album with a different catalog number and a sticker attached to the front shrink wrap stating "Target Exclusive: 2 Bonus Songs Included." The two tracks are not identified on the cover or any of the album packaging, but they are as follows:

1. "Whoville Medley (Perfect Christmas Night/Grinch)" - 2:38, which originally appeared on the 2000 soundtrack album to the movie Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2. "The World That He Sees" - 4:43, which was added to The Christmas Attic album sometime after its release; it does not appear on original 1998 editions of the CD.

They are located after the two "official" bonus tracks on the original CD.

Some other post-2000 copies of the CD contain "Whoville Medley (Perfect Christmas Night/Grinch)" as an unlisted 18th track, without "The World That He Sees."

Personnel

• Paul O'Neill - Producer
• Robert Kinkel - Co-Producer
• Dave Wittman - Recording and Mix Engineer

Performers

Vocals

Solos:

• Zak Stevens
• John Margolis
• Marlene Danielle
• Michael Fawcette
• Thomas Faresse
• Ken Williams
• Babi Floyd

Back-Ups:

• Zak Stevens
• Nancy Jackson
• Peggy Harley
• Latasha Spencer
• Danielle Lander
• Jeffrey Stackhouse
• Timothy Carosi
• Peter Valentine

Child choir

Conductor:

• Anthony Piccolo

Choir:

• Joseph Murray
• Adrian Ross
• Nigel Tangredi
• Warren Wilson
• Beth Butler
• Cabiria Jacobson
• Rachel Rosenfield
• Caroline Ross

Instrumental

Solos

• Cello - Mary Wooten
• French Horn - John Clark

Orchestra

• Robert Kinkel - Piano and Keyboards
• Johnny Lee Middleton - Bass
• Jon Oliva - Piano, Keyboards and Bass Guitars
• Paul O'Neill - Rhythm Guitars
• Al Pitrelli - Lead, Rhythm and Bass Guitars
• Jeff Plate - Drums
• Chris Caffery - Additional Guitars on "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)"

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ "Ask Billboard: What Are The Best-Selling Holiday Albums?". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2011-10-16. http://www.billboard.com/#/column/chartbeat/ask-billboard-what-are-the-best-selling-1005413232.story. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 
3. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. http://riaa.org/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Christmas_Eve_&_Other_Stories&artist=Trans-Siberian_Orchestra&format=ALBUM&debutLP=&category=GROUP&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&awardDescription=Multi_Platinum&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=12&startYear=1958&endYear=2010&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 

External links

• Trans-Siberian Orchestra Homepage
• Christmas Eve and Other Stories Page