Report abuse
Submit my work
Share/bookmark
Email
Print
Tag as favorite
David Archuleta’s new album, Christmas From the Heart, is filled with entrancing, traditional Christmas carols as well as captivating foreign carols in other languages.
When I first saw the album art, I wasn’t crazy about it. The album cover is very boring and bland- a light white background, a picture of David Archuleta and some colored snowflakes. The title of his album is written in a light evergreen color in a calligraphy-type font. It wasn’t very original or impressive to me but after listening to the first couple of songs, my opinion changed completely.
The album opens with a beautiful rendition of “Joy To The World”. The first thirty seconds weren’t anything special but near the end of the song, Archuleta really kicked out many jaw-dropping riffs and amazing, enticing high notes. Archuleta’s mature voice is suited unbelievably well to sing the traditional carols on his album. I was hooked.
This album features many traditional songs as well as a few contemporary songs and foreign jingles. Songs like “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Duet with Charice Pemengco)”, “Melodies of Christmas”, and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” offer a unique more upbeat spin to the album. Songs like “Riu Riu Chiu” and “Pat-a-pan” blend in perfectly with the other traditional carols to create an elegant diverse mix of Christmas tunes.
Listening to him sing traditional carols like “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night” made the butterflies in my stomach stir and gave my whole body chills of shock and joy. Archuleta’s voice really brings these normally flat carols to life and makes you crave to play them on repeat.
Christmas From The Heart is the perfect way to celebrate the holiday season! It’s the perfect gift for music or Christmas lovers of any age. Archuleta’s new CD can bring Christmas spirit to any home. It will have your ready to rock around the Christmas tree and sing along with this new spin on traditional songs.
cathyrm said...
Nov. 13, 2009 at 8:38 pm:
Nov. 13, 2009 at 8:38 pm:
Thanks for the nice article about David's "Christmas From The Heart" cd. I love every song on this beautiful cd. He made the traditional songs sound new again and songs like "Pat A Pan" & "Riu Riu Chiu" are wonderful. I have listened to this cd several times now and each time I listen to it there are more things I like about it. "Melodies of Christmas" was co-written by David and has such a joyous pop feel to it. David Archuleta is truly one ... (more »)
hollyre said...
Nov. 11, 2009 at 12:15 pm:
Nov. 11, 2009 at 12:15 pm:
Thank you for the article. Even though most of the songs on Christmas from the Heart are traditional David puts a new spin on them and they become totally new. He shows a soul-vibe in several of the songs that perfectly fits his voice. Listen more than once to this album to truly appreciate the artistry of David Archuleta.
Sorry about the title, guys. When I submitted it, TeenInk added the extra "By David Archuleta" at the end making it repetitive. My apologies. (:
archie17 said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 10:27 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 10:27 pm:
Thanks for posting this. David's Christmas CD is nothing short of beautiful, and I wish the world could find out about it. They'd love it!
angelofdja said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 8:06 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 8:06 pm:
David Archuleta continues to grow both as a performer and a song writer. He has shown a level of class and professionalism that I truly respect. It's been a blast watching his career since the Star Search days! What a VOICE!
Gracie said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 7:56 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 7:56 pm:
Nice review. I have listened to the album on repeat now. I think it's great. I wish though that he wasn't sick when he was recording some of the songs. But that's what I admire about David, he makes the best of what he had at that time. I love Joy to The World, O Come All Ye Faithful, What Child Is This, Ave Maria, and of course I absolutely adore Pat a Pan and Riu Riu Chiu. I think those are going to be incredible when he performs them live. He is so amazing live. I wish prod... (more »)
lyrix said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 7:08 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 7:08 pm:
Jillian- I really enjoyed reading your article.
Like you, I was just hmm.. at the beginning of the first song and then when David really kicked it into high gear, I was gone too.
I'm glad you could relate to my review! It's a great cd! (:
nemo said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 6:33 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 6:33 pm:
Love love love this Christmas album and David's voice.
RussFod said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 3:30 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 3:30 pm:
I'm not a music critic by any means and I don't know how to write a good review, I just know what i like and what sounds great. So I have to say Christmas From The Heart sounds great and I really like it. Compared to other Christmas albums I have purchased in the past I would have to rate Christmas From The Heart as the best in recent years. Others are good but lack the sincere emotion as delivered by David. To me nothing can compare to David's voice and the feeling he puts... (more »)
That was a wonderful critique of the CD. Thanks for reading! It's great to see other FODers on TeenInk. (:
lct09 said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 3:16 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 3:16 pm:
I agree! The cover was simple however the content is incredible! This guy is truly talented and great to look at! We can't judge a book by its cover!
MaryfromNC said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 2:03 pm:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 2:03 pm:
Fantastic review! You really hit the mark with everything you said! This is the most beautiful Christmas CD I've ever heard!
CM(Yakima) said...
Nov. 10, 2009 at 10:06 am:
Nov. 10, 2009 at 10:06 am:
This review could have been written by me as every word you said was as if you were saying exactly my thoughts on David's Christmas album! He is a superb talent and will be around for many more Christmases!!
Thank you!!
violet4ever said...
Nov. 9, 2009 at 10:54 am:
Nov. 9, 2009 at 10:54 am:
Thanks for the super and honest review! I know a few fans were hoping for David's 2nd album to be pop and were disappointed it was a Christmas album. If you are one of those fans, you have to hear this album. It is pure Archuleta - traditional Christmas with inventive arrangements and David's pop, soul and gospel touches. Check it out at last.fm. Even if you think you could never love a Christmas album, I think you will change your mind when you hear this one. And if you are young and... (more »)
Kaitie said...
Nov. 9, 2009 at 1:15 am:
Nov. 9, 2009 at 1:15 am:
Oh, and David has actually sold over 31,000 copies of the album as of last week. Not sure where you got your 16,000.
jAMIEWONDERS said...
Nov. 8, 2009 at 9:28 pm:
Nov. 8, 2009 at 9:28 pm:
Can someone please tell me why David Archuleta sold less than 16,000 Christmas Cd's when he has 250,000 fans on twitter alone? It doesn't add up
Hi JamieWonders,
Well, it is still pretty early for a lot of people to be buying Christmas music, and I wouldn't think it's a good idea to use number of Twitter followers as a sales-predictive measuring stick for any musician. As Christmas nears, we'll see how the album sells. David so far has done no promotion. I hope the album sells well because it is a great Christmas album.
Christmas albums sell less than pop albums. David did very well for a Christmas album released pre-Halloween. Few stores will even put out Christmas albums until Halloween is over. It sold close to 17.000 the first week and the following two weeks were over 7000 copies each, for a total so far of 31,000 in just the US. The album is also for sale in Canada, UK, France, Germany, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan. Also, though David has 250,000 Twitter followers, those f... (more »)
Kaitie said...
Nov. 7, 2009 at 4:18 pm:
Nov. 7, 2009 at 4:18 pm:
Thanks for a great review. I love this album too. Pat-A-Pan is so addicting that I wish radio would play it during Christmas.
If David Archuleta has so many fans who admire him so much, then why did he sell less than 16,000 Christmas Cd's?
Virtue said...
Nov. 7, 2009 at 2:47 pm:
Nov. 7, 2009 at 2:47 pm:
If you gonna have CD of Christmas music then this is the one to buy. David Archuleta sings it like no other. He starts out songs rather traditionally, then he flies with them taking you ever so close to heaven itself! Congratulations, David, on an Archmazing CD.
caitlinvaughn said...
Nov. 7, 2009 at 1:56 pm:
Nov. 7, 2009 at 1:56 pm:
OH YEAH! Christmas From The Heart is addicting!! LUV it!
blue said...
Nov. 7, 2009 at 12:49 pm:
Nov. 7, 2009 at 12:49 pm:
great review! thanks. i love Christmas from the heart. definitely the best Christmas album i've ever bought.
TrudyFOD said...
Nov. 7, 2009 at 12:16 pm:
Nov. 7, 2009 at 12:16 pm:
I love this Christmas from the Heart album by David Archuleta. I just think David is an amazing singer / songwriter. David's voice just soars throughout the album with an orchestra in the background. Really amazing. There are some traditional songs we are familiar with, along with some surprises like a fun song called Pat-a-Pan and a song David sings in Spanish (awesome!), along with a song David co-wrote called Melodies of Christmas. This is the first Christmas album I've ever purchas... (more »)
Join the Discussion
This article has 26 comments. Post your own!