I received a copy of this CD to facilitate my review. As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own. Please see giveaway guidelines for more details.

It’s Christmas!

Okay, so it’s not Christmas yet.  But that’s the title of the new Christmas CD from Mercy Me.  I would normally not be listening to Christmas music (other than my daughters’ choir rehearsals) before Thanksgiving, but I had to check this CD out so I could let you know what I think before it’s time for you to listen to Christmas CDs!

We’ve been fans of Mercy Me for over a decade, since they led the praise & worship at the student conferences we took our youth group to.  While this album is the same quality we’ve come to expect from Mercy Me, it has some decided differences from their other music, as well.

Mercy Me and Pizza Ranch

Before I get into the details of the album, I should probably let you know that I’m listening to a special edition.  This one is available at Pizza Ranch now, through December 31st.  It costs $5 (plus tax), or you can get one free with a $25 gift card purchase.  Why would you want to do that?  Because the Pizza Ranch version of the CD has four extra songs.  See on that cover up there how it ends with track eleven?  Well, this adds one more line:

12. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
13. O Holy Night
14. Silent Night
15. Joseph’s Lullaby

Also, presumably, Pizza Ranch rocks.  I don’t actually know because I’d never heard of it before this.  I’m pretty sure they’re not in my area (yet).*  But it looks like they have fun pizzas.  There are gluten-free options at many (most?) locations.  And it is apparently a Christian company.

*According to Wikipedia, Pizza Ranch has “locations in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.”

Album Details

Okay, so let’s talk about the album.  One of the first things I noted with appreciation is that there are no Santa songs on the album.  (No offense intended to those who enjoy Santa, but sometimes you just don’t want that to be the focus, y’know?  And it’s crazy how hard it can be sometimes to find a whole album without at least one Santa song.)  Now, these aren’t all Christmas hymns — there are some plain old fun/traditional seasonal songs, too.  But no “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.”

On the down side, this is not a very “singable” album.  It’s fun to listen to.  It would make great “background music” for a party or decorating cookies or the tree, or whatever.  But the arrangements are all a little unusual/artsy, making it pretty difficult to sing along with.  One song in particular has a tempo that switches back and forth numerous times.

Another unusual detail I noticed is that a couple of the songs have a bit of a “country” feel — not a bad thing, but something I’m not accustomed to hearing from Mercy Me!

Overall, we really do enjoy the album, but it wasn’t what I expected.

So How Do You Get It?

You want the album, but you’re not sure how to get it.  Well, if you’re a lot farther west than I am, you can, as previously mentioned, pick it up at your local Pizza Ranch.  But what if, like, me, it would take a wagon train (or at least a plane trip) to get to Pizza Ranch?  You can find the abbreviated version on Amazon.  Or you can enter right here below to WIN a copy of the extended Pizza Ranch version.

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