Joy Steven Curtis Chapman

After listening, I am ready to put up the Christmas tree. The album is correctly titled "JOY" as you listen joy breaks forth in your heart and a big smile forms on your face. Your toes will tap, your feet will dance and fingers snap with the tunes as you rejoice in the true Christmas Spirit. It will be playing as we put up our tree! If you begin to stress, play this album and stress won't be able to stay, the Joy of the Lord is our strength!…...Thank you Steven Curtis Chapman!

I challenge any other CCM artist (or any artist of ANY genre for that matter) to match the artistry displayed by SCC on this album. He effortlessly weaves through pop, folk, classic rock, and jazz for an eclectic collection of old and new tunes that are all simply fabulous! His arrangements of old standards are fresh and new - special props for a FANTASTIC arrangement of "Do You Hear What I Hear". SO many artists take cracks at that song and SO many fail to produce anything listenable, much less phenomenal. "Christmas Time Again" is a "Jingle Bell Rock" style track that out-rocks "Jingle Bell Rock" or any other song of that era and style. "Christmas Kiss" was SUCH a surprise - SCC does straight-up jazz! And does it well! Yes, he can croon with the best of them, and on the jazz tracks here he has never sounded better. "In The Bleak Midwinter" is an oft-forgotten gem that is hardly ever recorded, so I was super excited to see he did it. It gave me chills and brought me to tears. "Happy New Year" had a similar effect.

From a man who's released three Christmas albums in his career, you may expect him to start running out of material or to start sounding stale. Not so. SCC has changed it up more than ever and yet produced a simply delightful product that is very distinct from his previous two Christmas records, and in a wonderful way. In terms of Christmas originals he is unmatched - Christmas in Kentucky, Christmas Card, I Am Joseph as well as the aforementioned three tracks are all phenomenal. This is a wonderfully eclectic album - the mix of styles means there's something for everyone. Serious musicians will appreciate SCC's unmatched musicianship and the skillful track production. Do yourself a favor this Christmas season and buy this album; then do your friends and family a favor and give them all one too! You are guaranteed to enjoy it.

Steven has always excelled when it comes to recording fresh but familiar Christmas music and JOY is no exception. Here he serves up his trademark pop/rock sound with a dash of jazz, a touch of folk, and a healthy dose of classic pop influences thrown into the mix. And of course, through it all, Steven always points us back to the true meaning of Christmas, the Love that came into the world over 2,000 years ago, and still reaches to everyone, wherever you are. So put some logs on the fire, pour a glass of egg nog, and draw close to someone you love, enJOYing this heartfelt and thoughtful collection of Christmas treasures. You'll be glad you did.