Oprah's Favorite Things: Josh Groban's Noel CD

Over the years many artists have brought forth the typical Christmas album, attempting to add their own unique style to traditional classics. Adult Contemporary/Easy listening artist Josh Groban is the latest to enter into this foray. His new album Noel was featured on Oprah's recent Favorite Things for 2007 show and she has picked a sure winner for the holiday season with this album.

Groban's holiday album offers 13 songs which include traditional classics, some lesser known pieces and a new entry. Noel launches with the classic Silent Night and Groban's amazing voice carries the tune magnificently over a soothing easy background by the London Symphony Orchestra. He continues this trend on the always popular classics Little Drummer Boy and Ave Maria. I'll Be Home for Christmas is Groban's released single for the album which features spoken messages by troops stationed in Iraq. What Child is This?, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and The First Noel are amongst his other selections.

Groban also adds some not so well-known holiday pieces for variety including Panis Angelicus and Petit Papa Noel. Thankful is a new song Groban introduces backed by an easy piano, in which he sings about all of the things we can appreciate everyday and how we can always do more. Groban's new track fits in nicely with the other holiday classics and carries right into the next track, The Christmas Song.

Noel continues its tone of warmth and holiday spirit, concluding with O Come All Ye Faithful over a choir and pipe organ, providing a joyful and resounding conclusion to this album. His baritone/mid-tenor voice carries to great ranges on his latest work, and he doesn't deviate too much from the traditional singing of these pieces. London Symphony Orchestra provides the peaceful and sometimes climactic backdrops for several songs, and at times Groban provides his own via brilliant piano playing. Mormon Tabernacle Choir, R&B singer Brian McKnight and country singer Faith Hill lend their equally amazing vocals for duets on the album.