Sidewalk Prophets "Merry Christmas to You" Album Review

Movie mongers know how to hit consumers the hardest with their flashiest mega-million blockbusters over the holiday season.  Yet, perennially it's always the made for children Christmas movies that come up the top in terms of box office success and long-term posterities.  DVDs of classic seasonal movies like "Polar Express," "Miracle on 34^th Street," "Elf" and so forth still sell by the truckloads each year.  And way before Ron Howard and Jim Carey brought "The Grinch" to the big screen, Dr. Seuss' storybook form of the green monster has not only stolen Christmas from the residents of Whoville but also from countless families for years.  Christmas, or more precisely the Christ child, calls for something childlike in us.  There is something in us that yearns for that childlike bewilderment that extends to the supernatural and the eternity during Christmas. This is why God did not come into this world as an aged sage or a svelte good looking stud.  Rather, He came as a helpless child so that we too can respond to Him with childlike faith.  From the reading of scripture by a child at the start of the record to its animated cartoonish cover (a strong contender for the best album cover of the year), theses 12 songs call forth a childlike trust in Jesus that is not only Scriptural but it is the only way we can respond to the miracle of God who has come among us.

Sidewalk Prophets comprises of David Frey, Ben McDonald, Cal Joslin, Justin Nace and Shaun Tomczak. Their highly successful Word Records debut "These Simple Truths" has chauffeured them with the No. 1 Christian hit "You Can Love Me Anyway," the No. 3 "The Words I Would Say" and the top 20 "You Can Have Me."  Further, while it has taken many artists years to be recognized by the industry; with just their debut record, they have won a Dove Award for Best New Artist and a nomination for best Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year.  As far as Christmas records are concerned, "Merry Christmas to You" is not their first foray.  Rather, in 2010, they have released a festive EP "Come Now Our King" which produced the top 10 single "Hope Was Born This Night."  "Merry Christmas to You," produced by Jonathan Smith, Casey Brown and Ian Eskelin, is their first full length studio album though that comprises of 10 songs with two formerly released singles "Hope Was Born This Night" and "Because It's Christmas" tagged onto it.

Out of the 10 new cuts four of which are brand new compositions. If creativity is the gauge, Sidewalk Prophets hit the jackpot with "Hey Moon." "Hey Moon" narrates like a modern day Aesop's fable where the moon realizes that its purpose on that first Christmas night was to shine its brightest for the shepherds to make their way to see Jesus Christ.  Such a message reinforces what the Apostle Paul has been teaching in Colossians 1:16 that all of creation (the moon included) is created by God and for Him.  Starting off with the voice of a child reading the Lukan account of Christ's birth, "What a Glorious Night" will get the whole family stomping out in praise for Christ's glorious birth.  If there is a follow-up smash to their top 10 festive smash "Hope Was Born this Night" is the "Give Me Christmas."  "Give Me Christmas" is as animated as its album cover.  A melodic triumphant with an engaging set of vocals, this will get us grooving along.  And coiffed with sonic locks borrowed from some Deep Southern blues is the romping "That Spirit of Christmas."

As far as the traditional Yuletide songs go, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" gets a Christianized treatment when the line "Through the years/We all will be together/If the fates allow" has been changed to "if the Lord allows."  While label mate Francesca Battistelli joins Sidewalk Prophets in a time warp as they step into some old fashioned 50s-style pop with a touch of jazz on the picturesque "White Christmas." Nevertheless, the high point of "Merry Christmas to You" is that it not only invites the entire family to celebrate Christmas together, but through some of its faith -infested songs, it allows us to trust Christ again with that childlike faith.