Noel by Josh Groban (CD, Oct-2007, Reprise)

Album Features
UPC:	093624992950
Artist:	Josh Groban
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2007
Record Label:	Reprise
Genre:	Christmas, Easy Listening

Track Listing
1. Silent Night
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. I'll Be Home for Christmas
4. Ave Maria
5. Angels We Have Heard on High
6. Thankful
7. Christmas Song, The
8. What Child Is This?
9. First Noël, The
10. Petit Papa Noël
11. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
12. Panis Angelicus
13. O Come All Ye Faithful

Details
Producer:	David Foster
Distributor:	WEA (Distributor)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel: Josh Groban (piano); Dean Parks, Andy McKee (guitar); Lucia Micarelli (violin); Jochem van der Saag (programming); Richard Page (background vocals).Audio Mixer: Humberto Gatica.Recording information: Chartmaker Studios; EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England; Rak Studios; Westlake Audio.Directors: Bill Ives ; Kirk Franklin; Craig Jessop.Photographer: Frank Ockenfels.Unknown Contributor Role: London Symphony Orchestra.Arrangers: E. Taylor; Josh Groban; Kirk Franklin; William Ross ; Brad Dechter.Only his fourth studio album, NOEL finds Josh Groban already tackling that canonical mainstay of the adult contemporary singer, the Christmas album. As always, NOEL is a masterfully performed set, balanced neatly between pop standards and the more operatic material that showcases Groban's roots. Interestingly, he sounds best on the most familiar holiday standards, like "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song," both of which he invests with casual, jazzy phrasing, providing a welcome disinclination for the usual Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby homages that many other young singers in the style fall into. Even this early into his career, Groban clearly has a deeply held sense of who he is as a singer and interpreter, and this lovely collection is proof that he's one of the most exciting adult contemporary stars to appear in ages.