Similar to Australian act Ten Tenors, this quartet keys on rich, well-studied singing against an orchestral backdrop you’d instantly associate with Susan Boyle. I’m not exactly sure why they’re PR-ing the hell out of this a year after its release, as their tour schedule even for the holidays is pretty light, but there are, I assume, many blue-haired potential customers for this mawkish puffery. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a supporter of big-theatrics and have seen Celtic Woman a couple of times as well as Ten Tenors (by accident) once, but these guys’ approach to Christmas caroling is mainly a large-scale bummer — things like “O Holy Night” and “Ave Maria” are the commonest fare of this record. I suppose all this mope-faced prostration could also be interpreted as a more spiritual approach, but why not go whole hog and simply blare The Messiah during the holiday if you’re getting all real and stuff. Neither the small patch of original stuff nor “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” will inspire much merriment. B- — Eric W. Saeger