是咪咪vs大婶 不是咪咪大婶喔XDDD ---- 玛丽亚和苏珊大婶都发了新的圣诞专辑了！你会买谁的帐呢？ Both Mariah Carey and Susan Boyle have new holiday albums. Which diva would you rather kiss under the mistletoe? （这段好难翻，懒得查了，反正就是说很多艺人今年都发了圣诞专辑，然後说 没想到这十年最畅销的圣诞专辑竟然是肯尼吉的，难怪很多人说圣诞节越来越 无趣了XDDD） What do Jessica Simpson, the Indigo Girls, Annie Lennox, the Puppini Sisters, Justin Bieber and the TV show Glee all have in common? Very little, really— aside from the fact they all have Christmas albums due out this year. They are but a handful of the dozens of artists who are cashing in on Yule-time cheer. A market that at one time seemed cornered by the likes of Burl Ives and Bing Crosby is now wide open to anyone who can string the words "Santa" and "Claus" together. Case in point—one of the top-selling Christmas albums of the past decade belongs to Kenny G. No wonder some folks find the holidays depressing. 不过今年年底有两张超级圣诞大片将要发行，分别是玛丽亚的Merry Christmas II You 和苏珊婶的The Gift。这两张专辑会让前面说的那些要发圣诞专辑的歌手们相形见绌。 但在这两位之间，又是哪一位可以主导这整个圣诞节呢？ Amid the deluge of holiday music that comes in November and December, Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas II You and Susan Boyle's The Gift are poised to make all those other seasonal crooners sound like off-key carolers. Mariah's album is already out, and Susan's arrives Nov. 9, just in time to unseat her competitor's. But whose album will dominate this holiday season, and infuse the ailing music industry with a much-needed Christmas miracle? 首先，我们得要有一个概念，圣诞专辑可是个超级大市场，就算演唱者不是玛丽亚或苏珊 婶。回首去年最畅销的年度专辑前五名，里头就有一张是安得烈的圣诞专辑；再看看更早 之前，乔许葛洛班的圣诞专辑是2007年的最畅销专辑。 First, we should establish one thing: Christmas albums are big business, even when they're not by Mariah or Susan. Consider that one of 2009's top five albums was a holiday record (Andrea Bocelli's My Christmas) and according to Nielsen Soundscan, Josh Groban's Noel was the top-selling record of 2007. Songs loaded with mangers and mistletoe are at least one way to make up for everything else that tanked, or was leaked online, in 2010. 每一年年终发行的圣诞专辑一定会是销售保证，尤其在最近几年这个现象更显着了。 "Christmas albums are a guaranteed seller every year, going back to Elvis," says Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard magazine. "And it does seem like we're seeing more of them because some recent Christmas albums, specifically Groban's, have made such a show in the marketplace." 节庆类专辑是许多歌手都喜欢做的东西。因为它们不太需要什麽原创性，而且不管 听众们有没有在过节的习惯，这些都会是他们如数家珍的名曲，因此年龄的隔阂似 乎不成问题，从婴儿到老人都听得懂。而且啊，像是史汀、恩雅这种歌手就更有圣 诞音乐的市场，因为只剩他们还可以吸引到那些还会买实体唱片的老头子。XDDDDD "Seasonal CDs," as more serious artists like to refer to them, require very little original material (if any) and the songs are instantly familiar, regardless of whether the listener pitches a tree or lights a menorah each December. Age doesn't seem to be much of an issue either, since Christmas CDs are aimed at the Nickelodeon crowd as well as eggnog sippers. Still, Caulfield says that "acts who skew older, like Sting, Enya and those Celtic Thunder-type groups, tend to do better because they appeal to a demographic who still buy full albums." 回到咪咪和大婶，这两位都超过四十岁的歌手（哪壶不开提哪壶耶= =） 尽管两位吸引到的听众群非常地不同。然而就市场而言，如果会买专辑的还是一如 往年那些爱听老歌的LKK，那大婶绝对会卖赢咪咪。更何况这是大婶的第二张专辑， 里头除了圣诞歌之外还有一些非关圣诞节的老歌，所以过了新年以後还是有可能会 有人要买。以她第一张超级畅销专辑I Dreamed a Dream来看，这张圣诞专辑 仍相当有销售潜力。 Which brings us back to Mariah and Susan, who are both over 40. Though each artist's music caters to very different audiences, if the holiday album demographic holds true this year, then Boyle will crush Mariah in the sales category (she's a hit with the silver crowd). This is only Boyle's second album and it's a mix of Christmas and secular songs, so it has a potential life past New Year's Day. It also comes on the heels of her massively successful, rags-to-riches debut, I Dreamed a Dream. 然而，就音乐本质而言，这两位都具有天使般嗓音的歌手一比较，马上就高下立分。 玛丽亚的圣诞专辑着实有趣多了！当中甚至还包括了五首新歌以及改编传统圣诞 歌曲的Here Comes Santa Claus与Charlie Brown Christmas。玛丽亚在传统的圣诞 音乐基础之上悠游自在地表现许多崭新的创意。 But, as holiday music goes, which one of these divine voices will come up with the better Christmas record? Mariah certainly makes it all seem a lot more fun. Produced by Antonio L.A. Reid, her album includes five new songs as well as classics like "Here Comes Santa Claus" and Vince Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown Christmas." Carey takes a lot of liberties here with traditional fare, opening her CD with an instrumental interlude of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and later singing a "O Little Town of Bethlehem/Drummer Boy" medley. 这些老歌因为玛丽亚唱了二十年还是很鹅mazing的嗓音而活灵活现，再加上玛丽亚 如今在歌曲当中注入了更多她的个人特质与情感--这是她早期力拼高音所缺乏的元 素。例如表现出她个人招牌嘻哈/R&B色彩的首波主打Oh Santa，这首欢乐又catchy的 歌曲，铁定会像之前那首All I Want For Christmas is You一样成为经典！ The traditional numbers work, thanks to her still-quite-amazing voice, and the fact that she now infuses a lot of her personality into her singing—a soul and depth that was absent on a lot of her early work. Her own hip hop/R&B number, "Oh Santa," is so catchy and joyous, it could become a new standard, just as "All I Want For Christmas is You" was for her in 1994. Sample lyric from "Oh Santa": "Santa come and make him mine this Christmas," she sings. "I promise I won't forget the milk and cookies. I've been really good this year, except for those pretzels and that can of beer." 当然啦，毕竟这是张圣诞专辑，里头还是会有些俗里俗气的东西，但可以说是 少之又少罗！融合了传统圣诞歌曲和充满能量的R&B、管弦乐、灵魂乐，让这整张 专辑变得新鲜又多元！如果说要来点灵性的东西，咪咪也唱了First Noel这种 神圣的玩意儿。咪咪在专辑歌本里头引用了圣经；谦虚如她，尽管已经是这麽厉害 的女歌手，咪咪还是不忘在专辑感言当中感谢上帝。 Sure there are some cheesy moments (it's a Christmas album, after all), but they are few and far between. The mix of traditional Christmas songs with high-energy R&B, orchestral arrangements and even gospel, keep the CD feeling fresh and diverse. As for spiritual content, she sings the "First Noel" with reverence and soul and even includes Bible verses on her album booklet. Like any urban artist worth her salt, she also thanks God on her CD sleeve. 反观咱们虔诚的天主教信徒苏珊婶在专辑里头感谢了谁呢？头一个竟然是Simon Cowell （英国偶像评审之一，大概比上帝还有power XDDDD）但显然地，苏珊婶的信仰深深影响 了她这张新专辑的设计与选歌。在封面上，你会看到一尊苏珊婶的大头相盯着北极星， 尽管她的眼神好像有点失焦，整个画面看起来比较像是她被盏头灯照得睁不开眼睛XDDDD （按:http://tinyurl.com/29hzaf6） 她在专辑里头唱了哈利路亚、O Holy Night以及Away in a Manger等歌曲，每首歌 都呈现出一种纯净、遥远、质朴的风格。 Who does the devoutly Catholic Susan Boyle thank first in her liner notes? Simon Cowell (who might be more powerful than God). But clearly, Boyle's faith played a big role in the imagery and songs she chose for The Gift. Her album cover is a head shot of her staring off longingly toward the Northern Star, except her gaze is a little off so it looks like she's squinting into headlights instead. The holiday numbers here include "Hallelujah," "O Holy Night" and "Away in a Manger" while the inspirational numbers are Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" and Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over." Interestingly though, all boast the same ambience—lofty, pristine and pure, backed often by an angelic-sounding choir. 苏珊婶的声音无疑地、甚至是有点太过完美了，以致於专辑里头缺少了属於自己的 个人特质，整张唱片听起来尽管愉悦却显得无趣。你不会想要在圣诞派对上或在圣诞 假期血拼的时候播她的圣诞歌，它甚至平静到让人感觉悲伤，彷佛是唱给那些有假期 忧郁的人们听的一样。当然啦，每个听众都会用不同的情绪来解读那些歌，但是很 显然，我会需要些抗忧郁药来配这张专辑 XDDDD Boyle's voice is of course, stellar, if not a little too perfect. The album lacks a personality of its own, making it pleasant but often boring background music for tempered holiday parties or shopping at the upscale mall. It's so placid, in fact, it almost feels sad in spots, perhaps to cater to all the people who feel blue over the holidays. Or maybe listeners can project whatever emotion they would like onto it and make it their own (clearly I need antidepressants), because after all, isn't that what Susan Boyle is all about? 虽然咪咪的圣诞专辑的确是比较欢乐，但还是谢天谢地，今年年底我们终於多了 些不同的圣诞音乐可以选择。圣诞老人应该有听见我们的愿望：拜托，今年不要 再给我播肯尼吉了！！！ XDDDDD Though Mariah delivers a much more jolly, and joyous, Christmas album, thankfully there is more than one talented diva to pick from this year. All we can ask Santa for now is: please, no more Kenny G albums. 那就来试听一下阿婶的圣诞专辑吧～ http://tinyurl.com/2fmcywp --

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