是咪咪vs大嬸 不是咪咪大嬸喔XDDD ---- 瑪麗亞和蘇珊大嬸都發了新的聖誕專輯了！你會買誰的帳呢？ Both Mariah Carey and Susan Boyle have new holiday albums. Which diva would you rather kiss under the mistletoe? （這段好難翻，懶得查了，反正就是說很多藝人今年都發了聖誕專輯，然後說 沒想到這十年最暢銷的聖誕專輯竟然是肯尼吉的，難怪很多人說聖誕節越來越 無趣了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. 不過今年年底有兩張超級聖誕大片將要發行，分別是瑪麗亞的Merry Christmas II You 和蘇珊嬸的The Gift。這兩張專輯會讓前面說的那些要發聖誕專輯的歌手們相形見絀。 但在這兩位之間，又是哪一位可以主導這整個聖誕節呢？ 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，我們得要有一個概念，聖誕專輯可是個超級大市場，就算演唱者不是瑪麗亞或蘇珊 嬸。回首去年最暢銷的年度專輯前五名，裡頭就有一張是安得烈的聖誕專輯；再看看更早 之前，喬許葛洛班的聖誕專輯是2007年的最暢銷專輯。 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. 每一年年終發行的聖誕專輯一定會是銷售保證，尤其在最近幾年這個現象更顯著了。 "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." 節慶類專輯是許多歌手都喜歡做的東西。因為它們不太需要什麼原創性，而且不管 聽眾們有沒有在過節的習慣，這些都會是他們如數家珍的名曲，因此年齡的隔閡似 乎不成問題，從嬰兒到老人都聽得懂。而且啊，像是史汀、恩雅這種歌手就更有聖 誕音樂的市場，因為只剩他們還可以吸引到那些還會買實體唱片的老頭子。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." 回到咪咪和大嬸，這兩位都超過四十歲的歌手（哪壺不開提哪壺耶= =） 儘管兩位吸引到的聽眾群非常地不同。然而就市場而言，如果會買專輯的還是一如 往年那些愛聽老歌的LKK，那大嬸絕對會賣贏咪咪。更何況這是大嬸的第二張專輯， 裡頭除了聖誕歌之外還有一些非關聖誕節的老歌，所以過了新年以後還是有可能會 有人要買。以她第一張超級暢銷專輯I Dreamed a Dream來看，這張聖誕專輯 仍相當有銷售潛力。 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，就音樂本質而言，這兩位都具有天使般嗓音的歌手一比較，馬上就高下立分。 瑪麗亞的聖誕專輯著實有趣多了！當中甚至還包括了五首新歌以及改編傳統聖誕 歌曲的Here Comes Santa Claus與Charlie Brown Christmas。瑪麗亞在傳統的聖誕 音樂基礎之上悠遊自在地表現許多嶄新的創意。 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. 這些老歌因為瑪麗亞唱了二十年還是很鵝mazing的嗓音而活靈活現，再加上瑪麗亞 如今在歌曲當中注入了更多她的個人特質與情感--這是她早期力拼高音所缺乏的元 素。例如表現出她個人招牌嘻哈/R&B色彩的首波主打Oh Santa，這首歡樂又catchy的 歌曲，鐵定會像之前那首All I Want For Christmas is You一樣成為經典！ 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." 當然啦，畢竟這是張聖誕專輯，裡頭還是會有些俗裡俗氣的東西，但可以說是 少之又少囉！融合了傳統聖誕歌曲和充滿能量的R&B、管弦樂、靈魂樂，讓這整張 專輯變得新鮮又多元！如果說要來點靈性的東西，咪咪也唱了First Noel這種 神聖的玩意兒。咪咪在專輯歌本裡頭引用了聖經；謙虛如她，儘管已經是這麼厲害 的女歌手，咪咪還是不忘在專輯感言當中感謝上帝。 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. 反觀咱們虔誠的天主教信徒蘇珊嬸在專輯裡頭感謝了誰呢？頭一個竟然是Simon Cowell （英國偶像評審之一，大概比上帝還有power XDDDD）但顯然地，蘇珊嬸的信仰深深影響 了她這張新專輯的設計與選歌。在封面上，你會看到一尊蘇珊嬸的大頭相盯著北極星， 儘管她的眼神好像有點失焦，整個畫面看起來比較像是她被盞頭燈照得睜不開眼睛XDDDD （按:http://tinyurl.com/29hzaf6） 她在專輯裡頭唱了哈利路亞、O Holy Night以及Away in a Manger等歌曲，每首歌 都呈現出一種純淨、遙遠、質樸的風格。 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. 蘇珊嬸的聲音無疑地、甚至是有點太過完美了，以致於專輯裡頭缺少了屬於自己的 個人特質，整張唱片聽起來儘管愉悅卻顯得無趣。你不會想要在聖誕派對上或在聖誕 假期血拼的時候播她的聖誕歌，它甚至平靜到讓人感覺悲傷，彷彿是唱給那些有假期 憂鬱的人們聽的一樣。當然啦，每個聽眾都會用不同的情緒來解讀那些歌，但是很 顯然，我會需要些抗憂鬱藥來配這張專輯 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? 雖然咪咪的聖誕專輯的確是比較歡樂，但還是謝天謝地，今年年底我們終於多了 些不同的聖誕音樂可以選擇。聖誕老人應該有聽見我們的願望：拜託，今年不要 再給我播肯尼吉了！！！ 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. 那就來試聽一下阿嬸的聖誕專輯吧～ http://tinyurl.com/2fmcywp --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 211.21.191.122 ※ 編輯: amo07 來自: 211.21.191.122 (11/10 23:54) ※ 編輯: amo07 來自: 211.21.191.122 (11/10 23:56) ※ 編輯: amo07 來自: 211.21.191.122 (11/11 00:13)