Boy Krazy - Boy Krazy (1993)

Boy Krazy were a short-lived prefabricated pop group riding the hot Euro dance-pop sound of the early-90s (Although they were apparently assembled in New York). "That's What Love Can Do" was a decent-sized hit in the early-90s and an earworm fondly remembered by yours truly. And oh how I rejoiced with the knowledge that the entire Boy Krazy album was available for streaming! "That's What Love Can Do" was brought to you by the same writing/production team that gave us such classics as "Never Gonna Give You Up," and hey it still sounds pretty good! The rest of the album, however, not so much. Okay, the follow-up single "Good Times With Bad Boys" is a serviceable tune in a second-tier Bananarama song kind of way, but that's about it. I swear, at least half of the songs feature the EXACT SAME Eurotrash drum machine track. In short, the sole full-length album by Boy Krazy is sadly a disappointment. Sorry, Boy Krazy! But hey, having one good song is better than none.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0SY7lk9XHlnTP56d3bt2E5

The Chieftains - The Bells of Dublin (1991)

The holiday season album reviews continue! When you listen to a Chieftains album, Christmas-related or not, you probably know what you're getting into and this is no exception. Since I have little-to-no knowledge on traditional Irish music, I'll avoid embarrassing myself by going into too much detail here. This is an excellent record! The Chieftains mostly avoid the obvious holiday songs and tackle a nice mix of traditional carols, Irish tunes and some new originals.  Having guest star vocalists is usually a pretty lame gimmick, but the singers here are fine choices that fit in well with the Chieftains' style. The Elvis Costello tune, "St. Stephen's Day Murders", is undoubtedly one of the standouts (I know I'm probably biased but whatever). Marianne Faithful's guest spot on "I Saw Three Ships" is another highlight, but all the guests do a pretty good job overall. And the Chieftains themselves give a flawless and lively performance, with the album's production helping to create a very natural and energetic vibe. There's nothing stilted or forced at the way this album comes off, it feels like you're in the room hanging out and drinking with the band themselves and having a real good time. If you want to play a Christmas album the whole family can enjoy but don't want to endure listening to some shithead crooning about chestnuts roasting again, look no further here.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6aL012XfK6NSveMV9a3igc

Dwight Yoakam - Come on Christmas (1997)

Every Album on Spotify is back, baby! Since it's an opportune time to review Christmas recordings, I plan on posting a few on here in the oncoming days. Come on Christmas is both an excellent Christmas album and an excellent Dwight Yoakam album overall. This probably shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Dwight has always been skillful at making records and he was at the top of his game, artistically and commercially, when this came out 20 years ago. What's impressive about this one is the eclectic diversity of his arrangements and how he's able to pull it all off convincingly. There are plenty of rockers and downtempo tunes as well as some intriguing left-turns. In particular, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" rides on a nice Al Green-style groove and "Silver Bells" sounds great with its Tex-Mex arrangement. You've probably already heard most of these songs a billion times before, but Yoakam is able to put in enough twists to make them seem new again. He even throws in a couple of new Christmas-themed originals ("Come On Christmas" and "Santa Can't Stay") that aren't too cloying and are actually pretty good. And as always he has that awesome hick singing voice to die for. A fun one!
https://open.spotify.com/album/4hXCM8vqLJnlFcuHoH3zVP