| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[2] |
Christmas Eve and Other Stories is the debut studio album by the American rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was released on October 15, 1996, through Lava Records and Atlantic Records. It is the first album in the band's "Christmas trilogy", with The Christmas Attic (1998) and The Lost Christmas Eve (2004) coming afterward. All three albums, as well as their The Ghosts of Christmas Eve DVD, were featured in the box set of The Christmas Trilogy. The album's cover art was created by Edgar Jerins.[3]
The album became one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all-time in the U.S. and has been certified 3× platinum by the RIAA for selling 3 million copies in the US. As of November 2016, the album track "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" has sold 1.3 million downloads, becoming one of the best-selling Christmas songs of all-time in the US as well.[4]
Commercial performance
As of November 2014, Christmas Eve and Other Stories was the ninth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the Nielsen SoundScan era of music sales tracking (1991 – present), with sales of 3,430,000 copies according to SoundScan.[5] On November 28, 2011, Christmas Eve and Other Stories was certified 3× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of three million copies in the United States.[6]
Track listing
All new lyrics by Paul O'Neill
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "An Angel Came Down" | Franz Gruber, O'Neill, Jon Oliva | 3:52 |
| 2. | "O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night" (instrumental) | John Francis Wade, Frederick Oakeley, John Reading, Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight, O'Neill, Robert Kinkel | 4:19 |
| 3. | "A Star to Follow" | O'Neill | 3:49 |
| 4. | "First Snow" (instrumental) | O'Neill | 3:53 |
| 5. | "The Silent Nutcracker" (instrumental) | O'Neill | 2:22 |
| 6. | "A Mad Russian's Christmas" (instrumental) | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Kinkel | 4:42 |
| 7. | "The Prince of Peace" | Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley, O'Neill | 3:33 |
| 8. | "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" (same recording released in 1995 by Savatage; instrumental) | O'Neill, Kinkel | 3:25 |
| 9. | "Good King Joy" | Lowell Mason, Kinkel, O'Neill | 6:36 |
| 10. | "Ornament" | O'Neill, Oliva | 3:37 |
| 11. | "The First Noel" (instrumental) | Traditional, O'Neill | 0:55 |
| 12. | "Old City Bar" | O'Neill | 6:18 |
| 13. | "Promises to Keep" | O'Neill, Kinkel | 2:41 |
| 14. | "This Christmas Day" | O'Neill, Oliva | 4:20 |
| 15. | "An Angel Returned" | O'Neill, Oliva | 3:52 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "O Holy Night" (instrumental) | Adam, Dwight | 2:39 |
| 17. | "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (instrumental) | Traditional | 1:16 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 18. | "Whoville Medley (Perfect Christmas Night/Grinch)" | 2:38 |
| 19. | "The World That He Sees" | 4:43 |
References
- ^ Garcia, Alex S. "Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve and Other Stories review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 455. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Roth, Dan (May 28, 2012). "A conversation With Edgar Jerins: the man behind seven classic Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra album covers". Music & Art Interviews.com. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
- ^ "What Are the Top-Selling Holiday Songs?". Billboard. November 25, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ "The Gifts That Keep on Giving: Biggest Radio and Album Hits of the Holidays". Billboard. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
- ^ "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Trans-Siberian Orchestra". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 1, 2011.