Have you ever really enjoyed a classic black and white movie, and when people twenty years later try to come in and modernize it, all they do is taint the magic of the movie? If you know what I'm talking about here, you might be able to equate this to Stacie Orrico's Christmas release.
Following her immensely popular, debut album, Genuine, Christmas Wish contains the same kind of light-hearted pop music that she has become known for. That style worked for her own kind of lyrics, but when you put that music with the timeless Christmas songs such as "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "What Child Is This," the styles just don't blend. "O Holy Night," the other traditional song on the EP is my favorite Christmas song, and I must say that she just ruins the song. She has a very good voice, and she could have done much better on this one especially. That, sadly, is the story of the album.
Along with these Christmas carols, Orrico has two new songs that have a vague hint of Christmas but are more concentrated on other, less traditional aspects of Christmas. "Love Came Down," the first of the two, is nothing special. "Christmas Wish," the title track, is the best song on the album. The lyrics are much more suitable for Orrico's style of music, and it has a catchy tune. The message of "Christmas Wish" is a good one: that wishing that the overall spirit of love that arrives at Christmas would last the whole year.
"White Christmas" is the last song on the CD, and wraps up the album on a high note with good vocals and more of a traditional musical style. Though Stacie may have been popular in her area of teen pop music, Christmas Wish proves that she should stay within this genre and not try to reconstruct timeless Christmas tunes.
Mark's Score: 2/5
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