Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Even for the heart that shuns the time of year, the soul that adamantly decries the season as anything other than a modern trap of debt and indentured servitude, there comes a moment that breaks the barriers down for a while and gives relief to the person who is willing to see past the crass commercialism and allow the human voice to fill their ears.
It is not the sound of the plastic Ho Ho Ho that the new Santa Claus in the shopping mall delivers with a throaty roar, nor the rustling of paper and tinsel as they join landfill and aided by the overworked and underappreciated council worker doing their job, it is just a voice that carries the sense of belief in a time of almost inhumanity, the darkness punctuated by a rendition of a song from our past that ignites true goodwill, the real reason for the time of year.
We may all long to hear umpteenth version of which ever pop song springs to mind as tills ring and parents worry about how they will be seen in the eyes of their neighbours, but it is the song of redemption arguably that makes us stand still and appreciate what we have. You can have the elongated sentiment of “It’s Christmas” being boomed out in a Black Country twang all you want, but does it really dig deep into the soul, does it do anything, however fun, but titivate the excess.
To listen to Dick Eliot’s Oh Holy Night and enjoy the music and the voice as they harmoniously enrich the atmosphere is not giving way to a religious fervour, it does though urge you to seek out something other than gratification of spending power, it asks you to take in something more than the grand gesture, to offer you a meaning, and even for those who shun the period, to hear Dick Eliot perform with dignity and honesty songs of a more reflective time is heartening.
Dick Eliot’s pedigree is untouchable, and this album frames the man beautifully. Across songs such as Angels We Have Heard On High, Carol Of The Bells, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Joy To The World, Here We Come A Carolling, Silent Night, the ever gorgeous Come All Ye Faithful, and the album title track Oh Holy Night, Dick Eliot’s insight into the soul of the songs is astonishing and yet absolutely assured as it should be.
An album which captures the heart, and the reason, why so many have not completely lost their way with the world as it salutes madness and ill-thought, never mind that the quick injection of indulgence, sit down and soak in the power of the fulfilment, on a holy night, on every night, take the time to be more than just a convenience.
Ian D. Hall