Reviewed by Tony Cummings

With her traditional Christmas tour happening with Point Of Grace and Michael W Smith, Am Grant moves forward out of the debris of her divorce from Gary Chapman with a shrewd move - a Christmas album. No need for soul searching songs that publicly air the pain she MUST be feeling and the fan and media scrutiny that would accompany such a release. Instead, a retreat into the safety of a Christmas album with all its warmth of feeling. Expertly produced by Michael Omartian, this is Amy's third Christmas release (soon she'll run out of songs to record!). this one is more showbiz than previous releases with the emphasise on festive tunes like 'Christmas Can't Be Very Far Away', 'Mister Santa', 'Jingle Bell Rock' (both very Manhattan Transfer) rather than the usual round of carols. Having said that, there's a beautiful version of 'Silent Night' and a stonking classical arrangement of Michael W Smith's 'Agnus Dei'. A safe warm career move to keep Amy in the public eye, this album is nice enough but not a classic.

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