Search - Gary Hoey :: Ho Ho Hoey: Complete Collection

COMPLETE? UH, NOT QUITE.........

DANIEL MILES | FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA United States | 12/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If their intention was to offer a complete collection of his holiday releases I'm afraid the Hoey team came up three short with this set. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" appear to have been overlooked and the track identified as "Cookies and Eggnog" on Disc 2 is actually just a duplication of "Joy to the World" from Disc 1. Pretty sloppy work, fellas. So why five stars anyway? Because the previously unreleased tracks which are only available in this compilation are so excellent (particularly "My Favorite Things"). Unfortunately the omitted tracks were from different cds so to really have a complete collection you'd still need to pick up Ho Ho Hoey Volumes 1 & 3. But despite the errors there's so much great guitar work here that you really can't go wrong so my advice is to pick it up anyway!"

A new one every year, You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch

Hellion Zephreid | Pittsburgh | 12/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been aboard for the entire HO HO Hoey series, 1, 2, & 3. Then came along "The Best of Ho Ho Hoey" with 1 or 2 new songs that weren't on the other discs so yes I had to buy it. When looking through a Best Buy store, I found this 2 CD set which includes almost every song from the 3 but not quite. A few omissions but still a "fun" Christmas record at a great price with a few "new" tunes. I have noticed the trend of bands like (Chicago, Brian Setzer, Martina McBride, etc.) to just re-release the old Christmas season discs a year or 2 later with 1 or 2 new songs instead of recording at least an EP of new music and releasing that instead. It makes a fan a little bitter and resentful that to get the new tunes, you have to shell out cash for an album you already have. Don't worry, by Christmas next year or 2006, another version of this will be released. Aside from all that, most of these songs rock and you get a lot of fun instrumental renditions of classic Christmas songs, my favorite being, "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch". This is at a great price so get it before they disappear. Someone please stop this re-releasing though, record and release a new full length instead and stop screwing the fans of your music! I don't want to fail to mention that He plays all of the instruments on this except for drums on a couple of tracks, woah!"

The only Christmas rocker you'll ever need!

kwietmann | Olympia, WA United States | 12/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gary Hoey is vastly underrated as a guitarist, mostly because he insists on doing the things he likes. That includes hanging out in the fairly exclusive country of instrumental guitar rock with the likes of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and includes his personal proclivity for Christmas music. Gary makes most of his living off his seasonal work. This is actually his fourth Christmas release, and is a rerelease of the tracks from the first three with one bonus track. With the exception of a few drum tracks, Gary plays virtually all the instruments on the album, which are limited to guitar, bass and drum, with a second guitar track often laid down to harmonize.
Overall, this is a very satisfying album. I'm not a big Christmas music fan, but my wife is. She, on the other hand, isn't a big lover of wailing guitars, and there's a lot of that here. All the songs are arranged for rock guitar, usually the "dual attack" variety. Some cuts, though, like "Carol of the Bells" are primarily acoustic, and show off Hoey's skill as a player as well as any fret-climbing solo ever could. My personal favorite on this CD, as has been the case on his precious releases, is "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," from the animated Dr. Seuss holiday special. Believe me, you've never heard the Grinch song until you've heard it growled out on electric guitar. This song rocks.
The tracks are both religious and nonreligious, fast and slow, and will play in the background for your holiday party as well as anything else. This album will probably get more comments, too. Get it. Gary recently played a Christmas party hosted by KZOK radio in Seattle at the Experience Music Project, and did four Hendrix songs as a bonus. He nailed them all. The guy's got skills."