Search - Rat Pack :: Christmas With the Rat Pack & Friends (Coll)

A ratty Christmas package

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 12/11/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The DELTA company, which is more readily identified by its LASERLIGHT label, has a checkered history of releasing either historically interesting or totally questionable music. CHRISTMAS WITH THE RAT PACK and FRIENDS lands firmly in the latter category.



Except for Marilyn Monroe, the "friends" as described here never ran with Frank Sinatra's cronies. Imagine Doris Day sitting in with that wild gang. And Bing Crosby would be the last person Sinatra would share a table with.



That issue aside, this set of 15 songs has two major flaws. ONE: None of the Sinatra, Martin or Davis selections were recorded during the Rat Pack era, and TWO: the questionable inclusion of non-Christmas songs on a Christmas album. "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend," "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," "Where Or When," "In The Still Of The Night" and "What Kind Of Fool Am I?" are all fine tunes, but what are they doing HERE?



We will leave it up to DELTA to explain that, but don't expect an answer any time soon.



CHRISTMAS WITH THE RAT PACK and FRIENDS sounds like what it is: a confusing mix of radio and film transcriptions, some low-fidelity live performances, and a playlist that seems in search of a single theme."

Not so great

Thomas Miller | Washington State | 12/28/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I heard a Christmas CD playing in a store this Holiday season and when I asked what it was, they told me "Christmas with the Rat Pack". Unfortunately there are two different CD's with this title and I bought the wrong one. This one.



The music is kind of muffled and not really crisp sounding.

It kind of sounds like it was taken from old, worn-out analog tapes and transferred directly to CD without any kind of digital cleaning or enhancement.



I wasn't impressed with the song selection. The quality makes it that much more of a disappointment.



Do yourself a favor and save your money on this one."