I love Carol of the Bells
. It's so agressive, easily the most agressive of all the traditional carols. Because I like that aspect, I really only like versions that move at a good clip. If your version of Carol of the Bells
is longer than a minute twenty, you're going too damn slow!
One of my favorite versions is from some obscure slab of vinyl called A Saint Louis Christmas
, with this particular track sung by the Fox Senior High School Honor Choir. It really flies, yet with good diction.
Carol of the Bells by the Fox Senior High School Honor Choir
Some versions replace the singers with some sort of instrument. That's just cheating. It's too easy to do. The magic comes from the voices. That said, this version on a Moog is fairly fun, despite the cheating.
Carol of the Bells by the Moog Machine
Finally, Stephen Colbert invited Henry Rollins onto The Late Show
to sing a punk version of it. It's okay, but Henry's punk schtick was slow-burn bellowing, not precise fast singing. A much better choice would have been Leonard Graves Phillips from the Dickies. (Don't worry. The Dickies may well make an appearance on this list by the 25th.)
Carol of the Bells with Stephen Colbert & Henry Rollins
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