Christmas in the Heart
| Christmas in the Heart | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Bob Dylan | ||||
| Released | October 13, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2009, Santa Monica, California, United States | |||
| Genre | Christmas music | |||
| Length | 42:21 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Jack Frost (Bob Dylan's pseudonym) | |||
| Bob Dylan chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 62/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| The A.V. Club | B− |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| The Guardian |
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| Paste | 7.5/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 6.8/10 |
| PopMatters |
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| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant Magazine |
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| Tiny Mix Tapes |
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Christmas in the Heart is the thirty-fourth studio album and first Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on October 13, 2009 by Columbia Records. The album comprises a collection of hymns, carols, and popular Christmas songs. All Dylan's royalties from the sale of this album benefited the charities Feeding America in the USA, Crisis in the UK, and the World Food Programme.
Dylan said that, although Jewish, he never felt left out of Christmas during his childhood in Minnesota. Regarding the popularity of Christmas music, he said, "... it's so worldwide and everybody can relate to it in their own way."
The album opened at #1 on Billboard's Holiday and Billboard's Folk Album Chart, #10 on Rock Album charts and #23 on overall album charts.
The album was recorded in a Santa Monica studio owned by Jackson Browne.
In an interview published by Street News Service, journalist Bill Flanagan asked Dylan why he had performed the songs in a straightforward style, and Dylan responded:
There wasn’t any other way to play it. These songs are part of my life, just like folk songs. You have to play them straight too.
When Flanagan reported that some critics thought the album was an ironic treatment of Christmas songs, Dylan responded:
Critics like that are on the outside looking in. They are definitely not fans or the audience that I play to. They would have no gut level understanding of me and my work, what I can and can't do—the scope of it all. Even at this point in time they still don’t know what to make of me.
Dylan released a music video for the song "Must Be Santa" directed by Nash Edgerton. In the video, Dylan and some other people are having a Christmas house party, until two of the guests start fighting and smashing things around and one of them running away. In the closing scene, we see Dylan and Santa Claus.
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