Family games a high school student, middle school student and an elementary student can all enjoy
Finding a game that everyone enjoys can be a difficult endeavor; especially when you have a big age range amongst your kids. In our family we have a sixteen year old (high school), a thirteen year old (middle school) and a ten year old (elementary school). It can be hard to find games that all three enjoy and where all three have a (moderately) equal chance of winning.
Here are the games that all three kids enjoy playing. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
I will begin with the most popular game in the family: UNO.
If this game is offered as one of the gaming options to the family it is almost certainly a lock to get the majority vote. The kids get obsessed.
In case your family becomes obsessed as well there is one nice thing about UNO that can help stave off staleness: There are a multitude of variations. You can mix things up by getting a new version without having to spend too much money and the game feels fresh again.
If you opt to purchase a themed version of UNO it will most likely include a unique rule. The favorite custom UNO game in the family is The Office version. In this edition you have cards themed from the US TV show, The Office. In addition there is a special wild card featuring Kevin’s Chili. If someone plays that card, everyone has to drop their cards and the last person to drop their hand has to draw some extra cards.
Some of the other versions of UNO we have tried (and enjoyed) are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles edition and the NFL Edition (the bonus rule for this version involves “kicking” a field goal with a paper football). The Emoji version’s extra rule didn’t sound exciting but ended up being hilarious and fun. If you get hit with the Emoji card you have to make an emoji’s face for a period of time.
The one version that doesn’t work for our family is the UNO: Show ‘Em No Mercy edition. That ended up being too much for the collective competitive nature of the group and has since been retired. Feel free to try it if you dare.
Rat A Tat Cat is a simple card game. I’m always surprised when the kids want to play it (and when they don’t want to stop playing it). Each player is dealt four cards face down. You arrange them in a lower row of two cards and an upper row of two cards. Each player is allowed to look at their bottom row of cards but not the top. Then each player takes turns drawing a card and deciding if they want to replace any of their four cards. (Of course, you take a risk replacing one of the top cards you haven’t seen yet.) The goal is to get the lowest score possible each round. If you think you have a lower score you can shout “Rat A Tat Cat” and finish the round early.
Another classic game with a short game play time is Jenga. Simply build the tower and then each player takes a turn pulling a block out and placing it on top. The player that makes it tumble loses.
Fire Tower
Fire Tower is the newest game we have tried as a family. I thought the beautifully designed fire gems would be enough to convince the kids to try this one but they were all hesitant to play at first. Once they got a few minutes into the game, however, they were hooked.
Each player chooses a tower to protect from a wild fire. Then, on their turn, they have an opportunity to use the cards in their hand to either protect their tower or send the fire toward another player’s tower. It, as is the case with a lot of games, sounds complicated at first but once you start playing each player tends to get it pretty quickly.
Playing a game doesn’t take too long. The only downside is it works as an elimination game so once one player is out they can get bored and antsy while they wait for the rest of the players to finish playing.
The kids love sushi so it was inevitable that we tried Sushi Go. This game happens in three rounds. Everyone starts with the same number of cards. Each player picks one of the cards from their hand to keep and then they pass the cards to the player on their left.
What makes this game fun (and frustrating) is you end up seeing all the available cards and simultaneously see what combinations other players are trying to make. This means you occasionally realize that your goals for earning points are going to get undermined by another player.
It’s a really fun game played in three rounds which go fairly fast. Although your kids will probably want to play again once they finish a game.
Okay! Best of luck with your next game night. I hope you find a game that everyone in the family enjoys.
Who is Jesus? Many Christians would answer, “My Savior.” But, in actual practice, many Christians (myself included) treat him as our subcontractor.
Here is what I mean. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” God has a kingdom and our job is to align with it and participate in it. And, the verse makes it clear: What God is doing in His kingdom is supposed to be the thing we seek above all else.
The way many Christians are living, however, completely flips that. We are working on our own kingdoms. Building what we think looks fun, what we think will fulfill us, what we want to see happen, what we think will bring us money or prestige or results etc. And then, we call Jesus in as a subcontractor.
“So, Jesus, you can see what we got going on here. We’re making some great progress and I brought you in so that you could install the drywall in all the living areas. If you could get it done by Wednesday that would be ideal so that the painter can come in next week.”
In all actuality, many people are living their life as their own General Contractor. You created the vision, you came up with the plan, you determined the order and then you brought in Jesus to “bless” your project. Or, worse, sometimes you bring him in to clean up the mess of your project.
Many of us are asking Jesus to step in and do a little clean up, fix some problems, do a quick install or finish some work on a project that is being built entirely for our own kingdom and benefit. When we do that, we are turning Jesus from being our Lord and Savior into our subcontractor.
I encourage you to switch those roles. Ask God what he is building around you and how he has uniquely designed you to join Him and participate in that project. Sometimes we are working on our own projects because we don’t fully trust that if we join God we will have everything that we need. Except: That is literally the verse. If you put God’s kingdom as the priority in your life, “he will give you everything you need.”
This week, offer yourself up to God as a subcontractor in the kingdom he is building. He is constantly working in the hearts and lives of people around you. Begin each day by acknowledging that and asking Him how you can join what he is doing. Ask him to make His plans your plans. Not only will you find deeper fulfillment and purpose but you will be building something that will last longer and transform more people than what you build on your own.
Let Jesus be your Lord and Savior and ask how you can be a subcontractor in His kingdom.
If you refer to my overview post, I detailed the system I used to rank all of my albums. The top 150 went through a moderately rigorous process. When you are down past album #225, it’s a matter of it was sorted and I didn’t go after any tiebreakers.
I am sure that on any given day, or after a fresh listen, I would rank these differently. The point is, they made the list.
I tried to provide a link to the specific album I own for each entry. The majority of links are to Amazon or Bandcamp. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. As a music lover, I don’t care where you purchase them from as long as you find something new that you love.
477 Various Artists Trojan Instrumentals Box Set
It’s just three discs of instrumental ska. Totally chill and great melodies. I have never been let down by a Trojan box set. When I saw this box set at Amoeba Music in Hollywood I grabbed it without hesitation.
Purchase here. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
476 Robert Johnson The Complete Collection
Everything we know that he ever recorded all available on one disc? Add in the mystique and the lore surrounding his alleged deal and how can you not own a copy of this album from one of the godfathers of the blues?
475 Reggie Watts Why $#!+t So Crazy!?
Reggie has a routine where he doesn’t do a parody of other comedians but rather a parody of the cadence, inflections and rhythm of other comedians. That particular riff doesn’t even have many words that make sense. He is satirizing on a deep and rhythmic level. Make sure you get the live DVD as well, that is what pushes this album onto the list.
474 Kashmere Stage Band Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974
Super inspiring to hear what level of musicianship (and funk) could be pulled out of a high school band. Great quality sound all things considered, too.
473 Johnny Guitar Watson The Funk Anthology
My friend Todd and I would constantly scavenge for music together. Occasionally we would pool our resources and purchase an album together. One day we were at a Blockbuster Music (yes that existed) and, while going through the imports section, we saw an album called “Booty Ooty” by Johnny Guitar Watson. We couldn’t resist. We bought it. Todd got first dibs and I never saw it again. So when I saw this beautifully illustrated two album set, I splurged and it’s just as good as the reason Todd never let me have it.
472 Joy Electric We Are the Music Makers
I don’t know any band that sounds like Joy Electric. If you do, tell me because I will check them out. Not their best but it’s catchy. This album sounds like a soundtrack for a chase scene in a castle.
471 Buck Owens and His Buckaroos The Instrumental Hits of Buck Owens and His Buckaroos
I heard, “Buckaroo” in the highly underrated (and eerily prophetic) movie “Idiocracy” and went out and bought this album within a week. It’s good old fashioned country without the lyrics.
470 Yo-Yo Ma / Ennio Morricone Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Beautiful renditions of Ennio Morricone’s beautiful scores. Some versions of this album have an accompanying DVD which is worth it if you think you’re gonna love it.
469 Ultra Lounge Wild Cool and Swingin’
In the late nineties, after the swing revival, some indie artists started incorporating lounge music into their sound. Ultra Lounge capitalized on that trend with cultivated themed discs. This one comprised of classic crooners is fantastic. “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head” occasionally will still get stuck in my head out of the blue.
468 Tyler Larson The 8 Bit Hymnal
Eight bit cover albums often miss the mark for me by straying too far from the source material or by not presenting something new and fresh enough. Larson’s albums always find that perfect balance for me. I don’t think the interludes are based on actual game melodies but they feel like they are. (Feel free to correct me if I am wrong about that. It won’t change my fandom of this album though.
467 Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures
All star lineup with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stoneage), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)? Honestly, the expectations were nearly impossible to live up to but this album still is worth a listen. When you’re done go ahead and watch the movie “It Might Get Loud*” for different set of three musical all stars getting together.
466 The Polyphonic Spree The Beginning Stages of
I’m pretty sure I first became familiar with this band through the “270 Miles from Graceland**” DVD from the 2003 Bonnaroo. I’m not a big fan of choral music but the Polyphonic Spree does not come off as your typical choir. They always felt more like a band that was recruiting you for their cult. I’m not joining the cult but I am all about the sprawling songs and melodic arrangements on this album.
465 The Isrealites Washaway
This was a local ska band in the Southern California scene. I love their less frenetic style of ska. It’s always fascinating to me to discover the genesis of a song and, ss a faith based band, they list the scriptural inspiration for the majority of the songs on this album which adds additional depth to the songs.
464 The Doors The Doors
The setter on my high school volleyball team created a mix tape that we would throw onto the PA system in the gym as we warmed up for matches. “Break on Through to the Other Side” was one of the tracks. Upon graduating I watched “Apocalypse Now” in college and, upon hearing “The End” at (ironically) the beginning of the film I knew I had to pick up this specific Doors album. One thing to add about The Doors… I think their “Collector’s Edition***” DVD is amazing. You get a full concert with band commentary. I think it’s out of print but if you really love the doors, totally worth the splurge
463 Super Mario Brothers Super Mario History 1985-2010
Is it cheating to put this in here? Possibly. So this is my up up down down left right left right B A Start moment. This Super Mario collection for the Wii came with a music disc that included the classic versions of many of the earlier Super Mario entries as well as some sound effects from the game.
462 Six Step Records The Passion Continues
Unfortunately I believe this EP was only given away at meet & greets before some concerts. I cannot even find an image on the internet for this. It is alternative versions of some classic Passion era worship songs. These are more stripped down acoustic versions and I think that is why this album made the cut while some other songs from Passion from that era haven’t aged as well.
461 Schoolhouse Rock The Best of Schoolhouse Rock
I don’t think it is solely nostalgia for Saturday morning cartoons that drives this pick. Bob Dorough wrote some incredible songs that are full on ear worms, which is fantastic when they are educational. Personal favorite: “Three is a Magic Number.”
460 Sarah McLachlin Sweet Surrender (Single)
I’m good with just this one song and a remix. Is her full album great? I never went all the way and found out.
459 Jimmy Smith Trio featuring Kenny Burrell The Master
The mixture of Jimmy’s grooves with Burrell’s guitar work makes this a supreme jazz album in my collection.
458 Janelle Monáe The ArchAndroid
Ambitious and interesting. Love the wild backstory and creativity. And probably worth the purchase just for the album art alone.
457 Helmet Unsung: The Best of Helmet
When I heard the song “Unsung” I had to learn how to play it on guitar. Just a beautiful and crushing riff. Shortly after read an interview with Page Hamilton. He studied at Juliard and is insanely knowledgeable on music theory. So glad he took the heavy route.
456 Dead Horse Beats Vespers
I love this marriage of old gospel and modern beats. I could listen to this all day.
455 AC/DC Live
Confession: There isn’t one studio album by this band that I love all the way through. There are usually two songs I love and you can keep the rest. So… The live album it is. Starts off with what I believe is one of the greatest riffs of all time (Thunderstruck) and sprints to the end. It’s missing a couple of their songs that I love so it didn’t make it higher.
454 Unwritten Law Unwritten Law
Super catchy pop punk. I admit this was probably their peak but I have a soft spot for “Blue Room” so that one will show up later. It starts off strong with the guitar tuning going directly into the echoing riff for harmonic. “Sorry” hasn’t aged well at all and that, combined with some songs that are more pop than pop punk, probably prevented this album from a more glorious ranking.
453 The Zombies The Singles Collection
I was introduced to the Zombies through “The Way I Feel Inside” on a Wes Anderson soundtrack. It’s surprising how many of their songs I recognized and I imagine, if you listen, you will feel the same. “Time of the Season” is incredible. When purchasing, I was deciding between this singles collection and “Odessey and Oracle” but since “The Way I Feel Inside” isn’t on their most acclaimed album sent I wentthe Singles route although “Odessey and Oracle” will probably get purchased one day.
452 The Corporate Office Wendy’s Prank Call
This prank call is so hilarious and incredible. The conviction and authority with which the prank caller approaches everything is so high level and is the only way the madness that occurs could ever go down. “I think the problem with that one might be the heating filament is loose…” Perfection.
This would probably piss off both Gungor brothers but early entries by the Brilliance feel like what a Gungor album would be if Gungor had been a piano based band. Heavy classical influence. Incredible worship. They have done some orchestral collaborations lately that are amazing. I haven’t explored those enough to place them on the list yet. The first track starts with piano, introduces strings, brings in the bass. The piano mellows out and then brings in a frantic violin and drums. It’s a taste of the journey this album takes you on. It’s like a finely crafted pop song and an orchestra had a baby. Totally worth the trip.
450 Various Artists Television’s Greatest Hits Volume 6
Why of all things, Volume 6? Well… The Theme to CHiPs is on this. That should be enough. Other highlights are Growing Pains, Family Ties, that sweet bass on Night Court, The Price is Right, the theme to Monday Night Football, and Diff’rent Strokes.
449 Sonic Youth Washing Machine
I did a ton of reading to see which Sonic Youth album should have been my entry point. Went with this album and have no idea if I made the right choice although at least it made the list. Should I have started somewhere else?
448 Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
Great melodies and production. This was the first album I remember being associated with Jack White that didn’t prominently feature Jack White.
447 Le Meu Le Purr The Sweet Smell of Asphalt
I worked at a record store with some members of this band. They had a gig at a bar one night and I went to check them out. Always intimidating because: What do I say if they suck? Never had to cross that bridge however because they tore it up. “Pop Rocks & Soda” is one of those songs that makes you think why did some bands make it big and this band didn’t? Definitely my favorite track.
446 KC and the Sunshine Band The Best of
I have a friend I text with occasionally and it’s always a rabbit hole of music memories and recommendations. Last time we texted he mentioned that one summer where he only listened to KC and the Sunshine band. Does everyone have that? I think it might be an unwritten rite of passage because I had the same thing. If you haven’t had your summer of KC, you might have to pick this up for next year.
445 Jimmy Robeson You Are There
I was teaching at a private school that had chapels every week and this guy walked in to play the music one week and started strumming some open-E and I thought, “This is gonna suck.” Wow did I ever have to repent from that attitude. He killed it and this is one of the most unique and dynamic worship albums I have ever heard. Incredible musicianship. I would have invited him to play every week.
444 JEFF the Brotherhood We Are The Champions
Discovered this band through their Tiny Desk Concert and immediately started finding out what album had “Shredder” on it. They do so much with just the two of them and always strike me as a Meat Puppets that went a little more punk. “Hey Friend” always cracks me up but I still find myself pondering the deeper meaning that I think is in the lyrics.
443 Fiona Apple Tidal
This album is so smooth and dark and amazing. The fact that she had such a strong voice (both vision voice and vocal voice) at such a young age and on a debut album is astounding. I linked to the Amazon site but would recommend the Vinyl Me Please record of the month edition if you really want to check this out. It’s criminal that is the first time it was released on vinyl. (See what I did there?)
442 Erik Satie The Best of Erik Satie
My top pick for relaxing and beautiful classical music. I am guessing if you don’t think you know this, you know this. It has even received a few unique cover versions.
441 Dungen Ta det Lugnt
Psychedelic pop acid jazz from Sweden? Yes please. Delicious guitar tones. I know Google translate exists but I am fine just letting this wash over me and not know what they are really saying.
440 Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains The Big Eyeball in the Sky
When I worked at a record store the managers had to play certain albums during the day. At night you were at the whims of the manager. One of the managers was obsessed with Les Claypool. After repeated listens I really grew to appreciate this entry. Buckethead is on guitar and Bernie Worrell from Parliament/Funkadelic plays the keyboards. It’s bizarre but it’s got great guitar and I probably like it better than most Primus albums I’ve heard.
439 Chris Stapleton Traveller
The production on this album is so dynamic. There is something about the sound on all of the guitars on this album that is so well done. I am not a producer but I have to imagine this album inspires jealousy in producers around the world. Worth it just to hear the mix alone but the songs are strong and the vibe is perfect on this album.
438 Washington Phillips Washington Phillips (Death is Not The End Records)
I love the melodies and arrangements on this album and this album also benefits from the fact that no one is exactly sure what instrument is being played; adding a little mystery to the magic.
437 Violent Femmes Violent Femmes
Unplugged before Unplugged, this album has so many catchy and seminal tunes. Raw and impassioned.
436 Radiohead The King of Limbs
When my wife and I started having kids we got really in tune with what music and sounds would mellow our kids out. For some reason, this album never failed so it got lots of play in the car back in the day.
435 No Doubt The Singles 1992-2003
This is my wife’s favorite band so we have quite a few of their albums as well as their box set. This set of all the singles they released is all the hits and perfect.
434 Various The Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson puts out the most incredible soundtracks. Mark Mothersbaugh has such a beautiful, accessible and recognizable style that he brought to all of his work with Anderson.
433 Various Artists Ennio Morricone Remixes Volume 1 & 2
(Two soundtracks in a row!) If you don’t think you are familiar with Ennio Morricone I bet you would instantly recognize the whistling, theme from dueling from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” These albums have a massive number of remixes of movie themes from the award winning composer.
432 Coldplay X&Y
This album was my introduction to Coldplay. Yes, I have read the scathing Pitchfork reviews. Oh well. I still think this album has fantastic
431 Tonéx Pronounced toe-nay
I love that this album is broken up into sections to display the artists range of talents. He went on to be a producer and you can see the genesis of his abilities here.
430 Various Artists The Sopranos Music from the HBO Original Series
The remix of the theme from this album came on shuffle play the other day as I was pulling up to my house and I sat in the driveway for a while to keep listening. It’s so good.
429 The Ongoing Concept Saloon
The opening song is such a beautiful collision of a variety of styles. It doesn’t carry throughout the whole album but I would definitely be down for a new genre: Saloon Punk.
428 Various Artists The Masters of Sacred Steel:None But The Righteous
When I read somewhere that Aubrey Ghent played the steel guitar and made it sound like it was singing I bought this album. Great instrumental gospel slide guitar.
I occasionally break out an album, listen to it and think: “This is one of my favorite albums of all time.” That leads me to think: “What actually is my favorite album of all time? What would happen if I ranked all of the albums I know?”
For years I have wondered, “How everything would shake out if I took the time to rank all of my albums?” so I finally sat down and did it.
The Criteria
I tried to keep this very simple and with as few rules as possible. So, the criteria for consideration is this: An album that I own.
Some singles I purchased back in the day slipped their way in even though it might be considered a single or an EP. Also, there are some albums my family loves but we stream them. Since I haven’t purchased the album, It wasn’t eligible for consideration.
The Methodology
I opened up my file explorer and went to my music directory and read through every folder. It is organized by artist name followed by albums in the sub-folders.
I looked at the title of the albums and thought, is this a great album and/or an album I loved? If so, I put the artist name and the album title into a spreadsheet.
While most of my music has been digitized at this point, there are a few vinyls I have not ripped to my computer so I went through that collection as well with the same mindset and added a few more titles to the spreadsheet.
Once that was completed I had a spreadsheet with 477 albums.
To narrow things down a little I read through the entire list of 477 albums and, if I thought an album could be considered one of the best of the best, I put an X in a new column. Once I completed that I sorted my spreadsheet and discovered that I had marked 152 albums. I quickly decided to delete two and have a top 150.
Once I had the top 150, I wanted to find a quick way to rank them without just “thinking about it” for a while so some web searching led me to the website https://challonge.com. That site allows you to create tournaments.
I batch added the 150 albums into a double elimination tournament. I went through each match-up in the winner’s bracket and thought, “Which album is better?” and selected that album as the winner. There were some fun match-ups (two live albums going head to head for example) but I was surprised at how little I had to deliberate. Having a double elimination tournament helped with this because I knew any album that lost initially would still receive another chance to win in the loser’s bracket.
Once I finished the winner’s bracket I completed the losers bracket and had a winner. The site ranks the top 5 finishers and then, due to math, has groups of ties for the rest. For the tie for fifth place, it was just two albums so I hand picked those. I did the same for the next few ties. Once I got to the tie for 17th place, which involved eight albums, I started running mini tournaments to sort out those ties.
Therefore, once you read the top 150 you will know that every album on that list was ranked through multiple tournaments.
For the remaining 327 albums I took a similar approach. The largest tournament you can hold on the site and have even brackets (my 150 album tournament was a little funky) is a tournament with 128 entrants. I decided to hold three more tournaments: Two with 128 entrants and one with the remaining 72.
Once I completed those I had three groups that had been ranked. Since this was getting a little out of hand (although it was quite an enjoyable process) I took the top 25 from each of those three categories and held another tournament so that the next 75 albums would be ranked as well. Once I reached that plateau I simply copied and pasted the remaining albums in the order provided from the tournament website with no further ranking or sorting.
The Criticism
I can imagine a few issues people might take with my rankings, my methodology, any omissions, etc. Let me address a few of those.
First of all, this is obviously just built on my experience and preference. I started learning to play guitar in the eighth grade and I noticed that albums I was listening to from that era (and figuring out how to play) somehow seemed to have received a subconscious and sentimental boost.
I know sometimes “Best of” albums are considered out of bounds for lists like this but I included them since my criteria was simply “albums that I own.” In addition, sometimes I will go through a phase where I know there is an artist beloved by many and I make an attempt to discover what the fuss is all about*. In my efforts to discover I will sometimes purchase what seems to be their most critically acclaimed album or I will purchase a best of if it contains a specific song I am seeking out.
Box sets and deluxe editions were included and occasionally that gave an album a boost. For example, when the deluxe edition adds a bonus live concert, that occasionally was a tiebreaker. Also, in this vein, when exploring certain artists I was able to purchase a set of “Five Essential” albums for the price of one slightly expensive album. In that case I counted them all as one entry since they were purchased as one entity.
Some albums have one of my favorite songs on the track-list but didn’t make the cut because that song is also the only song on the album I think is great.
You might read my entries and wonder why a certain album didn’t make the list. I don’t know! Probably I just don’t own it or I might not like it. I have listened to a ton of music but I haven’t explored every artist!
The Goal
I have no goal for this. I’ve been wanting to make a list of my top albums and I did.
The Hopes
While I have no goals for this project I would hope that at least one person reads at least one entry and goes down a joyous musical rabbit hole much like the many I have been on that led to this list.
*Current quests: Why do people love Bruce Springsteen and what is so great about the Talking Heads? So far I have purchased “Born to Run” and two live shows (one from the 80s and one from 1979) to figure out Bruce Springsteen. For the Talking Heads I purchased “Remain in Light.” The jury, for me, is still out on both.
I took my 64 Christmas albums and separated them into the two categories of “This might be in my top 12” and “Nah” and then ranked them all.
Welcome to the top 4:
#4
Artist: Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
Album: A Very Ping Pong Christmas
I can’t remember how I came across this album but I know for a fact that it was the drums that initially drew me in. The percussion on this album is so strong not only in the groove but the tone. Every song is essentially a break beat.
This album is all over the map but it remains cohesive and touches on so many elements that I can hardly resist when it comes to music: Funky bass, schloopy beats and even a vox-box solo.
I’m just going to lay out some highlights for this one:
The organ on “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
The horns throughout the album
The bass throughout the album
The sax meltdown at the end of “Do You Hear What I Hear”
The fuzzed out guitar solo on “Deck The Halls”
Guitar solo interplaying with the flute on “Carol of the Bells”
The staccato rhythm guitar on Silent Night pairs perfectly with the saxophone and evokes an old doo wop feel
The talk-box solo on “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
At the end of Carol of the Bells there is a guitar solo that for just a moment sounds like it’s going to reference the melody of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” but instead ascends into a complete psyc-out.
This instrumental album (except for a few vocals on God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) sounds like a soundtrack to a movie. I say it would be a perfect soundtrack for every groovy moment you have this Christmas season.
#3
Artist: Vince Guaraldi Trio
Album: A Charlie Brown Christmas
My parents have a Christmas decoration that is Snoopy and Woodstock with a little piano resting on some fake snow. When you press a button it cycles through three short samples from this album. As soon as this decoration makes its appearance during the holidays it is irresistible to children. Every child that walks by has to press it until it plays “Linus and Lucy” and, once it starts, they spontaneously start laughing and dancing. I don’t know a better way to describe the timeless joy, energy, appeal and beauty of this album.
It has incredible nostalgia factor. It’s mostly peaceful, sit-in-front-of-the-Christmas-tree and enjoy life music with some upbeat tunes mixed in. The interplay between the trio is so dynamic.
Personal favorite track: “Skating.”
#2
Artist: Bad Religion
Album: Christmas Songs
Really the only downside to Christmas music is I like the majority of my music fast and heavy. Punk, metal, etc. Unfortunately those genres are simply anemic when it comes to holiday music.
Imagine my joy and surprise when Bad Religion released a Christmas album.
Things got even crazier when I bought it and realized 1. It’s completely un-ironic and 2. It has one of the highest Christ centered songs to “holiday” songs ratios of any of my Christmas albums. Literally every song is a carol except for their spin on the Ramones version of “White Christmas” and the last track, “American Jesus.”
This album has received the most play time of all Christmas albums in my home since it came out. If we get bored with a Christmas album, we switch to Bad Religion. If the music is too slow, we switch to Bad Religion.
Greg Graffin, one of the greatest voices in punk rock, starts the album with an a cappella chorus of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” the band rages in immediately after and the album never lets up. They stay faithful to the melodies but slip in some great guitar solos (see the end of “O Come, O Come Emanuel” for a blazing, to the point example).
In Ephesians 3:20 it says “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” and this album was literally something I could have never imagined would have happened but I’m so glad it did.
#1
Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Album: Songs for Christmas, Silver & Gold
It was really close between Sufjan Stevens and Bad Religion but Sufjan wins due to sheer volume and variety. Each of these albums is a 5 EP box set that comes with scores of added goodies. Between the two sets you’ll find extras such as a fold-it-yourself paper star ornament, stickers, temporary tattoos, a poster, essays, a short story by Stevens, chord charts, lyrics, a comic strip, a family portrait poster, photos, and an animated video. “Songs for Christmas” has a 42-page booklet with an original Christmas essay by acclaimed American novelist Ricky Moody and “Silver & Gold” has an 80 page booklet.
Schizophrenically switching from stripped down, beautiful, delicate melodies and organic instrumentation to glitchy, electronic madness these albums genre bend and the listener is the winner.
Like a perfectly balanced mix-tape, the energy levels and instrumentation provide the listener with a holiday music roller coaster.
I love the variety of Christmas music that is out there from traditional to original tunes; from classic to modern arrangements and, I suppose, what makes these two albums top my list is that you can find all of that variety encapsulated in each one.
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#1
HOPOLOGETICS 
