Faith Evans' first Christmas album, appropriately titled A Faithful Christmas, is very uneven and hastily thrown together.
Within the span of 40 minutes, Evans switches between songs that sound thoroughly modern and songs that attempt to sound as if they were made decades ago, and she covers both secular and religious material, in addition to offering some originals that are spirited but bland.
There are a couple strange moves, like a rendition of "O Come All Ye Faithful" with modern production tricks (like those water droplet sounds loved by R.
Kelly and many others), which is a little jarring and very ineffective.
Beyond an expected round of favorites covered here (including "Santa Baby," "Merry Christmas Baby," "Christmas Song," and "This Christmas"), a pleasant surprise is a straightforward version of "The Day That Love Began," a song recorded by both Stevie Wonder (1967) and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1970).
Despite its faults, Evans' fans will likely enjoy this and rejoice in being able to hear seasonal music from one of their favorite artists.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Happy HolidayFaith Evans | Faith Evans | Play | 05:19 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 2 | The Day That Love BeganDeborah Miller | Faith Evans | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | Soulful ChristmasHank Ballard | Faith Evans | Play | 03:06 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | Santa BabyJoan Javits, Philip Springer | Faith Evans | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 5 | Merry Christmas BabyLou Baxter | Faith Evans | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | Mistletoe and HollyFrank Sinatra | Faith Evans | Play | 02:16 | 5 MB | 12 MB |
| 7 | Christmas WishLou Baxter, Faith Evans | Faith Evans | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 8 | Christmas Song | Faith Evans | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | This ChristmasDonny Hathaway, Nadine McKinnor | Faith Evans | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | White ChristmasIrving Berlin | Faith Evans | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 11 | O Come All Ye FaithfulJohn Francis Wade | Faith Evans | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 40 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| 40 mins | 260 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hank Ballard | Composer |
| 2 | Lou Baxter | Composer |
| 3 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 4 | Jesse Bond | Guitar |
| 5 | Marsha Burnett | A&R |
| 6 | Gaily Cowart | Violin |
| 7 | Tom Coyne | Mastering |
| 8 | Bryan Ellis | Assistant Engineer |
| 9 | Faith Evans | Composer, Executive Producer, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 10 | Mary Fagot | Creative Director |
| 11 | Wendy Goldstein | Producer |
| 12 | David Haddon | Drums |
| 13 | Candyce Handley | A&R |
| 14 | Jaymz Hardy-Martin III | Engineer, Mixing |
| 15 | Donny Hathaway | Composer |
| 16 | Joan Javits | Composer |
| 17 | Erika Jerry | Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Nadine McKinnor | Composer |
| 19 | Deborah Miller | Composer |
| 20 | PJ Morton | Instrumentation |
| 21 | Frederick Oakeley | Arranger |
| 22 | Scot Pansing | Producer |
| 23 | John Reading | Arranger |
| 24 | Eric Roinstead | Art Direction, Design |
| 25 | Todd Russaw | Audio Production |
| 26 | Todd Russaw | Executive Producer, Management, Producer |
| 27 | Andrew M. Shack | Producer |
| 28 | Frank Sinatra | Composer |
| 29 | Garrett Smith | Trombone |
| 30 | Gil Smith II | Instrumentation |
| 31 | Gilbert Smith | Fender Rhodes, Organ (Hammond) |
| 32 | Philip Springer | Composer |
| 33 | Jonna Terrasi | A&R |
| 34 | Scott Tibbs | Strings |
| 35 | Brad Todd | A&R, Engineer, Mixing |
| 36 | John Francis Wade | Composer |
| 37 | Meelah Williams | Vocals (Background) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |