This is a beautiful c.d. It's simple and understated in some ways and in some ways it's bigger and bolder than any other Christmas recording on the market. Carly Simon makes music that is "stripped back" and intimate. The miracle, the mystery, the seeking and the celebration are all components that Carly Simon has put in front of the listener.

The spiritual Christmas songs like "Silent Night", "O Come, All Ye Faithful", are treated with grace and tenderness. The soulful, "Twelve Gates To the City" is a song you'll find yourself singing over and over. Carly Simon's arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" is just great! The reggae beat along with Ben Taylor, her son, make this a classic remake.

The Christmas standards "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "I'll be Home for Christmas" are just beautiful. Carly knows how to take a standard and put her stamp on it without taking away from the song. "White Christmas" with Burt Bacharach, again has her stamp on it.

"The Land of Christmas (Mary)" is a song that Carly wrote and is probably one of the best songs she has written in years. It has all the qualities that you expect from a self-penned song by Carly. It's a great song with lots of emotion and soul. She also wrote "Forgive" which is very simple and beautiful. Andreas Vollenweider plays harp.

"Christmas is Almost Here" written by Livingston Taylor, "Pretty Paper" a duet with Willie Nelson and John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over) are all well preformed by Carly and very enjoyable.

"Heaven" is the song on this c.d. that brings it all together. Written by Lucy Simon (her sister) and Carly, it sets a tone that puts a "yearning" in the listener's heart to experience the miracle, the mystery, the celebration, the search and the Savior.

If you're looking for a "over produced" c.d. with all the "whistles and bells" then this may not be the c.d. for you. If you're looking for something that seems like Carly is singing in your living room while music is being played by Willie Nelson, Billy Preston, Burt Bacharach, Andreas Vollenweider, and other great musicians then this is the c.d.!!

This is a c.d. that will be played and enjoyed for years to come.

Carly's peak years were in the seventies, but she still sings as good as she ever did. This is a lovely album, with a mix of slow and mid-tempo songs, including some standards which everybody knows, together with some wonderful new songs.

Carly and Willie Nelson sing a duet - Pretty paper, which Willie wrote and Roy Orbison had a hit with back in the sixties.

Carly wrote The land of Christmas (Mary), while Heaven is a song originally written by Carly's daughter Lucy, which Carly and Lucy rewrote as a Christmas song.

Twelve gates to the city is apparently a very old song, but I don't ever remember hearing it before despite having a large Christmas music collection.

All these songs are brilliant, but perhaps the title track is the best of the lot - it certainly sets the mood of the album.

This is a masterpiece, as anybody familiar with Carly's music would expect. It's probably not one to play during the height of Christmas festivities (there are plenty of other, more upbeat, Christmas albums that serve that purpose well), but rather, this is one that you play when things have quietened down, and you can just relax.

Carly Simon has made some incredibly brilliant albums over the years - 1971's "Anticipation", 1972's "No Secrets", 1981's "Torch" and 1990's "My Romance". She has also single-handedly written the words and music for some pop-music masterpieces - "Legend in your Own Time", "Anticipation", "You're So Vain", and "Touched by the Sun". With that amazing voice, there's no doubt that she's a very talented lady. In the liner notes for this album, "Christmas is Almost Here", Carly says that during its recording, "Spontaneity was the name of the game", and admits "Some things may sound a little too gritty". Much of the material was recorded in a slap-up studio in a hotel room, although top musicians were used. There can be no argument that Carly can carry things off with perfection with a raw live band, as a viewing of the concert videos "Live at Grand Central Station" and "Live at Martha's Vineyard" prove. But somehow the forays on "Christmas is Almost Here" just don't come together. Maybe it's because we're used to hearing Carly's material polished and pristinely presented by such producers as Richard Perry, Ted Templeton and Arif Marden. Most of the tracks on "Christmas is Almost Here" sound clumsy, lack-lustre , and self-indulgent, and on some of the vocals Carly sounds as if she should have done a few more takes. I have been a big fan of Carly for twenty-seven years, and I must say with this effort she has reached a (hopefully) all-time low. I have all her albums, and this one's the pits, (along with the Piglet Movie soundtrack, her other most recent offering). So Carly, Christmas is almost here.....well, if this is the tone of Christmas this year, we might as well skip it. The most worthwhile message in this Christmas package is "Happy Christmas, (War is Over)". Maybe our world leaders - (U.S.A., Britain, Australia and elsewhere) should give this song a listen and really consider its sentiments.

I love Carly and I love Christmas music....but have to admit, this is not my favorite work of hers. Style, musicality.....just did not thrill me.

At first I was reluctant to buy this CD based on some of the tepid reviews here and the casual manner in which it reportedly was recorded. Boy am I glad I got it. It is very intimate and cozy. Just loved the informal feel to it. Like a good friend singing to you with spirit to spare. I would highly recommend this one.