Artist: Heather Henry
Album Title: Christmas
Genre/Style: Contemporary Christian
Release Year: 2009
I picked this album kind of randomly, and I don’t actually know who Heather Henry is. She doesn’t seem to have an internet presence, and I’m pretty sure this album is self-produced (or at least self-distributed). It shows in the production. Here’s some advice to prospective home-producers: If you can’t get your hands on some real instruments, keep the digital versions to a bare minimum. Sadly, it’s too late to help Ms. Henry.
The one other bit of info I was able to find about Henry is that she has also recorded an album of non-holiday Christian worship songs. That style of singing and production — “elevated”, let’s call it — is in play on this album in spades. Henry has a nice enough voice, but she’s undone by too many drum machine beats, tinny electronic instruments, and a studio engineer that doesn’t know how to mix. It all reaches its nadir on “Joy to the World”, which almost seems like a parody. And yet right after that track, she managed to surprise me with a respectable cover of “Mele Kalikimaka”, accompanied by a ukulele, soothing ocean sounds, and nothing else. It’s easily the best thing on the album, but it’s too little, too late.
Rating: 
You would never find this album without looking for it, so … don’t look for it.
