Ah! Leluiah! The Christmas Album, Donnie Iris and the Cruisers (Primary)

Donnie is a Pittsburgh-area stalwart of the rock music scene who had a hit in 1970 with the Jaggerz ("The Rapper") and struck again in 1980 with his current group via the song this 2010 album puns from ("Ah! Leah!"). His other big hit was "Love Is Like a Rock," from 1982. He's continued to perform and record since his salad days, and this year it looks like he decided to take the Christmas plunge. It's an ambitious disc, available mainly from his website at this time, although I imagine Western Pennsylvania and Ohio fans might be able to pick up a hardcopy at a local store or three. My initial impression from listening to the disc all the way through once was that Donnie wants to be Trans-Siberian Orchestra, owing to the several antique carols done in versions that owe more to church ensembles and pops symphonies than rock, topped off by a "Hallelujah Chorus" that features 81 Donnies, in the words of producer and liner notes author Mark Avsec. Those looking for more rock 'n roll attitude shouldn't be put off, though, starting with the second cut, "Angels We Have Heard On High," which is classic Cruisers with some progressive rock chops added, stretching the song to nearly six minutes. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is done in a hand-clapping arrangement led by piano, "Blue Christmas" is pretty much the Elvis arrangement with lots of steel guitar, "Emmanuel" is more of a hard rock arrangement, and what should be a single from this album is "This Child," a reimagining of "What Child Is This" written by Avsec that is a strong power pop outing. "Alleluyah Sasa! (He Is Born)" is something different, a Swahili carol driven by African percussion. The obligatory "Auld Lang Syne" rocks along nicely with an autotuned Donnie singing, followed by an acoustic guitar-led "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" in ballad tempo and a slow "Silent Night" featuring pedal steel once more. I imagine this album could do really well if it caught the ears of the general public, though for my taste the disc could do with less classical influence and more from Little Steven's Underground Garage.