Christmasreviews.com Review of The Meaning of Christmas

Summary: Raucously outrageous takes on popular holiday fare

Lead guitarist Mike Campese is a former member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and The Meaning of Christmas is a hard-rockin’ homage to the holiday season, in a scintillating synth sort of way. Campese does everything here, and he does it very well. This instrumental album showcases Campese’s considerable guitar talents; his lightning-fast fingerwork amazed me from the very first cut (Deck the Halls).

Most of the album consists of Campese’s raucously outrageous takes on popular holiday fare. He does, however, present his own creation–The Meaning of Christmas, and this title track contains the album’s only vocals. The sheer power of Campese’s instrumentation, overpowers his voice in spots, making the words difficult to track. No worries–the liner notes contain the lyrics describing the frequent lament that the holiday’s true meaning may have been forgotten. Overall, The Meaning of Christmas is rugged electronica. Campese forges ahead with his impressive guitar prowess. I particularly enjoyed his interpretation of Joy to the World, from its jingling-bells opening to its explosive layers of sound at the close. Campese can really rock that electric guitar, and he truly excels on Grinch, presenting perhaps the best rendition that I have ever heard. Campese’s wailing guitar conveys the Grinch’s jaded soul in a way mere vocals usually cannot. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Campese’s driving treatment of Carol of the Bells is an uplifting experience. His synthesized strings provide a repetitive cycle of classical excitement that morphs into a modern frenzy that strongly suggests Campese’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra association.

Mike Campese’s The Meaning of Christmas is a radical holiday offering
that worships the guitar gods, with a heavy dose of sythesizer magic. Rock
on, Mike Campese, rock on!

–Carol Swanson (Reviewed in 2009)