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Dec 6, 2018Moments of surprise pepper John Legend’s austere first holiday album, A Legendary Christmas. There are the savvy song choices, including rarities like Marvin Gaye’s pulpy “Purple Snowflakes.”
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Nov 28, 2018The LP is joyously nostalgic, decked with strings, horns, and a trio of background vocalists including secret weapon Sy Smith.
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Nov 28, 2018Overall though, it's a solid effort in a genre that's hard to nail. Worth repeating all season!
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Nov 28, 2018The R&B-pop singer-songwriter finds a way to bring urban music sensibility even to something as quintessentially foursquare as “Silver Bells.”
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Dec 21, 2018Over the course of 14 upbeat and brassy odes to home and hearth, the relentlessly eager-to-please Legendary Christmas starts to feel almost oppressively cheerful. Major props, anyway, for the most unusual pick here: Marvin Gaye’s rarely covered “Purple Snowflakes.”
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Nov 28, 2018The fact that I’m listening to this album on a gloriously balmy afternoon and am getting in the festive mood is testament to Legend’s conviction and the arrangements. However after 14 tracks, it does start to lose its way a bit.
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Dec 14, 2018A Legendary Christmas’s sophistication is both its big selling point and its major drawback. The arrangements are beautifully done and sepia-toned. ... You start longing for a moment where it loosens its tie, when Legend lays into the sherry and really lets rip.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 1 out of 7
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Mixed: 1 out of 7
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Negative: 5 out of 7
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May 2, 2023haven't listened to it but I hate Christmas music and i also am not a fan of john legend
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Dec 25, 2018
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Dec 23, 2018