Christmas In The Heart
by Bob Dylan
  • Record Label: Sony
  • Release Date: Oct 13, 2009
Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. Slant Magazine
    80
    Profoundly weird but still cozy, Christmas in the Heart paints an appealing holiday picture: chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost scratching at your ears.
  2. Tiny Mix Tapes
    80
    Some will rank it among other gimcrack releases, like Dylan & the Dead. Still others will categorize it as an oddity, like Self Portrait. It’s all and none of these.
  3. The Guardian
    80
    The result is polished without being glib, and a sympathetic listener may find it addictive.
  5. Paste Magazine
    75
    Musically, it’s wonderfully bad; conceptually, it’s just wonderful.
  6. Billboard.com
    75
    Christmas in the Heart is an odd one-a collection of straight-ahead Christmas songs that benefits Feeding America, as well as food charities in other countries. But it will remind listeners that for nearly a decade Dylan has been working on his croon-exploring musical styles that are more polished than folk and blues.
  7. PopMatters
    70
    Christmas in the Heart is, in no particular order: delightful, silly, intimate in a somewhat phony way, gentle, cornball, crazy, dated, baffling and lovable.
  8. Dot Music
    70
    Our suggestion: embrace the bizarreness of it all. It's all good fun, and let's face it, even though Christmas In The Heart is unlikely to invoke a last minute panic in Best Of The Decade list makers, it's way better than Slade.
  9. Pitchfork
    68
    It's his unhinged vocals that make Christmas in the Heart interesting, and, in some ways, appropriate to its subject.
  10. The A.V. Club
    67
    He fares less well on ballads--here’s hoping 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing' and 'O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)' don’t become live staples. But he eases into 'The Christmas Blues' adroitly, and rips up a cover of Brave Combo’s polka classic 'Must Be Santa' with lightning vocal delivery.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 43
  3. Negative: 9 out of 43
  1. TimK.
    Oct 15, 2009
    8
    I'm not much for Christmas albums, but this one stands out!
  2. fdhill
    Nov 1, 2013
    10
    The negative reviewers are missing the tongue-in-cheek attitude with which Dylan pulls off this, my favorite of all holiday albums. And if youThe negative reviewers are missing the tongue-in-cheek attitude with which Dylan pulls off this, my favorite of all holiday albums. And if you haven't seen the video for "Must Be Santa" check it out on youtube.… Full Review »
  3. GregJ.
    Oct 18, 2009
    1
    Don't be fooled by the critics - this is the nadir of Dylan;s career. Truly awful!
See all user reviews »