Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Lost Christmas Eve : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

For the past few Christmases, Florida headbangers Savatage have been transforming themselves into the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and instead of baking sugar cookies they've been creating stately yuletide rock operas to put under the tree, turning their back on shredding guitars for high-concept subject matter and majestic processionals. This third entry is the most ambitious and complex in the series, and, like it's processors, The Lost Christmas Eve has a rather religious spin, telling the story of heaven's youngest angel called back to Earth to continue Jesus' unfinished work. This time the little imp lands in New York City to help redeem not only Christmas, but the soul of humankind itself with a story line that rivals anything Frank Capra ever dreamt up for the big screen. While not as bombastic as Savatage's fourteen rock epics -- which touch on topics as diverse as the Russian Revolution, the fifteenth century explorer Ferdinand Magellan's descendants, and Beethoven's last night -- the record still has a grandiose, baroque feel, with its prog-rock organ swells, and electronic wizardry, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, what's the holiday season without a little excess?