The third recording featuring
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
with
Elvis Presley
,
Christmas with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
is no different, no better or worse, than the two hit records it follows. Like those albums, it's a puffy, pompous march through familiar tunes, all turned purple due to heavy-handed arrangements that favor onslaught, not subtlety.
Presley
sounds good but that's mere circumstance: he was recorded with musicians he trusted, never expecting he'd be cut off from his crew, mutated into a middlebrow mediocrity.
can be pleasant enough because it's always a pleasure to hear
sing and the supporting
Philharmonic
plays with skill but, like its companions, it's music for people who love the idea of
and not his music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine