The Darkest Night of the Year

Last updated
The Darkest Night of the Year
Darkestnightoftheyear.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 9, 1996
Studio
  • Sound Images (Cincinnati, Ohio)
  • Mersey Beat
  • The Third Story Bedroom
Genre Rock/pop
Length44:17
Label Independent
Producer Linford Detweiler, Ric Hordinski
Over the Rhine chronology
Good Dog, Bad Dog
(1996)
The Darkest Night of the Year
(1996)
Besides
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Phantom Tollbooth(favorable) [2]

The Darkest Night of the Year is a Christmas album by the group Over the Rhine, released independently in 1996. It is their fifth studio album overall, and the last to feature the band's original lineup.

Contents

The album features six interpretations of traditional Christmas songs, three original instrumentals, three vocal compositions, and a second version of "Silent Night" featuring Terri Templeton, who was touring with Over The Rhine as a secondary vocalist at the time. Ten years later, Over The Rhine would release a second Christmas album, Snow Angels with a greater emphasis on original compositions.

This album is notable for being the first Over The Rhine album not to feature the photography of Michael Wilson. The cover illustration is by David Sheldon. Additionally, this is the only full-length OTR album to feature bassist Chris Dahlgren, who began touring with the band in 1996 to accommodate Linford Detweiler's move to keyboards.

Track listing

  1. "The First Noel" (arranged: Detweiler and Dahlgren) - 3:47
  2. "Silent Night" (arranged: Bergquist and Hordinski) - 3:43
  3. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (arranged: Detweiler) - 2:50
  4. "Greensleeves" (arranged: Detweiler and Dahlgren) - 2:49
  5. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (arranged: Detweiler) - 3:00
  6. "Coal Train" (music: Hordinski) -!2:43
  7. "Thank You My Angel" (words and music: Detweiler, MacDonald, Powell) - 4:12
  8. "Mary's Waltz" (words and music: Detweiler) - 3:59
  9. "Up North Here Where the Stars... 1945" (music: Detweiler) - 1:53
  10. "Silent Night (duet)" (arranged: Detweiler) - 3:11
  11. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (arranged: Detweiler and Dahlgren) - 2:02
  12. "Amelia's Last" (words and music: Detweiler) - 2:49
  13. "A Little Lower Than the Angels" (music: Hordinski) - 7:10

Personnel

Over the Rhine

Additional personnel

Production

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References