The Forgotten Carols

Album Review

From start to finish, The Forgotten Carols is a haunting album that stays in the mind of the listener for days afterward. Composer and storyteller Michael McLean tells the story behind a collection of carols about forgotten or overlooked supporting characters in the Biblical story of the Nativity. The stories are shared in a book written for the purpose, while the songs are performed on an accompanying album. The album is best experienced with the book, or the songs may seem disjointed, as the musical styles are as different as the characters they represent. From the Innkeeper, voiced by Gene Moreford, through the nurse, voiced by Felicia Sorenson, who hears the stories behind the carols for the first time, the characters exhort the listener to believe in Jesus Christ. Musical support for the album is provided by a wide range of Latter Day Saints musical talent, including John Batdorf (voice), Michael Dowdle (guitars), Merrill Jenson (orchestral arrangements) and Jerry Williams (piano). The structure of the story lends itself to family reading and listening time over the course of several evenings in preparation for Christmas day. Families can discuss how the stories of these overlooked characters can relate to their own experiences in modern times. All said, a very family-friendly album with a poignant Christmas message. [Originally released in 1991 in a red cover with accompanying story and songbook, the album was repackaged in 1998 with a white cover. The original storybook included the sheet music bound into the book. The 1998 version eliminated the sheet music and was resized with a slot to hold the CD inside the back cover. As with the original, the album is available packaged with the book or alone.] ~ Dacia A. Blodgett-Williams, Rovi