JOSH GROBAN NOEL

Josh Groban has one of the finest singing voices of our time. The musical arrangements are also majestic. No doubt this CD will be played alongside the Christmas classics of Nat Cole and Bing Crosby in years to come.The album tackles some of the familiar sounds of holiday music with a charmingly electric array of guest vocalists and a wide array of material. The songs range from the sacred to the secular, while Groban — buoyed in spots by none other than the London Symphony Orchestra — soars in his duets with several music guests. There's even a song with a gospel choir directed by Kirk Franklin.Groban's smooth and supple voice can be hard to categorize — seeing how his range is somewhere in-between a high baritone and a low tenor — but he always finds and emphasizes the emotional core of these songs. And whether they have origins in pop or classical music seems not to matter. The addition of messages from troops stationed in combat zones overseas on top of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas