Just about the only Christmas carol my son-in-law likes is the Carol of the Bells. My daughter suggested that for Christmas I could make him a compilation CD with a bunch of different versions of the song. I’m trying to figure out who’s done it, and I only came up with a few. Can anyone recommend any good versions?
He likes all kinds of music, but is a particular fan of punk & heavy metal. A good guitar or bass track is a big plus.
I don’t want to buy full CDs to get these tracks, so anything you could recommend that’s available on iTunes or one of the free services would be fantastic. Thanks, folks!
Oh, I already got Barenaked Ladies and Al DiMeola’s versions, and a good orchestral one.
Gary Hoey has a hard driving guitar version of the song that you may recognize as its used a lot in backgrounds for video.
The song is on one of his Ho-Ho Hoey Christmas CDs. I have it on “The Best of Ho-Ho Hoey”. Its my favorite song on this CD and my favorite version of anybody’s Carol of the Bells.
Well, I was shopping over the weekend, and I heard an over-orchestrated, testosterone-heavy CotB that seemed intent on pummelling me into the Holiday Spirit (before, presumably, I collapsed into a coma). Truly atrocious, but maybe up his alley. In my panic to leave, I didn’t catch the artist.
George Winston has a good version on the winter album everyone seems to have (for good reason): December.
An album was just released of eastern European songs sung by female singers and it includes the original in Ukranian(?), which was about a completely different subject. I heard about it on NPR on Sunday, might still be up on their website somewhere but I couldn’t find it. It sounded quite lovely.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has my absolute favorite version of “Carol of the Bells.” It features two electric guitars, a couple of keyboards, a string section, and drums. It’s completely instrumental.
One note, though: It’s not identified as “Carol of the Bells” on the CD. It’s called “Christmas Eve Sarajevo” or something similar. It can be found on TSO’s “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” CD.
Depending on son-in-law’s tastes (and availability), there’s a quirky version on the “Mr Hanky Christmas special” CD (South Park). It’s sung by Mr. Mackey (the counseler) with the lyrics:
Hark, hear the bells
Sweet silver bells
all seem to say
Ding, dong, mmm-kay.
No worries about anything offensive on that track, either, although YMMV with the rest of the album.
I personally find it hilarious, and surprisingly well done, with multiple “versions” of Mr Mackey’s voice handling the harmonizing.
The group was called Kitka, and it’s on the album Wintersongs. I heard that broadcast too, and will be buying the album with Christmas money, cause honey, it rocked.
Last year my fiancé made a compilation album of this song for his mom, who also loves it. Here’s the tracks for that CD:
David Foster
Boston Pops Orchestra
Johnny Mathis (Home Alone Soundtrack)
Leonard Bernstein & The New York Philharmonic
The Carpenters
Trans Siberian Ocrhestra (rock version)
Bethlehem Choir and Ensemble
Micheal Crawford
Destiny’s Child (“Opera of the Bells”, not truly the real thing)
Robert Shaw Chorale
Mannheim Steamroller
Vienna Boys Choir
It’s not just Carol of the Bells, it’s also a bit of parts of the Nutcracker Suite and I think God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is mixed up in there too, which is probably why they retitled it instead of saying it was just Carol of the Bells.
InvisibleWombat, mind if I hijack your thread a little instead of starting another thread about the same song? You beat me to it, kind of.
During the 90s they played an Absolut Vodka commercial with this song being ice-skated to, for two or three christmas in a row. Does anyone know who was singing it in the commericial? It has the best vocals of any version I’ve ever heard and I’ve been trying to figure it out for what seems like forever.
I can actually do you one better than that … my wife surprised me with tickets to TSO when they came through Birmingham in November. Quite simply, it was the single best concert I’ve ever attended in my life. Truly a magical experience. And yes, the story is quite good.
racinchikki, I know the TSO’s version begins with a brief cello solo from “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” but I wasn’t aware they mixed in stuff from “The Nutcracker Suite.” Are you sure about that?
In my panic to leave, I didn’t catch the artist. 
