Lost christmas eve album release

On its first album in nearly five years, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) returns to the theme that has made the band a perennial best-seller and top concert draw: the magic of Christmas. The group's fourth rock opera and the closing chapter of its holiday trilogy, The Lost Christmas Eve is an inspirational tale weaving together messages of hope, faith and compassion.

The Lost Christmas Eve is a musical journey of loss and redemption. Its story - set to a diverse soundtrack that fuses elements of rock, classical, pop, folk, Broadway and R&B - encompasses a rundown hotel, an old toy store, a blues bar, a gothic cathedral and their respective inhabitants, whose destinies are intertwined during a single enchanted night in New York City.

"It's a story about Christmas and its ability to change endings," says Paul O'Neill, TSO's creator, producer, lyricist and primary composer. "If there's anything in the past that you regret, hopefully this album will give you an excuse to go back and correct it. I think that's what Christmas is about - it gives you an excuse to be kinder, to apologize for a past wrong, to do good. But this album to us is about so much more than Christmas. It's a rock album that you can listen to while driving your car; it has songs that let you mellow out after a rough day at work, and, of course, it has songs to get into a holiday mood."

TSO's first album of Christmas music in six years, The Lost Christmas Eve features the group's trademark "symphonic rock" renditions of both holiday standards such as "Faith Noel" - a medley of two timeless melodies, "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "The First Noel" - and classical excerpts, including Mozart's "Queen of the Night." It also showcases original TSO material, ranging from such dazzling instrumentals as "Wizards In Winter" to such stirring vocal pieces as "What Child Is This?"

Another track, "Back To A Reason (Part II)," revisits the very origins of TSO. For the second time, the group appropriates a song originally recorded by Savatage, the legendary hard rock band in which O'Neill and the rest of TSO's creative team - composer Jon Oliva, guitarist Al Pitrelli, and composer/co-producer Robert Kinkel - first collaborated.

Expect some of these new songs to be included in TSO's annual Christmas Eve and Other Stories tour, which, in only six years, has become one of the most successful tours in the country.

As with "Christmas Canon Rock," TSO's celebrated concert performances have become well known for introducing fans to new material. The trend began during the group's inaugural tour, when TSO debuted several tracks from the then-unreleased rock opera Beethoven's Last Night (2000). That album's material continues to provide some of the band's most exhilarating concert moments.

"As a band we like having no limits," O'Neill says. "I like to think of our albums as large, old castles. They're magical from a distance or even close up, and the further you delve into them, the more there is to find. It's magical just to go inside, and it's magical just looking at the walls and wondering what might be behind them. But if you ever knock down a wall, what's behind it may - or may not - be the most magical thing of all."