With the second release from his brain-child "Trans-Siberian Orchestra," composer/producer "Paul O'Neill" has created another Christmas extravaganza in a combination of rock opera and symphonic format. Sales of TSO's first hit, "Christmas Eve And Other Stories," rocketed after an appearance on the "Rosie O'Donnell" show in December,1997. Soon, the song "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," originally from the "Savatage" album "Dead Winter Dead," was being played on every type of radio station in the country.

Now TSO is back, again with the support of the members of "Savatage" on instrumentals and backing vocals, along with vocalists Jody Ashworth, Joe Cerisano, Katrina Chester, Marlene Danielle, Thomas Faresse, Peggy Harley, Daryl B. Pediford and The Child Choristers of St. Bartholomew's Church in NYC, directed by Dan Moriarty. "The Christmas Attic," produced by O'Neill, co-produced by Robert Kinkel, with song writing by O'Neill, Kinkel and Jon Oliva, co-founder of "Savatage," is a story driven album with variations on a few traditional Christmas songs, but mostly new material.

"The Christmas Attic" returns listeners to the most magic and exciting time of the year. Innocence, spirit and love meet under the tree. Says O'Neill, explaining his continuing fascination with the holiday, "There's something about Christmas that's very unifying, that brings people together on many different levels. The more you analyze it, the more amazing it becomes." In this second part of a planned trilogy, the Lord's youngest angel returns to Earth on a mission - to observe humanity and leave behind the one gift that will most benefit mankind. There's only one condition, but it's a big one. The gift must be found on Earth and bestowed without help from heaven.

The story centers around a young child who has lost faith in the magic of Christmas, because the older children tell her it's a fake and just a way for stores to clear out their unwanted merchandise. Adults go along with the tradition, but they don't believe in Christmas any more. The little girl WANTS to believe, so she plans to stay up and see if that sleigh with Santa will come. Since her parents have walled up the fireplace, she takes a candle and goes into the attic of the old Victorian house where she lives, to be closer to the roof where she can hear and see.

The angel from heaven, searching the world, is drawn to the little girl living without faith. With a little help from the angel, and some long lost love letters found in an old chest in the attic, the child rediscovers the meaning of Christmas and helps the angel at the same time. The silent communication between the angel and the child, between the visible and invisible worlds, leads to a renewed faith in the child, and the successful completion of the angel's mission.

The opening track, entitled "The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve," brings the child to the attic, where the stories of past Christmases are waiting to be discovered in an old chest left by the former owner who now lives next door. In the trunk, the little girl finds old toys, ornaments and love letters, which she begins to read, looking to restore her faith in Christmas among "The Ghosts . . ." This original song, with just piano accompaniment and a male vocal, is very light and pretty, and auspicious start to the album and story.

The first letter the child reads was from a father trying to say how his first child saw Christmas Day. This is accompanied by "Boughs of Holly," an instrumental number, and another great interpretation of this classic song. With the electric guitars wailing, the bass line driving, great rhythms and keyboards, and symphony backing the rock band, this is quite the number. Most definitely a pleaser if you're tired of the "original" song done the same way it has been for years - except by "Mannheim Steamroller" - and the two can't be compared they're so different. This softly segues into "The World That She Sees," which really turns into a power number during the choruses. This is when the angel finds the doubting child, but the angel rejoices in the magic that Christmas has come. This song has a very interesting ending (one fairly typical on a "Savatage" album) with several voices each singing a different tune and lyrics, but together. Sounds confusing, but it's really wonderful to hear!

As this letter continues, the father thinks of another child born on this day - the Christ child. He wonders what that child thought and what dreams he had on this night. As the clock tolls midnight, the little girl wonders about the stars, and how old they are, and if maybe someone far away can see her candle in the window. This is accompanied by "Midnight Christmas Eve," an original instrumental piece, difficult to describe, but very good, followed by "The March of the Kings/O Holy Night," another powerful rock/symphonic instrumental with a very stately cadence followed by light, quick change ups with emphasis on the electric guitar and rhythm section.

The little girl finds a young boy's school report mixed in with the letters, about the three wise men. This was a story told by the boy's uncle every Christmas about "The Three Kings And I (What Really Happened)," a jazzy number about the kings meeting up with Herod, who said he was going to be the only king around there and orders his guards to kill the kings and the child when they find him. But, they escape from Herod's palace the back way, with the help of the Uncle's great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather (a jazz player in the palace band), how they find the Christ child, grand dad stays with the kings and finds a wife, but " . . . that's another song."

The next track, called "Christmas Cannon" is performed by the children's choir combined with an instrumental that is very familiar, but I can't place, followed by "Joy of Man's Desire/Angels We Have Heard On High." Meanwhile, the next letter the child finds was tied by a ribbon to a small key to a small music box. She puts the key in the lock and the melody fills the air, while she opens the letter and discovers a news clipping about a successful man. But the angel can see that things weren't all rosy for the man, because on this night, in his home, he realizes he's alone. The man thinks of years wasted, and the only person he was ever close to he left behind. Now it was far too late to go back to her again. "Find Our Way Home" is the man reminiscing, wishing he could find his way back. This is another difficult song to describe, but the combination of the music and lyrics sure drive home the point!

After thinking about it, the angel forms a plan to accomplish his mission, and causes it to snow, accompanied by "Appalachian Snowfall," a terrific, sprightly, original instrumental piece. (I think the combination of rock electric guitars and heavy bass, accompanied by a small symphony, does wonders for seasonal music - even if it's not a "standard." It's exciting to listen to, and gets you in the spirit!) The little girl read the article, and then the letter, and it was the saddest of all. "The Music Box" is the song that tells the story of a young couple on their first Christmas, and the gift of the music box. There is a photo behind the letter, and to the child's surprise, it's the man in the article and the lady who used to own the house - now living next door alone. She also noticed that the letter had no stamp and wondered what it meant. The angel whispers to her that for compassion to be real it requires a person to act. Once again the child comes up with a child's idea, and takes the article downstairs to the kitchen phone, calls information to get the man's number, then calls him to tell him enough to know who was waiting for him on this night and just hangs up. Then she finds the number for their neighbor, and gives her the same message.

"The Snow Came Down" describes these two lonely people going to meet at a out of the way railroad station, both without expectations, but wanting to believe. This is kind of a quite, sad song, but very lovely, and as it progresses it grows louder and more powerful, the closer the two people get to the station. The two indeed meet, and the child sees them walking through the snow together, which makes her smile with delight. She suddenly realizes how Christmas influenced her to take matters into her hands.

"Christmas In The Air" is about salvation and how strangers who pass in the street will greet each other because of the goodwill of Christmas. This is another song that starts softly and then gets really BIG! Full rock band and symphony accompany the male vocalist, and the instrumental bridges remind me of the beat of several Christmas songs, but this is definitely an original.

The child is still going through letters for "Dream Child (A Christmas Dream)," about the life of Christ, how the snow comes down healing scars, and thousands of candles from past and present uniting with the one belonging to the little girl. This is just a pretty, mostly acoustic, number that emphasizes the lyrics more than the instrumentals. "An Angel's Share" is about how much angels mean to Christmas, calling to everyone to "Rejoice" at the birth of the Christ child. This is a bright, happy song with great harmonies, emphatic instrumentals and is just kind of a feel good song.

After the little girl finishes ready the last letter, she carefully puts them back in their envelopes, then thinks carefully about everything she's learned, realizing her belief in Christmas has completely returned. She finds some paper and writes down her experiences from that night for someone in the future to read, returns all of it to the trunk in the attic and goes back to bed to dream about this magic night. The angel returns to heaven to tell the Lord he left behind two souls reunited and a sleeping child who still believes. The Lords smiles and takes the angel into his heart, welcoming him home.

Quoting the end of the story, "And may you also hear those words all through your life, but may you hear them most of all on every Christmas night. Merry Christmas! And the most magical thing about this night we will now reiterate that no matter where you are in life, it never is too late."

This is followed by "Music Box Blues," a bit different version of "The Music Box," this time with lyrics that are hopeful and full of the belief that it's never too late!

I enjoyed this album immensely, and I highly recommend it, whether you're totally into Christmas "standards" or are feeling adventurous about hearing some new Christmas music. You'll find both on this album, along with a wonderful story (Paul O'Neill really has a knack for writing these rock opera compositions and making the story totally believable.) and fantastic music, that will brighten anyone's holiday season!