David Hunter
Currently on sale at Amazon for digital download is A Pony Kind of Christmas Album, a Christmas themed album centered around recognizable songs transformed and tweaked to represent the ponies singing them and Equestria itself.
If you’re a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and you enjoy the work of Daniel Ingram then this album is right up your alley. There are several tracks that are absolute standouts and worth the cost alone.
Here’s a track by track breakdown of the songs themselves.
01: It’s a Pony Kind of Christmas by Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Phoenix Chamber Choir
Also featured on Youtube through Hasbro’s channel, this is a great way to kick off the album, representing each character’s personality through their segment of the song while allowing each of the main six in the group to get a chance to grab the spotlight within the song similar to stuff like “Winter Wrap Up.” It also sets itself up well as a way to represent the alterations within the songs themselves and what to expect from the entire album. I particularly like that characters like Applejack relate to family whereas Fluttershy remarks about the animals hibernating below the snow. Rainbow Dash and Rarity get to expand on their individual segments in later tracks.
02: Jingle Bells by Rainbow Dash.
If you were a fan of Rainbow Dash’s segment from the song “At the Gala” then this will bring you a lot of fun too. This is a total highlight as it encapsulates Rainbow’s character perfectly while referencing Applejack and Pinkie Pie joining her along for the ride in the back. It’s a very upbeat, rock focused track and in a lot of ways it reminded me of stuff like Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” which turn general Christmas tracks from schmaltzy, saccharine background noise to fit their respective genres better.
Credit to Doggie31 at DeviantArt
03: Deck the Halls by Rarity and Phoenix Chamber Choir
I usually love Rarity’s stuff but this came off as a bit too sweet despite the decoration motif threaded in the song. I felt like this almost would’ve worked better as a possible duet as the Phoenix Chamber added a nice presence underneath the main focus. In a weird way, the song felt like it meandered a bit after the halfway point as if the concept was stretched too thin for the song itself to capably pull off. The singing itself is great but the song itself is pretty forgettable in an unfortunate way.
04: We Wish You a Merry Christmas by Twilight Sparkle and Phoenix Chamber Choir
A surprisingly upbeat, fast paced track in the vein of Rainbow’s earlier track and it helps accentuate the flourishes of the piano keys and bells. This song is really good in embellishing Twilight’s personality and it really stands out as an endearingly fun track that could have come right out of a holiday episode on the show’s run. The strongest part is the imagery through the lyrics and the background instrumentation helps make this a memorable track in comparison to most of the other tracks.
05: Silent Night by Fluttershy and Phoenix Chamber Choir
A nice, serene song that really pops out aided by the push of bass around the 40 second mark in the song. I prefer this a lot more over “Deck the Halls” in terms of prettying up a traditional Christmas track and treating it rather straight forwardly. At times, the Choir does tend to overshadow Fluttershy’s voice towards the end of the track but it still holds up as a solid track worthy of inclusion.
06: Twelve Days of Christmas by Pinkie Pie
I can’t think of a more perfect fit song wise. This is one the longest tracks on the album but the credit is how perfectly done this is with the inclusion of a cannon burst, Polka, horns, and piano throughout the entire song while you know Pinkie’s singer is working her tail off to handle this and she pulls it off with aplomb. A fantastically fun track and a sheer joy to listen to even as Pinkie goes through all twelve days. I especially like the slightly increased frenetic pace as the song speeds up towards the conclusion. Just hearing the inhalation of breaths is very amusing. Her “Whee” at the end is just a perfect culmination too.
Credit to Mickeymonster at DeviantArt.com
07: Last Year I Got Coal For Christmas by Pop Fly
An amusing side song but pretty forgettable on the whole. Fairly typical of most standard Christmas tracks although it seems a rather odd inclusion given other characters could have been featured or we could’ve had another group effort song wise.
08: Jolly ol’ St. Nick by Spike
An emphasized brass and drum Jazz style song brings us Spike on the lead, which is great. Thoroughly enjoyable as a standalone song for Spike with good references to the show and him as a character, such as giving Rarity a diamond ring to show his crush. Bonus to Spike actually scatting starting around the 1:15 mark and I like that Spike’s knowledgeable as to what each specific pony character wants for Christmas, befitting of his role as a background character who sees and knows more than he usually lets on. Much like Pinkie’s song, there’s a general aura of enjoyment behind the actual singing that fits the character to a tee and this is another song that could seemingly have been featured in an actual episode.
09: Days Gone By (Auld Lyn Sang) by Applejack, Applebloom, and Granny Smith
It interestingly starts off with a bit of an Irish tilt that, despite the lack of such in the actual song, really fits Applejack’s Southern style. The meshing of their vocals really fits well and showcases their familial bond very well reminiscent of their song “Apples at the Core” from the show. Applejack takes center stage here and this song is really effective at being a great capper to the album in terms of actual characters featured. I’ve seen others comment that it’s their favorite track and I’d be hard pressed to argue although I think I lean towards Pinkie Pie’s or Twilight’s as my favorite personally. I did kind of miss hearing Big Mac on this track somewhere too, somewhat ironic considering the song’s message. This song is definitely the most emotional/touching of the album tracks though, so it’s easy to see why this could be an immediate favorite.
Credit to Mattings on DeviantArt.com
10: The Heart Carol by Phoenix Chamber Choir
The shortest track on the album, it’s a solid enough closer to the album although much like Pop Fly’s song, it kind of stands in contrast to the other tracks in part due who is involved. I would’ve liked the Pony Pop Tones to make a potential appearance for this one but the song is solid and evokes the Christmas feeling well, especially in the brief instrumental flourishes throughout. At times it feels like a combination of some of the previous tracks though, without quite standing on its own enough.
Overall Thoughts: It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of the show or even just Christmas music in general. You have 4 fantastic tracks with Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie all battling for top honors for me (while Applejack’s can certainly be placed at the top by other fans). You have two more that are really good in “A Pony Kind of Christmas,” and Spike’s song, which is a blast. Even the rest range from worthwhile to solid at the very least. The only real ‘miss’ in my opinion is Rarity’s track but even then, the singing is still beautiful and it can hit if the mood is just right.
