It wouldn't really be Christmas without a hilarious Christmas parody CD from Calgary, Canada's favorite male humorous quartet. While 'Waiting Under The Mistletoe,' 'Falalalala,' and 'Xmas Nuts' are extremely tough acts to follow, 'Christmas Crackers' takes rampant silliness to a whole other level! First, let's give some major kudos to group member Jonathan Love-all 13 songs here are 'penned and twisted' by Mr. Love. Second, don't be deceived by the song titles. 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing,' for instance, is about a joyful visit from carolers, 'until that last guy slipped;' and 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' morphs into an exploration of the pains and options of Christmas tree shopping, to the tune of 'Meet The Flintstones.' 'I Saw Three Chicks' is a group-accompanied (yes, the Heebees are actually holding instruments on the cover!!!) Irish foot-tapping folk tune about shopper lemmings descending on a mall; and 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' slips into 'West Side Story's' 'I Feel Pretty' to describe how the opposite is in fact true. And we couldn't even trust the classic 'Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer,' which adds several brilliant new verses that follow Santa's run-in with the local CSI team after Grandma's untimely 'sleighing.' The poignant, accompanied 'It's So Hard to Be An Elf' is a down and dirty blues tune by a disgruntled Elf who'd 'rather be a troll,' 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' becomes a horserace that Rudolph wins 'by a nose;' and daddy slips putting the lights 'Up On the Housetop.' 'Six White Boomers' is a rousing, crazed ballad of difficulties that arise on Santa's Australian run, and 'You're Mean One, Mr. Grinch (The Green, The Bad & The Ugly)' is a legendary Western confrontation between the classic Dr. Seuss villain and 'Sheriff Claus,' sampling the theme from 'Rawhide,' among several others, on the way. Anyway, we may never be able to sing a 'straight' carol, or think of Christmas the same way again. 'Christmas Crackers' is one of the most creative, and funny, Christmas albums we've heard!

Listen to Blue Christmas in RealAudio.