Speculation/Wishful Thinking: Christmas Eve and Other Stories 25th Anniversary

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October 15, 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of Christmas Eve and Other Stories, which was the first instalment in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (T-S O) Christmas Trilogy. It continued on with The Christmas Attic in 1998, and concluded with The Lost Christmas Eve in 2004. The Christmas/winter theme that T-S O has become known for, was revisited in 2012 with Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night), which I like to think of as an 'epilogue.' There have also been a few compilations, such as The Ghosts of Christmas Eve and Tales of Winter.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Christmas T-S O tradition, I have a great idea for a vinyl set.

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It would be modelled after The Christmas Trilogy CD+DVD set, in a similar way that The Lord of the Rings complete recordings trilogy on vinyl was replicated from the original CD+DVD sets. The latest, best mixes and remastering would be used for 180g vinyl for all three albums. There's a few different routes the look and feel of the set's design can take.

The first, would be to repackage The Christmas Trilogy CD set in vinyl format, which would most likely be 6 LPs (2 per album), as well as the large book (excluding material pertaining to DVD from the original set). Christmas Eve and Other Stories would contain 'O' Holy Night' and 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' at the end of the album. The Christmas Attic would contain both 'The World that She Sees' and 'The World that He Sees'. The Lost Christmas Eve would not have the narration. If it did, it would probably be 4 LPs, as the narrated set on CD was 2 discs. The LP's could be numbered 1-6.    

The other, would be to have the three albums have their own dedicated gatefold packaging, and slide into a box bearing The Christmas Trilogy artwork. Each album would have its own book, as opposed to the big large one. This would depend on if T-S O and/or their record company would like to be have the three available separately. For this set, each LP would be named 1-2, sides A - D. More separate, in other words.

It would also be great to have all the Christmas-themed artwork that Hildebrandt had created to be included as art prints, including artwork from tours. For instance, there's two covers that could be chosen for The Christmas Attic: the original one, or the one used for the anniversary edition. All of this artwork could be included either as prints, or as imagery integrated (and expanding) the booklet.

The boxed set could also include another LP or two (depending on how much space the music would take up.) The first bonus content could be Dreams of Fireflies (which might take up an entire side of a vinyl....), as well as the bonus tracks that have appeared on a few versions of Christmas Eve and Other Stories. They are: "Whoville Medley (Perfect Christmas Night/Grinch)", and other goodies such as 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' w/ Jewel, and 'O' Holy Night' w/ Michael Crawford. If Dream of Fireflies does fit onto a single side, perhaps those extra tracks I've mentioned could appear on the other side. This would make the 6 LP set into possibly a 7 or even 8 LP set, which may be too costly to produce and sell.

I believe this would be a great way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the beginning of a Yuletide tradition, especially considering that Christmas Eve and Other Stories and The Lost Christmas Eve aren't available on vinyl. Including Dreams of Fireflies would also be very welcome.

No matter what T-S O and/or the record label has planned, I look forward to seeing how the anniversary will be celebrated.

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