Silver & Gold (Sufjan Stevens album)
2012 box set by Sufjan Stevens
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Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10 is a five-EP box set of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by Sufjan Stevens between 2006 and 2012.[12] It is a follow-up to Songs for Christmas, which was released six years prior. On October 2, 2012, it was announced that Stevens would release Silver & Gold on November 13, 2012, in digital format, CD and LP boxset.[13] On October 24, 2012, a claymation music video, animated by Lee Hardcastle, was released for "Mr. Frosty Man".[14]
| Silver & Gold | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Box set by | ||||
| Released | November 13, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | 2006–2012 | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 161:36 | |||
| Label | Asthmatic Kitty | |||
| Producer | Sufjan Stevens | |||
| Sufjan Stevens chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4/10[6] |
| Metacritic | 76/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Consequence of Sound |   [3] |
| Paste | 7.5/10[8] |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.8/10[9] |
| PopMatters | 7/10[10] |
| Sputnikmusic | 4.2/5[11] |
Reception
The album has received mostly positive reviews from critics, with Pitchfork giving it a 7.8 out of 10. As Keelan H. of Sputnikmusic writes,"[T]he album exists on [a] plane where introspection meets with group sing-a-longs, depression meets with joyous outbursts, traditional meets with left-field kookiness."[11] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 76, based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Silent Night" | Joseph Mohr | Franz Xaver Gruber | 2:26 |
| 2. | "Lumberjack Christmas / No One Can Save You from Christmases Past" | Sufjan Stevens | Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens | 3:22 |
| 3. | "Coventry Carol" (featuring Marla Hansen) | Traditional | Traditional | 2:54 |
| 4. | "The Midnight Clear" | Sufjan Stevens | Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens | 2:49 |
| 5. | "Carol of St. Benjamin the Bearded One" | Sufjan Stevens | Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens | 3:32 |
| 6. | "Go Nightly Cares" | Instrumental | John Dowland | 1:44 |
| 7. | "Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree)" | Sufjan Stevens | Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens | 7:03 |
| 8. | "Auld Lang Syne" | Robert Burns | Traditional | 1:35 |
| Total length: | 22:36 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Christ the Lord is Born" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 0:49 |
| 2. | "Christmas Woman" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 5:33 |
| 3. | "Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light" | J.S. Bach | Johann Schop | 1:09 |
| 4. | "Happy Family Christmas" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:23 |
| 5. | "Jingle Bells" | James Lord Pierpont | James Lord Pierpont | 1:19 |
| 6. | "Mysteries of the Christmas Mist!" | Instrumental | Sufjan Stevens | 2:10 |
| 7. | "Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates" | Georg Weissel | Thomas Williams | 1:20 |
| 8. | "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" | Traditional | Traditional | 1:16 |
| 9. | "Ah Holy Jesus" | Johann Heermann | Johann Crüger | 2:42 |
| 10. | "Behold! The Birth of Man, the Face of Glory" | Instrumental | Sufjan Stevens | 1:09 |
| 11. | "Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:50 |
| 12. | "How Shall I Fitly Meet Thee?" | Instrumental | J.S. Bach | 2:09 |
| 13. | "Mr. Frosty Man" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:50 |
| 14. | "Make Haste to See the Baby" | Instrumental | Sufjan Stevens | 1:23 |
| 15. | "Ah Holy Jesus" (with reed organ) | Johann Crüger | Johann Crüger | 1:29 |
| 16. | "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" | Charles Wesley | Felix Mendelssohn | 1:51 |
| 17. | "Morning" | Instrumental | Amos Pilsbury | 2:28 |
| 18. | "Idumea" | Charles Wesley | Ananias Davisson | 3:50 |
| 19. | "Eternal Happiness or Woe" | Instrumental | Sufjan Stevens | 1:23 |
| 20. | "Ah Holy Jesus" (a capella) | Johann Crüger | Johann Crüger | 1:00 |
| 21. | "I Am Santa's Helper" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:52 |
| 22. | "Ma'oz Tzur' (Rock of Ages)" | Traditional Jewish Hymn | Traditional Jewish Hymn | 0:42 |
| 23. | "Even the Earth Will Perish and the Universe Give Way" | Instrumental | Sufjan Stevens | 2:01 |
| Total length: | 42:38 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Angels We Have Heard on High" (based on the original hymn) | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 4:04 |
| 2. | "Do You Hear What I Hear?" | Noël Regney | Gloria Shayne | 9:14 |
| 3. | "Christmas in the Room" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 4:23 |
| 4. | "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" | Edmund Sears | Richard Storrs Willis | 0:48 |
| 5. | "Good King Wenceslas" | John Mason Neale | Traditional | 4:18 |
| 6. | "Alphabet St." | Prince | Prince | 1:36 |
| 7. | "Particle Physics" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 1:04 |
| 8. | "Joy to the World" | Isaac Watts | Lowell Mason | 5:25 |
| 9. | "The Child with the Star on His Head" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 15:30 |
| Total length: | 46:22 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | Kim Gannon, Buck Ram | Walter Kent | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" | Haven Gillespie | J. Fred Coots | 2:32 |
| 3. | "The Sleigh in the Moon" (featuring Cat Martino) | Cat Martino | Cat Martino | 1:44 |
| 4. | "Sleigh Ride" | Mitchell Parish | Leroy Anderson | 2:28 |
| 5. | "Ave Maria" (featuring Cat Martino) | Traditional | Franz Schubert | 2:09 |
| 6. | "X-Mas Spirit Catcher" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:31 |
| 7. | "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" | Sammy Cahn | Jule Styne | 2:17 |
| 8. | "A Holly Jolly Christmas" | Johnny Marks | Johnny Marks | 2:27 |
| 9. | "Christmas Face" (featuring Sebastian Krueger) | Sebastian Krueger | Sebastian Krueger | 0:40 |
| Total length: | 21:10 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Ralph Blane | Hugh Martin | 3:42 |
| 2. | "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" | Edmund Sears | Richard Storrs Willis | 0:40 |
| 3. | "Up on the Housetop" (featuring Vesper Stamper) | Benjamin Hanby | Benjamin Hanby | 4:21 |
| 4. | "Angels We Have Heard on High" (traditional French carol) | Traditional | Traditional | 0:52 |
| 5. | "We Need a Little Christmas" | Jerry Herman | Jerry Herman | 2:03 |
| 6. | "Happy Karma Christmas" | Sufjan Stevens | Sufjan Stevens | 3:36 |
| 7. | "We Three Kings" | Instrumental | John Henry Hopkins Jr. | 0:52 |
| 8. | "Justice Delivers Its Death" (based on the song "Silver & Gold" by Johnny Marks) | Johnny Marks | Johnny Marks | 3:16 |
| 9. | "Christmas Unicorn" (includes "Love Will Tear Us Apart", by Joy Division) | Sufjan Stevens, Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner | Sufjan Stevens, Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner | 12:28 |
| Total length: | 31:50 | |||
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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In popular culture
Chicago radio personality Lin Brehmer mentions the Christmas unicorn in episode of the "Review" episode of The Bear TV series.[23] "Christmas Unicorn" is a 12-minute, 28-second song, the last track on the box set.[24] Stevens wore a balloon-based Christmas unicorn costume to perform the song at a December 2012 concert at the Metro Chicago concert venue.[25] The song examines "the many conflicting aspects of Christmas—Christian holiday, pagan heresy, celebration of crass materialism (to name a few)."[26] Stevens says he hates Christmas.[25] The Silver & Gold box set is a series of Christmas albums he made for his friends over a period of years.[25]