The Lost Christmas Eve

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Professional reviews
The Lost Christmas Eve

Studio album by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Released	October 12, 2004
Genre	Rock opera
Length	66:46
Label	Lava Records
Producer(s)	Paul O'Neill and Robert Kinkel
All Music Guide: link
Trans-Siberian Orchestra chronology
Beethoven's Last Night (2000)	The Lost Christmas Eve (2004)	Night Castle (2007)

The Lost Christmas Eve is the fourth album from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was released on October 12th, 2004, and is the last album in their "Christmas trilogy", with Christmas Eve and Other Stories (1996) and The Christmas Attic (1998) coming before it. All three albums, as well as their The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve DVD, were featured in the The Christmas Trilogy box set.

"Back To A Reason (Part II)" is a sequel to the Savatage song "Back To A Reason", on their 2001 release Poets and Madmen.

"Queen of Winter Night" is a re-working of the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera The Magic Flute (specifically, the "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" aria).

"Christmas Canon Rock" is a re-working of "Christmas Canon" (originally found on The Christmas Attic). "Christmas Canon Rock" does not feature a choir (which "Christmas Canon" did), instead using electric guitars, a drumkit, a bass guitar, guitar solos and a solo female vocalist.

"Wizards In Winter]" is an instrumental song that gained fame as the backing music for Carson Williams' home-made light show.

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Lost Christmas Eve has a rather religious spin, telling the story of heaven's youngest angel called back to Earth to continue Jesus' unfinished work. This time the little cherub lands in New York City to help redeem not only Christmas, but the soul of humankind itself with a story line that rivals anything Frank Capra ever dreamt up for the big screen. While not as bombastic as Savatage's fourteen rock epics -- which touch on topics as diverse as the Russian Revolution, the fifteenth century explorer Ferdinand Magellan's descendants, and Beethoven's last night -- the record still has a grandiose, baroque feel, with its prog-rock organ swells, and electronic wizardry, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, what's the holiday season without a little excess? (Amazon.com review)