10 Essential Christmas Albums, From Phil Spector to Motown to ‘Charlie Brown’
variety.comTodd Gilchrist editor Great Christmas songs, and great versions of great Christmas songs, are as plentiful as letters to Santa Claus.
It’s the holiday for which various-artists compilations were seemingly created (and why the two-disc set “Now That’s What I Call Christmas” was certified 6x platinum just three years after its 2001 release).
But great Christmas albums are harder to come by. One reason may be that the genre’s standards are so well-known that new versions must stand up more famous and beloved renditions.
Moreover, that canon is also so firmly established that it’s tough to gain a foothold even with a song that’s merry and bright. (The last one that comes to mind is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” from 1994.) Even some of the industry’s most talented artists, working with an army of songwriters, musicians and producers, haven’t been able to crack the Christmas code (Beach Boys’ “Santa’s Beard,” I’m looking at you).
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