Published on Dec 20, 2001
Each year over the last few, there has been an album released
which claims to be
the ultimate collection of holiday music. Each successive
disc boasts it has all the songs that make the holidays special for
everyone – at least, for everyone who celebrates Christmas.
I’m here to shatter this myth. When it comes to “the ultimate
Christmas album”, there ain’t no such thing, kids. Fact is, each
one of us carries special memories of certain songs that we will
take to our graves, and the only way for there to be even close to
an ultimate collection would be for all the labels to get together
and release about a 20-CD set. (Even
that wouldn’t be enough, but it would be a good start.)
This year’s entry,
Now That’s What I Call Christmas!, is blatantly commercial,
coming from the same people who have been saturating the
marketplace with “best-of-today’s-hits” collections the last three
years in America. That said, it’s a surprisingly good collection
with some curve balls thrown in. If only they hadn’t relied heavily
on
Platinum Christmas, from which no less than three tracks are
lifted.
I could blather on about how this disc is missing some songs
which make the holidays special for me – where’s the Harry Simeone
Chorale? Andy Williams? Roger Whittaker nearly reducing me to tears
with “Tiny Angels”? Robert Goulet singing “Home For The Holidays”?
But that’s going back to the “no true ultimate holiday album”
comment – hell, if I want that kind of a collection, I’ll burn my
own CD. So, let’s judge this disc on what it has, not what it’s
missing.
What
Now That’s What I Call Christmas! does have, in fact, are
renditions of songs which we might not be used to. Anyone expecting
to hear the version of “White Christmas” from Bing Crosby that has
become legendary will be in for a big surprise; while I can’t place
where the version included here comes from, it’s most definitely a
different take. In a way, it’s kind of refreshing to hear – that
is, once you get over the initial shock of not hearing the same
version for the 20,000th time.
For the “classic” portion of this collection, the producers have
done rather well. No holiday season would be complete without Nat
King Cole’s rendition of “The Christmas Song,” Bobby Helms’s
“Jingle Bell Rock” or Gene Autry’s “Rudolph The Red-Nosed
Reindeer,” the last track arguably the most famous b-side in the
history of music. The inclusion of the duet between Crosby and
David Bowie, “Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth,” is a pleasant
surprise, especially with the banter removed from the beginning –
and while it’s not a “classic” per se, Kathy Mattea’s new track
“Christmas Collage” captures her beautiful voice while maintaining
the reverence of the hymn montage she performs.
I have but one complaint for this first disc – namely, the
inclusion of Johnny Mathis’s rendition of “It’s The Most Wonderful
Time Of The Year”. No offense to Mr. Mathis, but Andy Williams’s
version is, at least to me,
the definitive performance, and should have been included.
I’d have featured Mathis’s version of “Winter Wonderland,” never
mind the fact that Tony Bennett performs the same track.
The “modern” portion of this collection takes up the second
disc, though there’s a nice selection of what I consider holiday
classics which starts it off. Hearing John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (despite being re-mixed) is always a
pleasure, as it is to hear Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s
Christmas,” arguably the last classic Christmas song recorded to
date.
The rest of this second disc is more hit-and-miss. Michael
Bolton turns in a surprisingly good performance on “Our Love Is
Like A Holiday,” while Diana Krall (“Jingle Bells”) and Boyz II Men
(“Silent Night”) are pleasing to the ears. I even liked the take of
The Big Yard Family (featuring Shaggy) and their tune “All We Need
Is Love (Christmas In The Yard)” – admittedly, a song I wasn’t
looking forward to. On the flip side, while they’re not bad tunes,
selections from Gloria Estefan (“Love On Layaway”), Celine Dion
(“Don’t Save It All For Christmas Day”), *NSync (“You Don’t Have To
Be Alone (On Christmas)”) and Britney Spears (“My Only Wish (This
Year)”) make me pine for the traditional holiday tunes. I realize
that each generation needs their own songs to celebrate the season,
but these all feel like more commercial outings than the music I
grew up on.
Is
Now That’s What I Call Christmas! the ultimate holiday
collection? No… and I dare anyone to show me any collection which
would meet such a daunting title. But it’s not a bad effort, even
if you find yourself gravitating to the older music over the newer,
or vice versa. For a blatantly commercial effort, it’s pretty
good.