Mariah Carey’s first Christmas album, ‘Merry Christmas’, is widely regarded as one of the best Holiday-themed collections of the last 20 years. Comprising some of her most impressive vocal performances and the now classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, the record managed to be a top seller every year since being released in 1994.

Fast-forward exactly 16 years, to a time when Carey’s career is at a commercial standstill, and the diva finally delivers a followup in the form of ‘Merry Christmas II You’. Facing widespread speculation that her time at the top of the Pop roost is over and her famed 5 octave vocal range has faded into memory, Carey manages to do what she does best: prove her critics wrong. In fact, this 13-track LP almost achieves the impossible – matching its predecessor.

Susan Boyle is following up her I Dreamed A Dream multi-million selling album with the November 9 release of The Gift. While it’s not billed as a real holiday album, you’ll quickly notice that most of the tracks on here are holiday standards and that’s expected considering it’s being released in the heat of the holiday season. Some may be thrown off by tracks like Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” or Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and Boyle explains her motivations and approach to this seasonal collection of music:

Holiday releases tend to be either too goofy or deadly serious, and there are some moments on the Indigo Girls’ first holiday album that veer toward the latter category: A few songs, like “Peace Child” and “In the Bleak Midwinter,” are so earnest you can practically feel yourself losing sensation in your extremities.

Fortunately, most of “Holly Happy Days” (Vanguard Records) achieves just the right balance of warmth and sincerity and takes full advantage of the folksy (and folk-y) harmonies that have been the hallmark of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ work for more than two decades.

Recorded in Nashville, the album has a rootsy, bluegrass feel that serves both the artists and the material well, starting right off the bat with a banjo-laden “I Feel The Christmas Spirit.” Three solid originals anchor the album, with Saliers’ “The Holiday Song” sounding like an instant classic for a sometimes divisive age: “When our faith calls our name, someone else’s does the same,” sings Saliers, in a true example of a joyous noise.

Make It Christmas -- Rodney Carrington
By Martha Kleder

I have tears in my eyes but this time I’m not laughing. Instead, I am listening to Make It Christmas by musical comedian Rodney Carrington. What you hear when you hit the play button is smooth vocals and classic arrangements of traditional Christmas tunes -- “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Grown Up Christmas List,” “Oh Holy Night,” “Mary Did You Know,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” and “White Christmas.” Describing Rodney as Michael Bublé in a black cowboy hat would be pushing it, but you get the idea.

The first thing you notice about “If On A Winter’s Night” this work is that Sting sings in a lower register in these works than in his pop work. His deeper, richer vocals are paired with the acoustic instrumentation of guitar, harp, violin, Northumbrian Smallpipes and other traditional instruments from the British Isles. The musical selections span centuries of carols and lullabies embracing the winter season, from 16th century pieces to recent works penned by Sting.

Sting’s interpretation includes traditional songs, new works, and a surprising blend of new and old where Stings lyrics are set to music penned by J.S. Bach and Franz Schubert.

While clearly not a Christmas album – Sting admits to being ambivalent to the holiday – a number of the selections hearken to the birth of Christ, including a new recording of “Gabriel’s Message,” along with “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” Seasonal charity is celebrated with Paul Stookey’s “Soul Cake,” intertwined with the melody of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” However, this recording’s focus on the winter season will carry the listener through the quiet, melancholy, months that follow the festivities.

“If On A Winter’s Night” is the perfect seasonal follow-up to Sting’s 2006 album “Songs From The Labyrinth,” featuring songs by Elizabethan songwriter John Dowland, which debuted at the top of the classical charts in both the U.S. and Britain.

Released by Deutsche Grammophon on both CD and beautifully picturesque DVD, this release will make a wonderful Christmas gift for lovers of classical, folk and Celtic music.

By Martha Kleder, CB Staff Writer

Not much has been said about this album yet, so I hope to be able to inform those curious if Trans-Siberian Orchestra's new album is worth purchasing.

Fans of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, including myself, have been eagerly awaiting this album for some time. Expectations were high, for a variety of reasons.

For one, their previous two albums (Beethoven's Last Night, and Lost Christmas Eve) had been their best to date. Beethoven's Last Night, in particular, had been stellar because it was good year round instead of just around Christmas time. Furthermore, it had had a better story than any of their Christmas album, and arguably their best music and vocals. It had truly been an inspired album, and it was what lead me to this band and made me interested enough to buy each and every one of their Christmas albums, although none of them were quite as good as it was.

This one, not being a Christmas album, was also an exciting feature.

And on top of that, this album had been pushed back over a year so they could continue to perfect it and make it better.