Christmas music is one the biggest parts of the holiday season and it’s festivities. Here are some modern Christmas albums that have done a great job at keeping the Christmas spirit alive.
Merry Christmas– Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey’s 1994 Merry Christmas is a timeless piece of art that set the standard for modern Christmas albums. A mixture of great production, Christmas stories and lyricism are just a few reasons the album is so successful today. Within the ten tracks, Carey introduced two original songs while putting her own spin on the eight others. “Silent Night” is the first song you hear after hitting play, and the song sets listeners up for the next forty minutes. The exposed and commanding church choir led by Carey soothes listeners with resonant chords and dynamic singing. “Silent Night” transitions seamlessly into the album’s timeless and chart-topping hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Mariah begs the man at the North Pole for him to bring back her lover from the year before. Combine show-stopping vocals and an earworm of a chorus, you get an instant Christmas classic.
A Legendary Christmas- John Legend
John Legend’s A Legendary Christmas seemingly exceeds its own title as a legendary Christmas album. Legend’s 2018 project featured quite a few original tunes, but he was still able to add his own spin on some classic songs. What Christmas Means to Me featuring Stevie Wonder introduces us to the album. Legend puts an up-beat spin on the already sanguine vintage song. This is a common theme throughout the entire album, as Legend adds his boost of soul to not only his own original songs, but also the remixes as well. Songs like Baby, It’s Cold Outside featuring Kelly Clarkson and Vince Guaraldi’s famous Christmas Time Is Here feel completely different from the original songs while still putting you in the Christmas spirit no matter the time of year.
Christmas & Chill- Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande’s Christmas & Chill is a short and sweet six song long track list that presents us with a refreshing set of new holiday originals. Grande brings us along on her experience with love during the Christmas season. Intro is the first song on the EP and it gives us a quick one minute glance of what we can expect from this album with great vocals and production. Songs like True Love and Not Just on Christmas continue to bring us on her journey while doing a great job of keeping us in the festive atmosphere. To top things off, Grande gives us a modern classic Winter Things. The simple song consists of her just her voice and a calm ukulele that strums us away into the Christmas spirit.
Wrapped in Red- Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped In Red offers us a happy set of songs that pay homage to some of the great Christmas songs while it also gives us an all time greats of its own. Wrapped In Red’s intro title track leaves us speechless as Clarkson opens up with the heartwarming song. The following track picks up right where she left off as Underneath the Tree takes us on the roller-coaster ride Clarkson has gone through to find love on Christmas. Kelly’s captivating voice takes us through the turmoil she faced before she could find her lover on Christmas. Eulogies like Run Run Rudolph, White Christmas and Blue Christmas give us a reminiscent but different take on these classics.
One Wish: The Holiday Album- Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston’s One Wish: The Holiday Album is composed of 11 songs that Houston used her captivating vocals and insanely talented production to compose. Whitney uses her powerful and large mezzo-soprano vocal range as well as touches of R&B to add a mesmerizing spin on each classic Christmas hymn. Her dynamic voice completely changes the course of songs like Little Drummer Boy, which features her own daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, and O Come O Come Emmanuel.
Michael Wannah is a staff writer for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl