by
Kristin Battestella
The
Essential Now That's What I Call Christmas is a 2008 holiday
collection brimming with 25 tracks for nearly 80 minutes of both
traditional and contemporary Yule staples for one and all. Yowza!
Ironically,
The Essential gets off
to a bittersweet start with Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by
John & Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community
Choir – a lovely but sociological somber that feels more like it
should be a penultimate track. Of course, Elvis is on hand to serve
up everyone's favorite little melancholy in Blue Christmas,
and later on Wham! provides some more recent toe tapping sadness with
Last Christmas. Fortunately, several mid century classics
including It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year from
Andy Williams and Dean Martin's Baby, It's Cold Outside set
a more lighthearted seasonal mood as does the whimsical Johnny Mathis
version of It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.
Burl Ives' A Holly Jolly Christmas adds
some more peppy fun for The
Essential alongside
Little Saint Nick by The Beach Boys, and the
kids can have a good time with Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer and The
Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late).
The
Jackson 5's version of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town shakes
up the merriment and Chuck Berry's Run Rudolph Run creates
some groove – don't lie, everyone sings along to Elmo & Patsy's
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
and secretly dances to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
by Little Miss Dynamite Brenda Lee. Oddly, rather than the Brenda Lee
or Bobbly Helms versions, Hall & Oates take on Jingle Bell
Rock is included here. However, the Now That's What I Call
Christmas franchise is also only
repeating a handful of songs or renditions on The Essential
that were already included on previous Now That's What I
Call Christmas Volumes 1, 2, or
3 – shrewdly swaying
listeners to pick up this set to complete their holiday music
collection. José Feliciano's Feliz Navidad and
Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime fit
The Essential's
catchy theme, but the Donny Hathaway original This
Christmas plays suave alongside Elton John's throwback Step
into Christmas.
Two
new in 2008 singles Mistletoe from Colbie Caillat and Ledisi's
very smooth This Christmas (Could Be the One) feel
a little less famous and slightly out of place amid the classic
names. Indeed, there are a few songs on The Essential I
could do without – some are certainly more perennial or timeless
compared to others steeped in their dated era. Too much of the
engineered pop saccharin sounds the same after awhile, becoming
nothing but holiday background noise. As much as this session
provides some titular must haves, there are certainly several big
songs missing – cough The Christmas Song and White Christmas cough
– not to mention the lack of, you know, Christmas carols. The
Little Drummer Boy from the Harry Simeone Chorale is an unusually
old fashioned choice for The Essential, and
Do You Hear What I Hear? by Carrie Underwood and Amy
Grant's Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) mark a brief spiritual
block of longer, reverent ballads before The Essential concludes
with a slightly misrepresenting but no less gentle and appropriately
fitting Silent Night from The Temptations.
Yes,
the numbers, volumes, and titles of these Now That's What I Call
Christmas sets can become
increasingly confusing. The Essential will
repeat hits you already have on other combination collections
and original albums. This CD is packed with mostly shorter tracks,
and the mix is uneven with some songs being louder or at a lower
volume than others. There are precious few powerhouse vocals or
ballads and only a handful of religious tunes. However, the catch all
by design also makes it easy to skip to your favorites. By and large,
these are the original editions we want to hear, not generic covers
or instrumentals often found on cheap compilation sets. The Essential Now That's What I Call Christmas is a breezy, safe
potluck of secular classics, contemporary rock, and seasonal pop. Be
it the office playlist or a fast all in one place download, there's a
little something for everyone to be found here.
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