Top five Christmas albums that give hope to the holiday genre
Christmas music in really only appropriate for one month out of the year. Despite this fact, every artist feels the need to release a Christmas album of their own.
We waded through Christmas albums from Taylor Swift to Kathie Lee Gifford to David Hasselhoff. After we took a moment to recuperate from the horror that assaulted our ears, we found a few good ones.
These are the Hilltop Views picks for the top five Christmas albums of all time in no particular order.
While this list is far from conclusive, it is a good place to start for unique takes on some classic Christmas carols.
Mariah Carey
“Merry Christmas”
Mariah Carey has done plenty of things right in her career. She is the 3rd highest-selling female recording artist in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Asoociation of America (RIAA). She was renowned for her emotional performance in “Precious.” Her voice can span eight octaves.
Perhaps most impressive of all, however, she claimed the top spot on our list for best Christmas albums of all time.
Just try to think of the holidays without thinking of “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Go ahead, try.
Carey is spot on and brings some flavor and funk to the Christmas classics we all know and love and adds a few of her own that have rapidly become holiday staples as well.
Elvis Presley
“Elvis’ Christmas Album”
Elvis Presley is timeless. Christmas music is timeless. The two combine in 1957’s “Elvis’ Christmas Album” to make something simply stunning.
Elvis has a way of taking something simple and adding soul to it. His most notable song, “Blue Christmas,” was a break from the normal, cheerful holiday songs of the time.
The King of Rock and Roll does not disappoint in adding a little funk to the classic carols and children’s songs often associated with the holiday.
One listen to the record will explain why “Elvis’ Christmas Album” is the best-selling holiday album of all time in the United States, according to the RIAA.
Sufjan Stevens
“Songs for Christmas”
It is doubtful that anyone loves Christmas more than Sufjan Stevens. To prove it, Stevens has released 10 separate volumes of Christmas songs in the past 12 years.
His 2006 anthology “Songs for Christmas” contains five separate EPs and 42 tracks of both classic and original Christmas music.
The songs on the album are simultaneously quirky, beautiful and heartfelt.
His original Christmas tracks like “Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!” and “Sister Winter” are personal and modern, but he does not neglect the traditional hymns such as “O come O come Emmanuel” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”
While these may never become part of the Christmas canon, Stevens’ unique take on Christmas songs makes the holiday music feel appropriate year-round.
N’Sync
“Home for Christmas”
N’Sync is the quintessential boy band of the 90’s. They were young, they were talented, and America was definitely into it.
Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass brought all of their boyish charm and added in to classics we all know and love for 1998’s “Home for Christmas.”
Most notable on the album is the instant hit “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.” The song is poppy, fun, danceable and enough to make a teenage girl drop her stockings.
N’Sync captures the spirit and joy of the holidays perfectly and although the members have now gone their separate ways, America will always have the perfect Christmas song to remember them by.
Frank Sinatra
“A Jolly Christmas”
When thinking of a picturesque Christmas, one often thinks of a warm fire, a colorful tree, laughter, family, and Frank Sinatra’s smooth, sultry voice singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
Sinatra is perfect Christmas music to play while building a fire, cooking a big Christmas meal, or opening presents. In fact, there are very few holiday moments in which Sinatra’s 1957 release “A Jolly Christmas” is not appropriate.
“A Jolly Christmas” hearkens back to a time where trees were bigger, lights were brighter, and Christmases were whiter. One cannot help but become romantically nostalgic about the holidays when listening to Sinatra.
