Pop Christmas

by Various Artists

EMI-Capitol Special Markets' A Pop Christmas is an odd collection of pop, soul, R&B and rock & roll holiday tunes. With the exception of contributions from the Whispers ("White Christmas") and Deniece Williams ("Do You Hear What I Hear?"), all the songs on the album were recorded for a division of EMI-Capitol during the early '90s. Consequently, it has a clean, consistent sound, which means it's not strange at all to hear Fats Domino ("Christmas is a Special Day"), Dion ("Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)"), Amy Grant ("Santa's Reindeer Ride"), Freddie Jackson ("Christmas Forever"), Dave Koz ("Winter Wonderland") and Carnie & Wendy Wilson ("Hey Santa!") on the same disc. Some tracks do fall flat, but overall, A Pop Christmas is a solid budget-line holiday collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine