Bruce's Top 10 Essential Christmas Albums
Seems that Christmas brings out the cheese in even the most cynical of my friends. You know who you are and may out yourselves if you choose. This phenomenon is very cool and I affirm the inner cheesy/drippy spirit that people embrace during the holidays. Apparently this periodic expression of emotion also brings judgment upon those of us who are more consistently cheesy the rest of the year. Now rarely do I succumb to defending myself against insults and name calling that is hurled in my direction, but in this case, I must relent. I feel compelled to defend my Christmas honor and make sure that folks understand that I do not unilaterally hate Christmas or the Christmas carols. Yes, I may prefer to wait to sing Christmas carols in worship until post-birth of JC, but I still love the Christmas carols in other contexts. So . . . let me take you through my top 10 Christmas albums that are currently in the rotation.
My essential 10, not ranked and w/o any snarky commentary.
- Christina Aguilara - My Kind of Christmas
- Harry Connick Jr. - When My Heart Finds Christmas
- Bing Crosby - White Christmas
- Luther Vandross - This is Christmas
- Jewel - Joy, A Holiday Collection
- Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
- Baby Face - Christmas With Babyface
- Toni Braxton - Snowflakes
- Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas
- 'N Sync - Home for Christmas
- BONUS CHEESE: Amy Grant - Home for Christmas
Nat King Cole is the preeemo of Christmas music. Good call there. He was #1 on my list of Christmas music for sure.
Posted by: Tyler | 2007.12.07 at 04:10 PM
Oh no, Bruce, 'N Sync? Say it isn't so...
Posted by: Aaron L | 2007.12.07 at 07:45 PM
Tyler - Yes, classic!
Aaron - Hey man, the boys can sing and plus, one eventually brought sexy back ;-)
Posted by: | 2007.12.07 at 08:31 PM
Ha ha, alright, well played. Back in high school, I used to relentlessly poke fun of fans of "N Suck", claiming that the band members were all gay and none of them could really sing. Well, turns out I happened to be right about Lance's sexuality, but we all know that I couldn't have been more wrong about mr jt and his pipes.
Posted by: Aaron L | 2007.12.07 at 09:31 PM
How 'bout my new favorite classic Christmas album: Richard Cheese's "Silent Nightclub?"
It only has 5 tracks but short and sweet!
Posted by: introverted one | 2007.12.08 at 07:14 AM
Sufjan Stevens!!!!???????? You missed the best one!
Posted by: LadyBurg | 2007.12.08 at 10:58 AM
uhhhh Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi Trio? The best ever!
Posted by: Mike W. | 2007.12.08 at 01:25 PM
IO - Saw a link for it, but have not listened. I bet it is good!
Mike - Yes, Charlie should be on the list. I think I would have to bump Toni.
Ladyburg - Okay now I feel like an uncultured dolt. Have no idea who Sufjan is ;-(
Posted by: | 2007.12.08 at 01:32 PM
Not to fear, I am here! Go to this website. It is his record label and there are two downloads available. He's a great artist. He's written one album about Michigan and one about Illinois. "Come on Feel the Illinois" is fantastic and his most popular. Not too worry he isn't THAT mainstream - although you'd have a few more cool points if you knew who he was (just being honest). :)
http://asthmatickitty.com/music.php?releaseID=63
Posted by: LadyBurg | 2007.12.11 at 03:49 PM
One more thing: Dr. Burg just said Sufjan Stevens is the most important indie pop musician alive today. So there you go - catch up!
Posted by: LadyBurg | 2007.12.11 at 03:51 PM