30 essential Christmas albums

Arriving in 1965, a year after Burl Ives narrated the Rankin/Bass stop-animated television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Have a Holly Jolly Christmas certainly carries some of the same jovial spirit as that seasonal perennial even if the versions of “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” on this record are different than the ones on the show. They’re in softer focus and a tad slower than the ones recorded for the show, a vibe that is sustained throughout the record. Although it occasionally hints at Ives’ roots as a folk singer, it’s a collection of sweet, pillowy pop that’s so warm, it sounds as if it was sung by Santa himself.

Very few Christmas albums actually rock. Sure, there are scattered seasonal singles throughout the years that bring the noise but few albums sustain that level of volume and energy throughout the length of an album. Cheap Trick addressed that problem with their 2017 album Christmas Christmas, a high-octane album that contains covers of some of those stray songs—Roy Wood’s monumental “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday,” the Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight),” the Kinks’ “Father Christmas”—then adds a couple clever, self-referential originals to the mix, along with a version of the Saturday Night Live novelty hit “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.”

Superstar producer Jimmy Iovine oversaw A Very Special Christmas, a 1987 charity album for the Special Olympics. Iovine convinced seemingly every superstar of the era to donate a track. With one exception, each musician contributed a cover: Bruce Springsteen offered a live rendition of “Merry Christmas Baby,” Eurythmics strolled through “Winter Wonderland,” Madonna camped her way through “Santa Baby’’ and U2 poured their soul into “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” All of these performances have their charms but it was that lone original, Run-DMC’s riotous “Christmas In Hollis,” that turns this album into an unalloyed classic.

A success in 1994, Merry Christmas became regarded as a classic as its lead single “All I Want For Christmas Is You” turned into an undisputed holiday standard, a song that’s more popular in 2022 than it was upon its original release. With its knowing nods to Phil Spector’s landmark Christmas album, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is such an incandescent joy that it suggests the rest of Merry Christmas shines as brightly. There are few moments that rival it for good cheer, including a version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” but a lot of the album is a bit more solemn, providing a showcase for Carey’s show-stopping range

Originally released as a collection of 78s called Merry Christmas in 1945, this Bing Crosby album was eventually retitled White Christmas, taking its title from the name of the Irving Berlin tune that Crosby turned into a pop phenomenon in 1942. “White Christmas” became the best-selling single in history, so it’s no surprise that the label eventually gave it the top billing, but this is hardly an album that relies on its hit single. The Christmas recordings Crosby cut in the 1940s are the foundation of secular holiday music, offering sumptuous, sophisticated arrangements complemented by Bing’s intimate delivery: it’s music that evokes the warmth and rousing spirits of the season.