Simultaneous to the release of the single-disc Johnny Mathis anthology Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, Columbia is offering Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration, which culls from the generous handful of holiday records that the velvet-voiced Mathis tracked over the last half-century. As one of the smoothest, least-smarmy vocalists of the classic pop era, Mathis was ideally suited to Christmas music, since he could serve the simple needs of a song like "Silver Bells" or "O Holy Night" without forcing anything uncomfortable—like personality—on listeners who just came to relax and reflect.
This Christmas collection features too many songs that were recorded in the '80s and the '00s, when Mathis was still in fine vocal form, but the tasteful, lush orchestrations of Percy Faith had given way to tinny, sub-Branson schmaltz. Still, the Mathis story isn't complete without the best of his Christmas songs, and if happy couples are decorating the tree to the Mathis Christmas collection, ideally they should segue to that other Gold disc, which features some of the most breathtakingly romantic music ever recorded. Because you know what's nice at Christmastime? Sex.