The Ninth CD of Christmas

There are currently four volumes in the Now That's What I Call Christmas! series, six if you count the Country volume and the single-disc Essential volume. You could own this series by itself and consider yourself a Christmas pop music expert. I'm not going to cover the Country volume here, but I have put in the research to blog the following consumer report on the main series and its Essential volume.

Which volume is actually the most essential? "There can be only one."

Artists appearing multiple times in the series (my pick for each in bold):

1. Christina Aguilera - "Merry Christmas Baby" (Vol. 3) vs. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Vol. 4)

2. Gene Autry – "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Vol. 1) vs. "Frosty the Snowman" (Vol. 3)

3. Tony Bennett – "Winter Wonderland" (Vol. 1) vs. "My Favorite Things" (Vol. 3)

4. Mariah Carey – "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (Vols. 2 & 4) vs. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (Vol. 3)

5. Nat King Cole – "The Christmas Song" (Vols. 1 & 4) vs. "O Come All Ye Faithful" (Vol. 3)

6. Bing Crosby – "White Christmas" (Vols. 1 & 4) vs. "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" (Vols. 1 & 4) vs. "Silver Bells" (Vol. 3)

7. Celine Dion – "Don’t Save It All for Christmas Day" (Vol. 1) vs. "O Holy Night" (Vol. 2) vs. "Feliz Navidad" (Vol. 3); NONE - not because of Celine Dion but because of the arrangements

8. Gloria Estefan – "Love on Layaway" (Vol. 1) vs. "Christmas Through Your Eyes" (Vol. 2) vs. "’ll Be Home for Christmas"(Vol. 3)

9. Ella Fitzgerald – "Sleigh Ride" (Vol. 1) vs. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Vol. 3)

10. Amy Grant - "A Christmas to Remember" (Vol. 2) vs. "Breath of Heaven" (Essential)

11. Burl Ives – "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (Vols. 1 & 4s) vs. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Vol. 2) vs. "Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town" (Vol. 3); ALL - because Burl Ives is the man

12. The Jackson 5 – "Up on the Housetop" (Vol. 3) vs. "Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town" (Essential)

13. Brenda Lee – "Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree" (Vol. 1) vs. "Jingle Bell Rock" (Vol. 3)

14. Peggy Lee – "Happy Holiday" (Vol. 2) vs. "The Little Drummer Boy" (Vol. 3)

15. Dean Martin – "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (Vol. 1) vs. "The Christmas Blues" (Vol. 2) vs. "Baby, It’s Cold Outside" (Vol. 3) vs. "A Marshmallow World" (Vol. 4)

16. Johnny Mathis – "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Vol. 1) vs. "Silver Bells" (Vol. 2) vs. "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (Vols. 3 & 4)

17. *NSYNC – "You Don’t Have to Be Alone" (Vol. 1) vs. "I Don’t Want to Spend One More Christmas Without You" (Vol. 2); BOTH - so deal with it

18. Stacie Orrico – "O Come All Ye Faithful" (Vol. 2) vs. "Christmas Wish" (Vol. 3)

19. Elvis Presley – "Blue Christmas" (Vol. 1) vs. "Here Comes Santa Claus" (Vols. 3 & 4)

20. Rihanna - "It Just Don't Feel Like Xmas (Without You)" (Vol. 3) vs. "A Child Is Born" (Vol. 4)

21. Kenny Rogers – "Kentucky Homemade Country Christmas" (Vol. 2) vs. "Christmas Is My Favorite Time of the Year" (Vol. 3)

22. Frank Sinatra – "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Vol. 1) vs. "Jingle Bells" (Vol. 3)

23. Luther Vandross – "O Come All Ye Faithful" (Vol. 1) vs. "Please Come Home for Christmas" (Vol. 2)

24. Andy Williams – "The First Noel" (Vol. 2) vs. "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Vols. 3 & 4)

Songs appearing multiple times in the series (my pick for each in bold):

1. "Baby, It’s Cold Outside" – Tom Jones (Vol. 2) vs. Dean Martin (Vol. 3)

2. "Blue Christmas" – Elvis Presley (Vol. 1) vs. Johnny Cash (Vol. 3)

3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – Frank Sinatra (Vol. 1) vs. Judy Garland (Vol. 3)

4. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" – Vince Gill (Vol. 2) vs. Carrie Underwood (Vol. 3)

5. "Feliz Navidad" – Jose Feliciano (live version; Vol. 2) vs. Celine Dion (Vol. 3); NONE but the original studio version, which appears on the Essential volume

6. "I’ll Be Home for Christmas" – Barbra Streisand (Vol. 2) vs. Gloria Estefan (Vol. 3)

7. "Jingle Bell Rock" – Bobby Helms (Vol. 1) vs. Brenda Lee (Vol. 3) vs. Daryl Hall and John Oates (Essential)

8. "Jingle Bells" – Diana Krall (Vol. 1) vs. Jimmy Buffett (Vol. 2) vs. Frank Sinatra (Vol. 3) vs. James Taylor (Vol. 4)

9. "The Little Drummer Boy" – Bing Crosby and David Bowie (Vol. 1) vs. Lou Rawls (Vol. 2) vs. Harry Simeone Chorale (Essential) vs. Sean Kingston (Vol. 4)

10. "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" – Johnny Mathis (Vol. 1) vs. Andy Williams (Vol. 3 & 4)

11. "O Come All Ye Faithful" – Luther Vandross (Vol. 1) vs. Stacie Orrico (Vol. 2) vs. Luciano Pavarotti (Vol. 2) vs. Nat King Cole (Vol. 3) vs. Celtic Woman (Vol. 4)

12. "O Holy Night" – Celine Dion (Vol. 2) vs. Al Green (Vol. 3)

13. "Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree" – Brenda Lee (Vol. 1) vs. Cyndi Lauper (Vol. 3) vs. Toby Keith (Vol. 4)

14. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" – Gene Autry (Vol. 1) vs. Burl Ives (Vol. 2) vs. Ella Fitzgerald (Vol. 3) vs. The Temptations (Vol. 4); ALL - because it's the ultimate Christmas pop song

15. "Santa Baby" – Kylie Minogue (Vol. 2) vs. The Pussycat Dolls (Vol. 3) ; BOTH - because this song's funny whether it's done well or not

16. "Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town" – Bruce Springsteen (Vol. 1) vs. B2K (Vol. 2) vs. Burl Ives (Vol. 3) vs. The Jackson 5 (Essential)

17. "Silent Night" – Boyz II Men (Vol. 1) vs. Charlotte Church (Vol. 2) vs. The Temptations (Essential)

18. "Silver Bells" – Johnny Mathis (Vol. 2) vs. Bing Crosby (Vol. 3) vs. Martina McBride (Vol. 4)

19. "(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" – Perry Como (Vol. 1) vs. Barry Manilow (Vol. 2)

20. "This Christmas" – Joe (Vol. 1) vs. Donny Hathaway (Essential)

21. "Winter Wonderland" – Tony Bennett (Vol. 1) vs. Louis Armstrong (Vol. 2)

If you count up my picks for each, Vol. 3 appears to be the most essential for both artists and songs across the series. I stand by Vol. 1 though, because it's the only one with the original "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms, which is practically canon, or at the very least, required listening during the holidays.

Most of the best selections from the Signature (Vol. 2) are repeated on the Essential volume: Chuck Berry, José Feliciano, Elton John and Wham! I still recommend the Signature (Vol. 2) for its Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey and Gloria Estefan tracks.

Vol. 3 is the only one to include "The Grinch" song and a punk rock version of a Christmas song. There are a couple of songs which are repeated on Vol. 3, supposedly because they're superior recordings, but they're not. You're better off with the "Little Saint Nick" from Vol. 1 and "Winter Wonderland" from the Vol. 2.

When I first looked at the tracklisting for Vol. 4, I couldn't see past all the contemporary country and top 40 pop artists on disc 1. Then I mistook disc 2 for a rehash of previous releases. While the Lady Gaga song is wrong on multiple levels, the poppy Kelly Rowland "Wonderful Christmastime" cover is an improvement over the Paul McCartney original. Last but certainly not least, I just found one of my new favorite Christmas songs, and that's "December" by Norah Jones.