“Wintersong”

(Arista/Nettwerk)

There’s something about the holidays that brings singers, good and bad, out of the woodwork to share their favorite Christmas tunes.

Most should keep quiet, but Sarah McLachlan’s offering is a winner.

“Wintersong,” her first studio LP since 2003’s “Afterglow,” is suited for listening to while the snow falls outside and the hot chocolate is still warm. That it happens to have some Christmas-oriented songs – “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Silent Night” – is like finding extra marshmallows in the cupboard for that cup of cocoa.

McLachlan has a soothing voice and hearing her sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)” is a welcome change from the more commercially oriented fare sung by pop stars from the past and present.

Her covers of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and Joni Mitchell’s “River” are also treats as is her single, the title track “Wintersong.”

– Matt Moore, AP Writer
GEORGE STRAIT

“Fresh Cut Christmas”

(Hallmark/MCA)

Like perennial Christmas favorites Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, Texas music veteran George Strait possesses a vocal style as mellow and smooth as hot-buttered rum. His lived-in style is perfect for those who like their yuletide classics as if delivered in a wool sweater while sitting in front of a crackling fire.

On his third holiday album, “Fresh Cut Christmas,” Strait concentrates on sing-a-ong standards like “We Three Kings,” “Deck the Halls” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” giving them all just a hint of Lone Star twang.

The famous balladeer gives well-known solemn songs like “Silent Night” and “O Christmas Tree” a candlelit glow, with steel guitar and mandolin adding sweet country accents. But Strait seems to particularly enjoy the more playful tunes, like “Up on the Housetop” and “Jingle Bells,” which he and producer Tony Brown energize with western-swing rhythms.

The album is being released in a marketing agreement with Hallmark Cards Inc. and will only be sold at Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

– Michael McCall, for the Associated Press
JAMES TAYLOR

“At Christmas”

(Columbia)

James Taylor’s sweet voice proves well suited to lighthearted holiday fare with his collection, “At Christmas.”

With the accompaniment of pianist and arranger Dave Grusin adding a delightful touch of jazz, Taylor offers lively takes on some standards – “Winter Wonderland,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” – and serves up a unique and surprising interpretation of “Jingle Bells.”

He lends his top-notch folk to the spiritual “Go Tell It On The Mountain” and a stirring version of Joni Mitchell’s “River,” and avoids the pitfall of sounding corny on “Auld Lang Syne.”

But the highlight is easily the romantic duet, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – featuring a wonderfully playful turn by Natalie Cole.

The song’s theme of curling up by the fire with a loved one may be cliche, but that’s exactly what “At Christmas” makes you want to do.

– John Kosik, AP Writer
TWISTED SISTER

“A Twisted Christmas”

(Razor And Tie)

This is, quite simply, the best hard rock Christmas album ever made, and one of the best rock ‘n’ roll Christmas albums – period – since Elvis made his. It’s THAT good.

The words “clever,” “intelligent” and “groundbreaking” have seldom appeared in critics’ assessments of Twisted Sister, but that’s exactly what this 11-song collection is. The Long Island quintet melds classic Christmas tunes with their favorite heavy metal songs to create a disc like no other. For instance, singer Dee Snider realized that the chorus to the band’s biggest hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is almost note-for-note the same as the melody to “O Come All Ye Faithful.” So the band played the backing music for the Twisted song, while Snider sung the traditional hymn lyrics, and the result is an instant holiday classic.

“I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” a duet with Lita Ford, is set to the music of Twisted’s “The Price,” and the band’s “Rock And Roll Saviors” morphs into “Let It Snow.” Other bands also get the treatment: AC/DC’s “Problem Child” becomes “Silver Bells,” Judas Priest’s “You’ve Got Another Things Coming” becomes “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” and Black Sabbath’s “Never Say Die” and “War Pigs” are blended into “Deck The Halls” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

The one original track, “Heavy Metal Christmas,” is a Twisted interpretation of The Twelve Days Of Christmas (“Four quarts of Jack, three studded belts, two pairs of spandex pants, and a tattoo of Ozzy.”) It also has ferocious bass riffing by Mark “The Animal” Mendoza that alone is worth the price of the disc.

This is the band’s final album before calling it quits next year, and they saved the best of a 30-year career for last.

– Wayne Parry, AP Writer
BRAD PAISLEY

“Brad Paisley Christmas”

(Arista)

Let’s just have a little Christmas cheer with Brad Paisley and his buddies – some serious, some not.

Six of the 11 tracks on “Brad Paisley Christmas” are standard holiday offerings – like “Winter Wonderland,” “Silent Night,” and a rocking instrumental of “Jingle Bells” that showcases Paisley’s guitar virtuosity. There’s also a two-decades-old audio clip of 13-year-old Brad singing his composition “Born on Christmas Day” mixed in with the 34-year-old Paisley.

These alone are worth the price of the CD. But Paisley and album producer Frank Rogers linked up to write a couple of novelties that might – let’s hope – finally replace radio’s way overdone annual repetition of grandma and her killer reindeer.

“Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday” featuring the Kung Pao Buckaroos – Paisley, Jimmy Dickens, George Jones and Bill Anderson – is a funny song about a misguided effort to make holiday songs politically correct, and in the process, making them more politically incorrect.

Paisley’s “Penguin, James Penguin” is a James Bond send-up of the secret tux-clad bird Santa sends out with high-tech gear to find out who’s naughty and nice (“He’s got satellite uplinks in his cufflinks.”)

It’s an album that’s worth adding to any Paisley fan’s stocking.

– Tom Gardner, AP Writer
AIMEE MANN

“One More Drifter in the Snow”

(Super Ego Records)

Aimee Mann’s plaintive voice seems better suited to songs of sorrow and loss than Yuletide spirit. But she manages to deliver Christmas classics that are quietly festive – though still poignant – on “One More Drifter in the Snow.”

The collection of standards and lesser-known holiday songs borrows from popular Christmas albums of decades past, with shimmering keyboards and orchestral arrangements that recall the work of Johnny Mathis and other crooners.

But Mann’s renditions are distinctively eerie and off-kilter. Her singing, often accompanied by tremolo guitars, is ghostly on tracks such as “Christmastime,” a lament by her husband, Michael Penn. And she taunts listeners in a jazzy version of “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” narrated by fellow singer-songwriter Grant Lee Phillips.

Among the album’s chestnuts are “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and a version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” that features quirky horn and guitar parts worthy of Tom Waits.

The CD closes with its only original, “Calling on Mary,” a typically pain-tinged song Mann co-wrote with her producer, Paul Bryan.

If most Christmas albums seem relentlessly upbeat, Mann’s latest release offers an alternative. Though it may not inspire celebration, “One More Drifter in the Snow” shows there’s more to Christmas than holiday cheer.

– Daniel Lovering, AP Writer
RACHEL RAY

“How Cool Is That Christmas”

(Epic Records)

Rachel Ray, the ever perky talk show host and chef, gets into music with a holiday collection that is the latest in a long line of products in her name.

“How Cool Is That Christmas” includes a nice mix of classics and lesser-known songs featuring Frank Sinatra crooning “White Christmas,” Willie Nelson singing “Blue Christmas” and Hall & Oates with “Jingle Bell Rock.”

Jazzy non-standards such as Buster Poindexter’s swinging “Zat You, Santa Claus?” keep the album interesting but the classics provide nostalgia. I dare you not to sing along with Aretha Franklin on “Winter Wonderland.”

The collection would have been no more, no less without Ray’s toothy smile on the cover, but then would the liner notes include a recipe for Christmas Pasta? The album itself is a simple crowd-pleaser, not unlike Ray’s 30-minute meals.

– Olivia Munoz, AP Writer
RHONDA VINCENT

“Beautiful Star”

(Rounder)

Get ready for some kickin’ holiday bluegrass with the mandolin mama and the talented friends she’s brought with her. On “Beautiful Star,” Rhonda Vincent’s 12 offerings range from a toe-tapping, mandolin-, fiddle- and banjo-intensive “Christmas Time at Home” (written by Vincent) to an almost torchy treatment of “A Christmas Song.”

The acoustic simplicity of “Silent Night” makes it worth a few more listens. Sharon White Skaggs – Ricky’s wife – and her sister Cheryl White join Vincent on a tender harp-accompanied “Away in a Manger.”

A children’s’ chorus – about one-third of them named Vincent – adds a gathered-round-the-tree touch to “Jingle Bells.” A positively rollicking “Twelve Days of Christmas” is a fun wrap-up, especially since it sounds like some of the guys in the choir might have been doing a little wassailing beforehand.

– Tom Gardner, AP Writer
CARL TANNER

“Hear the Angel Voices”

(TMG)

Tenor Carl Tanner has always found himself drawn to “O Holy Night,” a song he has performed in venues ranging from the lighting of the national Christmas Tree at the White House to midnight mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so he chose it to be the centerpiece on his first album, a tuneful Christmas sampler titled after a line in “O Holy Night.”

Tanner opens the CD with a robust “Joy to the World” and immediately follows it with the tender “Mille Cherubini” – not exactly Christmas, but a soft lullaby in Italian is close enough. He is effectively joined on it and other tracks by the Seattle-based Northwest Boychoir, The Seattle Chorus and the Northwest Sinfonia.

Tanner rounds out his 16-track holiday offering with a mix of sacred and secular, a couple of Ave Marias, “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Panis Angelicus” balanced by “Little Drummer Boy,” “White Christmas” and that much-roasted chestnut “The Christmas Song.”

– Tom Gardner, AP Writer
DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES

“Home For Christmas”

(U-Watch/DKE)

This is about as joyless a Christmas album as it’s possible to record. Hall & Oates, the hit-making duo who once ruled the radio with a seemingly endless string of Top 40 gems, phone it in here, from the cover illustration that looks like it was drawn by a 4th grader in art class, to the uninspired arrangements that lean way too heavily on strings and keyboards.

To put it another way, they’re out of touch and out of time.

It’s a shame coming from artists who once had the knack for crafting classic pop hits that stayed with you forever, backed by a boppy groove and an infectious melody. Simply put, there’s none of that here. “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear,” “No Child Should Ever Cry On Christmas” and “Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday” are just unlistenable more than once.

The only redeeming feature of this album is that a portion of the proceeds will go to the Toys For Tots campaign run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Hall & Oates used to make my dreams come true, but as for the muse that once made these guys pop gods, well, she’s gone.

– Wayne Parry, AP Writer
VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Christmas Break: Relaxing Jazz for the Holidays”

(Telarc)

For those stressed out by the frenetic holiday season, Telarc offers a soothing balm with this compilation of a dozen unhurried performances from Christmas CDs past by such jazz masters as pianists Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson and George Shearing.

Brubeck offers imaginative solo interpretations of “Silent Night” and “”Farewell’ Jingle Bells,” and playfully romps in an odd-couple duet with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan on “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” Peterson leads a quintet on gently swinging versions of “White Christmas” and “Christmas Waltz,” while Shearing picks up the tempo slightly with his group on “Donkey Carol” and turns “Away In a Manger” into a lullaby.

Among the vocal tracks, Mel Torme lends his velvet-smooth voice to “Christmastime Is Here” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”; the underrated Carmen Lundy with pianist Kenny Barron offers a lovely read of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”; and Kevin Mahogany’s deep rich voice heats up the roasting chestnuts as he joins the Ray Brown Trio and guitarist Russell Malone on Torme’s “The Christmas Song.” There are also acoustic guitar solos by Jim Hall (“O Tannenbaum”) and a classical-sounding Al Di Meola, who adapts “Ave Maria” to “Prelude No. 1” of J.S. Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier”.

This is a collection of mainstream jazz meant to create a warm glow on those cold December nights after a day at a crowded shopping mall.

– Charles J. Gans, AP Writer
CELTIC WOMAN

“A Christmas Celebration”

(Manhattan Records)

For people who enjoy traditional Christmas music magnificently performed, this offering by Celtic Woman is truly “A Christmas Celebration.”

Fiddler Mairead Nesbitt, the fifth member of the group, shows her stuff on “Carol of the Bells.” Otherwise, it’s the clear sopranos of the four singers who command the day with lovely arrangements (by David Downes) that give a new and memorable sound to standards like “O Holy Night,” “Away in a Manger” and the delightful “Ding Dong Merrily on High.”

It’s one of the best musical additions to the season, and one that will endure for many more Christmases to come.

– Tom Gardner, AP Writer
VARIOUS ARTISTS

“New Orleans Christmas”

(Putumayo World Music)

Looking for more sass and soul in your holiday music? Then “New Orleans Christmas” is a must get. Brass bands, jazz scats and bluesy vocals make staid holiday classics seem new again on this joyous CD.

The Heritage Hall Jazz Band with Gregg Stafford serves up a rollicking version of “Silver Bells,” with a jumping horn section; and Banu Gibson & The New Orleans Hot Jazz’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” is especially poignant, given New Orleans’ post-Katrina state.

There is no dud to be found on this album – it just hits high note after high note, especially with songs like Ingrid Lucia’s sultry “‘Zat You, Santa Claus?”

– Nekesa Mumbi Moody, AP Music Writer