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As regular as Christmas itself, new holiday cds are set to hit the stores. Here’s a listing of some new and notable releases for the 2009 season.

Sugarland – Gold and Green

Andrea Bocelli – My Christmas

Sting – If On A Winter’s Night…

Bob Dylan – Christmas In the Heart (Deluxe Edition)

Neil Diamond – A Cherry Cherry Christmas

David Archuleta – Christmas From The Heart

Ray Charles – The Spirit of Christmas [Remastered Edition]

Dean Martin – My Kind Of Christmas

Ronan Keating – Winter Songs

Frank Sinatra – Christmas with Sinatra and Friends

Various Artists – NOW That’s What I Call A Country Christmas

Various Artists – The Ultimate Motown Christmas Collection

Various Artists – Putumayo Presents: A Family Christmas

Charlie Daniels – Joy To The World – A Bluegrass Christmas

The Jackson 5 – Ultimate Christmas Collection

Irish Tenors – The Irish Tenors Christmas

Michael McDonald – This Christmas

Chris Tomlin – Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs

Various Artists – The Joy of Christmas

Christmas Classics – The Yule Edition DVD

Sandi Patty – Sandi Patty Christmas Live (CD/DVD)

Christmas Jug Band – On The Holiday Highway

Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Singing Songs Of Christmas

Various Artists – A Very Special Christmas Volume 7

Straight No Chaser – Christmas Cheers

Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas 25th Anniversary Collection

Tori Amos – Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo]

Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Night Castle (2 CD)

Richie McDonald – If Every Day Could Be Christmas

Rodney Carrington – Make It Christmas

Reo Speedwagon – Not So Silent Night

Halford – Halford III: Winter Songs

Christmas 2009 finds no shortage of Christmas music for the holiday-lover to enjoy, although new pop or rock x-mas albums seem somewhat lacking this year. Nonetheless, there are still some interesting choices to consider for your wish list:

Bob Dylan releases his first Christmas album (who knew the guy even celebrated Christmas?) with a straightforward collection of traditional tunes that should please and probably bewilder his long-time fans. However he’s donating his royalties to charity, and the deluxe edition of the cd contains exclusive greeting cards so it’s a decent enough project irregardless of whether Bob should be belting out Hark The Herald Angels Sing.

Andrea Bocelli’s holiday album, produced by David Foster, should be the perfect accompaniment to those who bought Josh Groban’s 2007 Noel album, with Bocelli’s operatic voice singing the expected standards and including duets with Reba McEntire, Mary J. Blige and, er, the Muppets.

A Very Special Christmas 7 continues the long-running Special-Olympic charity series, although this time out the compilers are very obviously going after the teen market, with acts such as Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, Sean Kingston and Ashley Tisdale making their holiday contributions. It’s a far cry from the first AVSC back in ‘87 which had Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, U2, Whitney Houston and so on, but times change.

Sting releases his first holiday album, but don’t think for a minute that he’ll be singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Frosty the Snowman; with titles such as The Hounds of Winter and Lullaby For An Anxious Child, this is a moodier, sombre affair than most Christmas albums.

David Archuleta’s Christmas album will do doubt keep his many American Idol supporters happy, and early reviews seem to indicate he’s winning over his critics with a sincere effort, including songs sung in French, Spanish and Latin.

A rather odd re-release sees Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm making an appearance on cd as a Flintstones Christmas album from 1965 resurfaces in 2009. Unusual, yes, timely, no, but if you wanted your kids (or grandkids at this point) to experience holiday fun that you had as a youngster watching the Flintstones Christmas specials, this isn’t a bad way to go.

And finally, in an idea either absurd or brilliant (or maybe both), Sony is re-releasing a collection of their more popular Christmas albums on DVD, with the original albums accompanied by images of yule logs, christmas trees and other christmas scenes. Alternately, the images can be viewed without music, particularly the yule log if you prefer to just watch a fireplace crackling on your tv. Titles include Johnny Cash , Mariah Carey , Il Divo , Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney, and more.

 

For information about Christmas albums released in 2008, check this article:

New Christmas Albums For 2008

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