Posted on: December 18, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

V/A – Christmas Number Ones / 2007 Universal / 17 Tracks / http://www.ilovethatsong.com/numberones /

As one can conceivably glean from this CD, these are the songs that have reached number 1 on the chart during the Christmas season. This means that there are tracks from Elton John, Dolly Parton, the Jackson 5, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby on this album. To keep the cost down of the disc, the album is crafted into a digipak that uses a lighter (perhaps biodegradable) type of plastic to hold the CD. The only thing that is a little bit confusing is the inclusion of six “Bonus Tracks”, which are presumably called that due to the fact that they did not reach #1.

It is not a major issue to have these tracks on here, but regardless, there are a number of Christmas classics on this album. This means that “The Christmas Song”, “The Chipmunk Song”, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”, “Jingle Bell Rock” , and “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” are all present, done by individuals that  have had the tracks largely attributed to them in the current period. The only thing that I wish Universal incorporated into these discs would be a little more in the way of information about the tracks. What was the inspiration that each of these individuals had in creating these tracks? How often have each of these tracks charted? On which country’s charts did these albums place? Regardless, there are quite a few tracks that have not been played much since they were first released. These tracks include the Do-Re-Mi Children’s Chorus and their version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and Louis Armstrong and The Commanders’ “Cool Yule”.

The disc’s 17 cuts provide individuals with more than enough material to stay interested for around an hour, even if there are a number of styles and genres of music played by the individuals on the disc. For example, the disc moves from pop to country to jazz and then to folk, moving equally between these genres until the album ends. Luckily for listeners to “Christmas Number Ones”, a great number of the performers crossover easily and make listening to this disc much less tough than it may sound.. While there could be more in the way of documentation on subsequent versions of “Christmas Number Ones”, individuals should feel good that the disc’s packaging is biodegradable in some way (although why there is still wrapping on the CD is not explained).

Top Tracks: Bing Crosby / White Christmas, Bobby Helms / Jingle Bell Rock

Rating: 6.2/10

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