Singing in the New Year

Elvis Christmas

Elvis Presley's (Christmas) spirit lives on in this album with 23 songs, all explore each part of the season. He puts a lot of passion and punch in "Santa Claus is Back In Town" and embraces the tempo of the fifties with "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)." There's more romance and mistletoe to this album, but still has classics like, "O Come, All Ye Faithful." This is more of an album everyone will be able to enjoy.

Brad Paisley Christmas

This album is full-on country with plenty of twang and yee-has. Brad Paisley doesn't let you forget he's a country singer since it definitely feels more country than Christmas. He makes it interesting by playing original songs like "Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday" and "364 Days to Go." Many of these tunes are slow enough to dance to, but some still have the style of Brad Paisley where you can wear your cowboy boots and dance while you decorate the tree.

Christmas In the Heart, Bob Dylan

Said to have "a voice made of sandpaper," Bob Dylan takes himself back to the old-school tunes with "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Winter Wonderland" with an album that sounds as if it's right out of a fifties Western film. There's times when Dylan's voice is noticeably struggling to keep up, but you can hear him enjoying himself with each chord and forgetting about his age.

The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection

With classics like "Santa Baby" and "Silent Night," Taylor Swift has fun showing off her talent instead of trying to make a hit. She makes the album her own by putting a country and pop twist to each of the six songs with banjos in the background and a Southern twang to her voice.

Joy to the World, Faith Hill

Faith Hill went full force in this Christmas album, having plenty of bells and trumpets. "Joy to the World" sounds as if there's a full-on orchestra by her side as she shows off her singing. "What Child Is This?" embraces the more serious tone of Christmas, almost something that's a little chilling, but "Holly Jolly Christmas" goes back to the jolly part that you can sing along to.

Christmas with Weezer

Weezer does a great job sticking to the holiday tunes, but just replacing them with electrical guitars and bass. It definitely sounds like Weezer, but isn't too much rock to where you can't get into the Christmas mood. They even sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." They stay true to each song they cover, but still add their own personal touch of Weezer.

Oh, Blue Christmas, A Fine Frenzy

There are few albums out there as creative as A Fine Frenzy's. She sings Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas," which sounds like she's right in the heart of his voice, and delicately sings and plays "Winter Wonderland." Her fragile and soft voice are enough to imagine snow is really falling in Southern California as you listen. A few songs even sound like wind is blowing as she plays the piano, which adds a bit of mystery to the lyrics.

Katie Cervantes

Live OC Magazine

www.LIVEOCMAG.com