Faith Hill, Joy to the World

Now Available | Word Label Group

Two years in the making, Faith Hill’s first foray into holiday fare, Joy to the World, has an intentionally timeless feel as she covers holiday highlights including “Joy to the World!” “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “What Child is This?”

And while tracks like “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Winter Wonderland” are decidedly more whimsical, Hill says the album is a spiritual affair. “Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus. It’s very spiritual,” Hill said at her recent taping of “Soundstage,” Chicago's public television Christmas special, giving a shout out to BeBe Winans, who was also in the house. “This is a gospel album to me…Do you know who I want to do a gospel album with? Mavis Staples!”

While there aren’t any duets with Staples this time around, the five-time GRAMMY winner definitely provides a nod to her love of gospel in several of the tracks from Joy to the World.

Highlight: The one original track, “A Baby Changes Everything” is an endearing tribute to family that demonstrates Hill’s tremendous vocal range.

Amy Grant, The Christmas Collection

Now Available | Sparrow

With three holiday efforts to her credit, Amy Grant is, hands down, the unprecedented queen of the Christmas album. And for those hoping for a project with just the highlights, well, The Christmas Collection should easily do the trick. With 18 tracks, including four new ones, there’s something for every Christmas moment, whether you feel like “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” or need an escape in the form of a “Sleigh Ride.”

Highlight: While there’s simply no competing with the emotional punch that a track like “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)” packs, new track “I Need a Silent Night” is another welcome reminder of what – and Who – the season is really about. Listen to clip

BarlowGirl, Home For Christmas

Now Available | Fervent

Celebrating Jesus’ birth and those special family moments they’ve enjoyed through the years, sisters Rebecca, Alyssa and Lauren Barlow have enjoyed recapturing those treasured memories on Home For Christmas.

Not to be confused by the Amy Grant album by the same name, the Barlows show off the kind of harmonizing that only siblings have on time-honored songs like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

What separates this set from the pack, however, are skillful sequences and the integration of a few unorthodox gems like “Hallelujah (Light Has Come)” and “Panis Angelicus,” a beautiful string-accented piece that showcases BarlowGirl’s upper-scale vocal range.

Highlight: The organ-infused gospel of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” which has almost an old-time feel that works especially well with BarlowGirl’s voices. Listen to clip

pureNRG, A pureNRG Christmas

Now Available | Fervent

Well, until the Jonas Brothers have their own Christmas project, A pureNRG Christmas should satiate the musical appetites of the teen pop set this holiday season.

Filled with fun, (“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”) whimsy, (“The 12 Days of Christmas”) and a double shot of spirituality, (“Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”) the project features a taut collection of well-produced Christmas standards that showcase this young group’s high-energy skills.

Highlight: The high-spirited strains of “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” Listen to clip

Point of Grace, Tennessee Christmas: A Holiday Collection

Now Available | Word Label Group

In my humble opinion, some of the best Point of Grace albums have been their Christmas outings, and now with one disc, the group has selected its favorites and also provided a new take on Tennessee Christmas.

With everything from the upbeat “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “Jingle Bell Rock” to the group’s slower, ballad-like material of “Little Town” and “Oh Holy Night,” there’s plenty of cheerful ambience to last all the way through to New Year’s Day.

Highlight: The girls’ knack for harmony is best demonstrated on their lively take of “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
Listen to clip

David Phelps, O Holy Night: A Live Christmas Celebration

Now Available | Word Label Group

Recorded live at David Phelps’ farm in southern Tennessee, O Holy Night has an intimate feel that really works well with his signature tenor.

From the soulful “If Everyone Believed” to his joyful, spirited take of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” his voice gets a good workout all the while, but is never worse for the wear on this multi-faceted holiday project.

Highlight: “One Wintry Night,” a delightful track with vivid Christmas visuals on which Phelps really delivers the goods vocally. Listen to clip

Casting Crowns, Peace on Earth

October 7 | Reunion/Provident Label Group

Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall hopes listeners will re-embrace the rich spiritual meaning and worshipful moments of popular Christmas songs. So on Casting Crowns’ Peace on Earth, the track list includes everything from Hall’s personal favorite “Silent Night” to “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” which provides a timely reminder of peace on earth in a time of war.

“He [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow] wrote about how every year when these Christmas bells ring, it reminds him that there’s peace on earth, good will toward men,” says Hall. “But this time around, the reality of the world he lives in at that moment rushes in. The verses change, and suddenly he’s saying, ‘But there is no peace. There’s war, and there’s hate. And this hate mocks the song of the bells.’ He’s working through his understanding of Christmas. And as the bells keep ringing, he has this moment when he realizes God is not dead, nor does He sleep. Good will prevail. God is going to save the day. This generation needs to hear this song. My kids need to hear this song.”

Highlight: An album full of solid arrangements and Hall’s vocals really makes it shine. But it’s the Casting Crown ladies who ultimately steal the show with a moving rendition of the Amy Grant classic “God Is With Us.” Listen to clip

Annie Moses Band, This Glorious Christmas

October 7 | Reunion/Provident Label Group

With shades of every musical style from big band to Latin to classical and pop, the latest effort from Annie Moses Band isn’t the least bit disjointed. In fact, for anyone who has grown bored with the usual Christmas project treatment, This Glorious Christmas will be a welcome change of pace as this talented five-piece group tackles everything from “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” to “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”

“Christmas incites both happiness and reverence,” lead singer Annie Wolaver shares. “I hope people find that this album explores the miraculous event that inspired the ultimate good news of great joy – the birth of Jesus Christ. We really want it to be a ‘spiritual feast’ for all who listen; fully painting pictures and imagery in people’s minds and hearts.”

Highlight: The big band bonanza of “Red, White and Blue Christmas,” a track that’ll instantly transport you back to the 1940s – in the best possible way.

Third Day, Christmas Offerings DVD

October 7 | Essential/Provident Label Group

If you didn’t get to see Third Day’s 2007 "Christmas Offerings” tour at a venue near you, well, this is the next best thing. With a mix of traditional Christmas carols and Third Day’s worship favorites including “Show Me Your Glory” and “Your Love Oh Lord,” which actually works remarkably well in the holiday-themed set, Christmas Offerings will be a favorite for anyone who likes his/her holiday soundtrack with a side of southern rock sensibility.

Highlight: The band’s festive, folky camaraderie on “Born in Bethlehem.”

Sara Groves, O Holy Night

October 14 | INO

Given that she lives in Minnesota, the land of snow and seemingly never-ending winters, it probably comes as no huge surprise that a Christmas album was always on Sara Groves’ to-do list.

Hoping “to convey this story of Christ that’s been told so many times with as much artistry and creativity as possibly because it bears repeating,” Groves’ collection features sacred tracks like “Star of Wonder” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” along with songs that celebrate her family’s Christmas traditions (“To Be With You”) and even poke fun at the needless commercialism (“Toy Packaging”).

Highlight: The haunting and insightful “It’s True,” a track she originally wrote for a Blood:Water Mission Christmas benefit that takes on a whole new meaning for anyone who has ever felt hopeless. Listen to clip

Shane & Shane, Glory in the Highest (A Christmas Record)

October 14 | Inpop

Recorded in the guys’ own Spaceway Studios, Shane & Shane’s first Christmas project is a span-the-genres affair that’s tailor-made for their trademark harmonies. A mix of jazz, gospel, and yes, even country, Glory in the Highest features a mix of familiar favorites like “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” “Away in a Manger” and “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas,” which features guest vocals from Bethany Dillon.

But to prevent things from sounding too routine, the Shanes also offer up three original tracks including “Born to Die,” “Holiday” and the title track. On making the project, Shane Everett says, “Shane and I are finally ready, after a decade of singing together, to take the Christmas carol plunge. We had a blast recording this project, and we hope our fans will enjoy it!”

Highlight: The blending of the Shanes’ voices has never sounded more beautiful than on standout “O Holy Night.” Listen to clip

Mandisa, It’s Christmas

October 14 | INO

Injecting a healthy dose of soul into her Christmas disc, It’s Christmas, American Idol finalist Mandisa puts her pipes to good use on a vibrant assortment of songs that could even cheer up the Grinch in no time flat.

Whether it’s the buoyant musicianship on “Little Drummer Boy” on her amazing vocals range on “Angels We Have Heard on High,” every track proves yet again why Mandisa will always have a fervent fanbase. Guest appearances by Matthew West and Michael W. Smith also make the project extra special.

Highlight: The very personal feel of opening track “What Christmas Means to Me.” Listen to clip

Sixpence None the Richer, The Dawn of Grace

October 14 | Nettwerk

It’s been six years since a proper Sixpence release, and now that the group is back together, what better way to kick things off than with something longtime fans have been wanting for a while – a Christmas album?

With an avant garde song selection (Depeche Mode’s “Christmas Island,”) anyone? and Leigh Nash’s pretty pixie vocals on everything from “Angels We Have Heard on High” to her duet with Jars of Clay’s Dan Haseltine on “Silent Night,” both old and new fans will probably like what they’re hearing.

Highlight: Definitely “Carol of the Bells.” Normally one of my least favorite Christmas songs, Sixpence gets it right with gorgeous orchestration and pitch-perfect vocals. Listen to clip

Fernando Ortega, Christmas Songs

October 21 | Curb

It took 13 albums for him to do so, but Fernando Ortega has finally made a Christmas album.

“Christmas Songs is a project that I’ve wanted to make for a very long time,” Ortega says. "I love Christmas, but had no idea how to approach the songs without falling into repetition and cliché. In November last year, I started toying around with the melody of ‘Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella.’ The rest of the album sprang from there.”

Staying true to his artistic sensibilities, the project is both earthy and contemplative as he documents the birth of Christ through familiar (“What Child is This,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem”) and not-so-familiar (“Come, Though Long Expected Jesus” and “Carol of the Birds”) material. Innovative musicianship, inventive arrangements and Ortega’s unique voice make it truly memorable.

Highlight: Closing track “Jesus, King of Angels” is a fitting, moving conclusion to the story of Jesus’ birth. Listen to clip