The Ten Best Christmas CDs Ever . . . by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

It’s the day after Thanksgiving—let’s put on some Christmas music!

For me, music is an essential element of the season. Whether you’re preparing for Christmas by meditating on the miracle of the birth of the Christ, decorating your house, or choosing the perfect gifts for friends and family, music is a great kick-starter for getting into the Christmas spirit. Here are my personal favorite Christmas CDs:

1. White Christmas—Bing Crosby. My parents played this when I was a little girl. If you made a movie about my childhood Christmases, this would be the sound track.
2. Christmas—Mannheim Steamroller.
3. Christmas Extraordinaire—Mannheim Steamroller.
4. A Fresh Aire Christmas—Mannheim Steamroller. Do you see a pattern emerging? Any Christmas CD by Mannheim Steamroller would be wonderful. These just happen to be the three I own.
5. A Renaissance Christmas—New York’s Ensemble for Early Music. This is available through the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (You can get it from their website, but it’s fun to buy it in person. Besides, they put up a beautiful Christmas tree decorated with 18^th century Italian angel figurines.) The first half of the album contains less familiar tunes, but the second half has several that you’ll surely recognize.
6. The Original Music Box Medley of Christmas Songs. This was put out by Book of the Month Records. I have it on cassette tape; you can get it on vinyl on eBay. Apparently, it never made it to CD, so technically it shouldn’t be on this list, but it is just so delightful I had to include it. It’s a recording of Christmas songs from a collection of music boxes. Very unique.
7. That’s Christmas to Me—Pentatonix. This is their brand new Christmas album. I ordered it after seeing the above video. I can already tell that this will be one of my new favorites.
8. Miracles: The Holiday Album—Kenny G. Who doesn’t love carols on soprano sax?
9. Glee: the Christmas Album. I have the first one. If you like the singers from Glee, you’ll probably like any of their Christmas CDs.
10. Luminessence—Brass Menagerie. The brass ensemble featured resides in the Phoenix area, and the CD was recorded at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Disclaimer: I can’t guarantee these are definitively the best Christmas CDs ever. They are just my favorite ten Christmas CDs from my personal collection. However, if one of your favorites did not make my list, please feel free to tell us about it in a comment below.