This Christmas

Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 13, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Universal Music Enterprises
• ASIN: B009H442DG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,544 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Opera & Vocal

Editorial Reviews

When your first single from Grease, the biggest movie musical of all time, is the chart-topping "You're the One That I Want," and it becomes the best-selling duet in pop music history - that's a tough act to follow. Almost 35 years later, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John have combined their iconic voices for This Christmas, a newly recorded album featuring Christmas favorites with guest artists such as Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, and James Taylor! Travolta and Newton-John will donate the artist proceeds from the album equally to their respective charities, the Jett Travolta Foundation and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 46 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Re-united duo will entertain you this X-mas. November 13, 2012

By M. Mariba TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John are back after a 35 year hiatus (their smash GREASE duet hit "You're The One That I Want" is the greatest pop duet of all time) with a new CD release. The CD (13 tracks) sees the duo at it again with X-mas songs and is titled 'This Christmas' : covers of well known X-mas songs (12 of them) plus a brand new original track "I Think You Might Like It", composed by John Farrar as a sequel of their smash hit. It's a great up-tempo pop track, how far it'll go time will tell. It's one of my favourite track from this entertaining CD : Olivia Newton-John's voice is great as ever and John Travolta's at much lower tone as compared to in GREASE but enjoyable nevertherless. Most of the songs are orchestral based with the duo singing quite well plus an array of big name guest artists including Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, James Taylor, Kenny G, Cliff Richard & Chick Corea.

Stand-outs/gems/solid tracks include "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", a rocky track with a beautiful melody & duo vocals featuring Kenny G on horns; "Silent Night", a slow-tempo track with a wonderful violin sound, vocals & melody; "Have Yourself A Merry Christmas", orchestral track featuring Cliff Richard & "I Think You Might Like It", I certainly do like it. Good tracks include "I'll Be Home For Christmas", orchestral jazzy track featuring Barbara Streisand; "This Christmas", another orchestral jazz track featuring Chick Corea; "The Christmas Waltz", another orchestral jazz track; "Winter Wonderland", a cabaret styled song featuring Tony Bennett and the Count Basie Orchestra; "White Christmas", a orchestral jazz track; "The Christmas Song", orchestral jazz track & " Auld Lang Syne/Christmas Time Is Here (Medley)".... Okay tracks are the opening track "Baby It's Cold Outside" & "Deck The Halls", a pop-ish track featuring James Taylor.

The proceeds of this CD will go to charities : Jett Travolta Foundation (children with autism & epilepsy), Cancer Foundation & Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. So this is quite personal for the duo (John Travolta losing his 16 year old autistic son who had epileptic seizures & Olivia Newton-John battling breast cancer a few years ago).

Christmas is around the corner, a host of X-mas albums are out now (more on the way), the duo of John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John have re-united to hopefully warm you up this X-mas with this entertaining CD 'This Christmas', a recommended CD listening. Read more ›

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming November 13, 2012

By J. Edwards

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not a big fan of Christmas albums but it is nice to have one or two to play each season. This one by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, plus some other big names, is the perfect one for this year. Traditional tunes plus a new one by John Farrar and the fact that buying this one you help two good charities make to have it a must. The music is nice, the voices are great, the arrangements are really good. Nothing in this album pretends to be more that what it is, a warm and friendly Christmas album.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Christmas fun! November 13, 2012

By J. Roy

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

The novelty of the "Grease" reunion and the charities aside, this album is what Christmas is all about: light-hearted, spirited, and unadulterated FUN! And not only to hear John & Olivia together again, but to be joined by the likes of Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, and Tony Bennett! "I Think You Might Like It" will stick in your head, and you can't help but picture "Danny" and "Sandy" cozying up on a stormy night when it's "Cold Outside." Forget the seriousness of the holiday and just enjoy some pure light fun. Merry Christmas indeed!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Bummed... December 26, 2012

By sjinia

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love Grease, and I'm OK with a cheesy Christmas album here and there, so I thought this would be a fun one to add to the collection just for kicks. This is just bad. I didn't want any of the tracks playing when my family was here (and they're OK with my cheesy Christmas tunes), and I haven't played any of them since the first listen. Either save your $10 or send it directly to one of the charities supported by the album sales.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst CD Ever December 28, 2012

By Ashley M Hickle

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I got this for my mom because she is a huge John Travolta fan. I thought it would be fun to have the 2 of them reunited for a new CD. Something has happened to their voices over the years. This is almost unbearable to listen to. All I can say is I am glad 100% of the proceeds go to charity. At least my purchase helped someone!

37 of 52 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Charitable Christmas November 18, 2012

By bobby morrow

Format:Audio CD

It's hard to make a more disappointing 'follow-up' than Two Of A Kind, but John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John have managed it with This Christmas! This is Olivia's third Christmas album, and the third to include a version of Silent Night! As far as her Christmas albums go, This Christmas isn't as bad as 2001's woeful Christmas Collection, nor is it as good as 2007's Christmas Wish, which at least had a little thought put into it's arrangements and song selections.

Yes, I know This Christmas is for charity. That's for all the bores who assume a project like this is beyond criticism. And that includes you, Olivia! But you'll be hard pressed to find as lazy and half-assed Christmas album as this one in 2012. It's not just the songs, though it's not the first time around the mulberry bush for quite a few of these tracks for ONJ, it's the slack production, the phone-it-in 'guest stars' and the whole 'Oh, It'll do' ness of the thing.

Take for instance Barbra Streisand popping up on I'll Be Home For Christmas for about 30 seconds. Why? It doesn't need her. It already has ONJ and JT, it's not a choir! Same thing with Tony Bennet slopping his way through Winter Wonderland with our ever-loving Grease chums. 'Oh John, Oh Tony' coos Olivia at the end. Oh, f*&% off!

Another thing is Travolta himself. Hardly a great singer, is he? He barely manages to keep in tune throughout but at least this is the most wholesome thing he's been involved in all year! Olivia, to be fair, does sound really good , a bit too 'bright' here and there... It just makes me long for the days she made proper albums. How many more chances will she get? Half-hearted charity albums like this (of which ONJ has made more than a few) don't sell anyway so what's the point?!...

Back to the songs, the supposed selling point of this is the duos' reteaming with John Farrar on I Think You Might Like It (don't bet on it...). It's a new recording but is so dated it could have come from the Soul Kiss sessions. It's staggeringly false and cheesy, but at least it's new!

After this you get Xmas veteran and ultimate show-off Cliff Richard singing appallingly on Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, James Taylor adds a little class to Deck The Halls and Olivia does Silent Night. Again!

I have to mention the cover. I can only assume the money 'raised' from this album will go to the John Travolta Decent Wig Campaign. Can you believe he goes out like that?! Read more ›