Platinum Christmas

Various Artists - Pop, Various Artists - Miscellaneous - Holiday

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jive
• ASIN: B000050I3J
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,029 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears

2. Grown-Up Christmas List

3. This Christmas - Joe

4. I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You - *NSYNC

5. Silent Night - Christina Aguilera

6. Posada (Pilgrimage To Bethlehem) - Carlos Santana

7. Little Drummer Boy - Jars of Clay

8. Christmas Song - Dave Matthews

9. Christmas Day - Dido

10. Merry XMas Everybody - Steps

11. Christmas Time - Backstreet Boys

12. World Christmas - R. Kelly

13. My Gift to You - Donell Jones

14. Sleigh Ride - TLC

15. Christmas Song - Toni Braxton

16. Who Would Imagine a King - Whitney Houston

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rarely is a compilation record as satisfying as Platinum Christmas is, but it's not due so much to the N'Sync's' rather whiny take on "I Don't Want to Spend One More Christmas Without You," the showy vocal gymnastics of Christina Aguilera on "Silent Night," or even Carlos Santana's enigmatic noodling on "Posada (Pilgrimage to Bethlehem)" as it is to some of the "lesser" lights on the disc who turn in the most memorable performances. For instance, Christian rockers Jars of Clay whip up a stunningly rhythmic version of "Little Drummer Boy" that borders on reggae, spiked with an ingenious bass line and a sinewy, liquid guitar that elevate the song above mere holiday cover material. Also, former Faithless vocalist Dido's strong and bracing acceptance of lost love on the gothic, delightfully chilling "Christmas Day" and Joe's urbane and single-minded "This Christmas" distinguish this collection from the usual holiday combo plate. But that's not to say that Britney Spears's breathy "My Only Wish (This Year)" isn't irresistible (conjuring up visions of Phil Spector dancing in our heads), or that TLC's wickedly self-indulgent "Sleigh Ride" doesn't shine like drugstore tinsel. And it's the effortless and graceful musings of Dave Matthews on the spiritually uplifting "Christmas Song" and Toni Braxton's sparse and elegant rendering of Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" that really help to make the season bright. --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Effort, November 22, 2001

By	"paradise_found" (Musicland, USA) - See all my reviews

This CD includes several new tracks from a few favorite artists.

A few major points of the album:

1. My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears- Though I'm not a huge Britney fan anymore, I think this shows her vocal ability very nicely. She doesn't sound like an amplifier is singing for her and you can appreciate her voice.

4. I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You - *NSync: I had high hopes for this song, but was very disappointed. They all sound so whiny, it's unbearable. It's a shame, it could have been a very nice song.

5. Silent Night (Noche De Paz) - Christina Aguilera: By far my favorite of the album. Her voice is so full, powerful and beautiful in this one. She starts by singing the English version of the carol, then transfers to Spanish, then reverts back to English again before the song is over. Just incredible.

8. Christmas Song - Matthews, Dave: I was really surprised and impressed by this song. It's written just perfectly in accordance to Dave's usual style and has so much meaning. Really touching.

9. Christmas Day - Dido: The (very close) second best of the album. It sounds a bit like "Thank You," but has such a sorrowful message. If you want to hear a good new Christmas carol, listen to this one.

10. Merry XMas Everybody - Steps: This is by the British sensation pop group the Steps. It's such a happy, poppy song, you can't help loving it!

11. Christmas Time - Backstreet Boys: I love this song. It's so beautiful and just nice for sitting around and looking at the tree, or watching snow fall. Really sweet.

World Christmas: R. Kelly: I didn't think I'd like this song, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. It makes you so happy and helps you put things into perspective about the holidays.

Hope I helped!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Christmas compilation..., November 22, 2001

By	Estelle (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

Overall this is a great Christmas compilation...If you want some music to get you in the spirit of the season but don't want to limit yourself to one artist (Destiny's Child, Nsync, Christina etc) this is PERFECT for ya, cuz it has many differently done songs but they just about ALL have that christmas cheer/feel to them. This album does not disapoint if you like the artists. Each one does their thing; and contributes a good song. Standout tracks include:

My Only wish (This Year) - As much as I hate Britney, I'll be honest I love this song! Its sort of silly and the lyrics shouldn't be taken seriously; but this really does have a fun sound to it! A great song to set the CD off....

I don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You - Nice song; even if you don't care for nsync that much its still good.

Silent Night (Noche De Paz) - Amazing. Christina sounds like an angel; and then gets into it and belts some notes out. It reminds me of O Holy Night from her Christmas album; which I also loved. This is one of my favorite tracks....

Christmas Day - If you like Dido I think you'd like this one....sort of a story....

Sleigh Ride - I think this remake itself is a classic. This TLC song has already been on quite a few other compilations; and I was happy to see it was on here. The album would not be complete without it.

Who Would Imagine A king - An underrated song on here. There is something about this that is so beautiful....Also a great example of Whitneys talent.

And the other tracks are great too, its just these are the ones i personally listen too. All in all, this album will no disapoint. If you think you're gonna like it, you probably will. This is also a very nice gift for family and friends! There is nothing like the gift of music ~

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as you'd think...., November 19, 2000

By	Jon (College Station, TX) - See all my reviews

With all these billion-selling pop stars (except for Steps and Dido...what are they doing there?!), you would expect some really great music, but you never really find it here. Britney's song is kinda generic, Christina's bilingual Silent Night is good (but would have been better if it was on HER christmas CD insead of saving it for this), the Dave Matthews song has already been out for a couple years, and a lot of the others are just decent covers of traditional songs. In my opinon, the best songs on the CD are N'Sync's cheesy but sweet power ballad and R. Kelly's song....In the end, although it's not great, if you are a big fan of these artists you could do worst than get this CD.