The Best Christmas albums by Christian artists

[markb77]

Why does it seem like there is a lack of really good Christmas albums by artists who are professing Christians? I know there are a hand full of really fine ones, but it bothers me that Christian artists seem to lag behind their mainstream counterparts when it comes to seasonal fare. A large part of this may be because I'm not a huge fan of the whole CastingCrownsMercyMeThirdDay genre that gets 90% of the airplay on CCM radio, so I'll take the hit on that and say I'm biased to a more "edgy" (for lack of a better word) type of music. Off the top of my head, these are the best I can think of:

Amy Grant - A Christmas Album (Home for the Holidays is excellent as well)
Various Artists - Christmas (late 80s album by Sparrow artists, the high point being Steve Taylor's mariachi take on "Winter Wonderland"
Various Artists - Happy Christmas, Volumes 1 through 5, especially the one (I think it's Vol. 2) with the Lost Dogs covering "The Chipmunk Song"
Steven Curtis Chapman - his first Christmas album (The Music of Christmas, I think) was quite good
Riki Michelle - made a good holiday album in the late 90s, the name of which escapes me right now
Joy Electric - The Magic of Christmas. An actual full (though brief) album by an alternative Christian band (well, kinda). Who would have thought?
Various artists - The Broken Christmas. Artists on the long de-funked Broken label made what is truly my favorite Christmas album ever. Adam Again, Ojo Taylor, Undercover, Level Heads and others make this absolutley unique. The rap take on "Rudy Red" just has to be taken with a grain of salt. Everything else is stellar.

How about you? What are your favorite Christmas albums by Christian artists?

 

[Willing Spirit]

Various Artists - Happy Christmas, Volumes 1 through 5, especially the one (I think it's Vol. 2) with the Lost Dogs covering "The Chipmunk Song"

Various artists - The Broken Christmas. Artists on the long de-funked Broken label made what is truly my favorite Christmas album ever. Adam Again, Ojo Taylor, Undercover, Level Heads and others make this absolutley unique. The rap take on "Rudy Red" just has to be taken with a grain of salt. Everything else is stellar.

Yes, the Chipmunk Song is on Happy Christmas Volume 2. I don't care for every single track on that album, but so far it's my top Various Artist Christian recording for the season. I only like a little bit of Volume 3 (don't have the other ones).

I also have The Broken Christmas. Not my top Christmas album, but an overall good Christmas album. It came out in the 80's when decent Christmas music by CCM artists was an extreme rarity (as far as my ears are concerned). Was there any other seasonal CCM albums of the 80's that focused on the "alternative" or what was "modern rock"? It seems to be the only one.

My #1 Christmas album by a Christian artist is currently "From the Belly Of A Woman" by The Opiate Mass. It's a 6 song offering from a Seattle group that does electronic and post rock flavored music. It's only available as a digital album and every track can be heard on this following link:

From The Belly Of A Woman | The Opiate Mass

Rue Royale (indie folk group) also released a 3 song digital album for the season. Quality material:

http://rueroyale.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-ep-2009-2010

Sufjun Stevens's box set "Songs For Christmas" is another great collection of seasonal songs.

 

[markb77]

Thanks for the links. And good call on the Sufjan Stevens. That's in my "collection" as well. As far as good various artists collections from the same era as Broken Christmas, the only other one that comes to mind is "Christmas In Heaven", which I think was on the Flying Tart label (or something like that). That one may have been more early 90s, but is still worth checking out. A great cover of Tennesee Christmas by Alexis (think I spelled that right) on that one. In fact, I should have included "Christmas In Heaven" on my original list. It's very, very good.

 

[Willing Spirit]

Thanks for the links. And good call on the Sufjan Stevens. That's in my "collection" as well. As far as good various artists collections from the same era as Broken Christmas, the only other one that comes to mind is "Christmas In Heaven", which I think was on the Flying Tart label (or something like that). That one may have been more early 90s, but is still worth checking out. A great cover of Tennesee Christmas by Alexis (think I spelled that right) on that one. In fact, I should have included "Christmas In Heaven" on my original list. It's very, very good.

Your welcome.

I actually messed up the second link for Rue Royale, accidently making a link for another site. But I fixed it.

Also have Christmas In Heaven (which came out in 1996). The Tennesee Christmas cover is by Aleixa. An overall decent album, though I think The Echoing Green could have done something different for "Do They Know It's Christmas" It's sounds a lot like the original, and I think the original sounds better (at least for me)

Sufjan Steven put out a second box of Christmas Music called "Silver & Gold". I'll see how good it is, when it comes in the mail.

Also ordered a couple of albums by Mahalia Jackson, Christmas with Mahalia, and Silent Night, Holy Night (not to be confused with her Silent Night, which I already have). It might not be your style (old school black gospel), but recommended for people who like that kind of music. As far back as age 10 or earlier, I can remember playing her music at Christmas, on my dad's old record player. My favorite Jackson rendition of Silent Night, is the more stripped down version (just her and a organ), which can be found on this following link, track 33:

http://archive.org/details/MahaliaJackson-01-50

There's also a great electronic remix of her "Silent Night" (based on the other version with bells). Not sure what recording that is from.

One seasonal album I've yet to find, is "Seven Christmas Songs" by the Innocence Mission". For now, I'll just have to listen to the one album track I found on You Tube:

Winter ... Song: the innocence mission - See Amid The Winter's Snow (2011) - YouTube

A few other albums that are worthy of mention:

Bruce Cockburn - Christmas

Noel - Various (Only really like certain tracks, but has some enjoyable moments from the likes of Derri Daughery of The Choir, Jenny Gullen of Hoi Poloi, Carolyn Arends, etc. It came out in 1995)

Over The Rhine - The Darkest Night Of The Year (overall decent, though there's a couple or more tracks that don't quite work for me)

Low - Christmas (One of my favorite Christmas albums. Though mostly a secular group in content and not CCM, they are professing Christians, albeit of the Mormon variety. Not that there is any actual Mormon content on the album. A great album by one of the better indie bands, which actually got some airplay on the local Christian station at one time).

 

[markb77]

I'm not familiar with the Low, but I can't believe I forgot to mention the other three. Those are all excellent. Over The Rhine put out a second Christmas album a few years ago, and I liked it as well (but haven't spent as much time with it as Darkest Night). I'd love to hear all of the Innocence Mission too. My most recent Christmas purchase is Erasure's "Snow Globe". Not a CCM band at all, but one of my favorites. Hope to get a chance to play it later this week.