Critical reception was mixed; the majority of critics praised the cover versions of "Baby, It's Cold Outside", performed by Chris Colfer and guest star Darren Criss, and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", performed by Lea Michele, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron and Naya Rivera. There was also appreciation for the vocals of various cast members, particularly Riley. The original arrangements produced by Adam Anders and Peer Åström received more negative comments, with reviews criticizing the stylistic choices of some of the cover songs, as did the delivery of some songs performed by Michele. The album also features a cover of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" performed by Matthew Morrison and guest vocalist k.d. lang.
glee christmas songs cd
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In its second season, Glee aired the Christmas episode, "A Very Glee Christmas", on December 7, 2010, on Fox.[5] The album had reached the top of the iTunes download chart before the episode aired.[6] The cast began recording the Christmas episode in November 2010, but had recorded the songs for the album several weeks prior, though they had not been told what the songs were for; Amber Riley, who played Mercedes Jones, told TV Guide: "Everything goes so fast that there's no time to explain anything to us ... We're recording Christmas songs, and then one day they mention there's going to be an album. We were like, 'Huh?'"[5] The album was produced by Adam Anders and Glee creator Ryan Murphy and executive produced by Glee executives Dante Di Loreto and Brad Falchuk, with songs produced by Anders and Peer Åström.[7]
In the "A Very Glee Christmas" episode, the six songs used on the album are sung in various situations, though not all are connected to the story. The episode incorporates some of the plot elements of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, using songs from the 1966 television special adaptation of the story in similar scenes. In the episode, "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" is sung at the start of the episode as the main characters, kids in a high school glee club, decorate a Christmas tree with stolen ornaments. "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is performed as antagonist Sue Sylvester, dressed like the Grinch, destroys the glee club's Christmas decorations. "We Need a Little Christmas" is performed by the glee club carolling at their school, but the song is abruptly cut-off in the episode when they are heckled. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is performed at a different private school by characters Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson; the performance is followed by glee club director Will Schuester visiting the school to ask Kurt's advice. Like "Baby, It's Cold Outside", main character Rachel Berry's song, "Merry Christmas Darling", is also sung without much context, standing on a stage with a Christmas scene behind. "Last Christmas" is a duet between Rachel and her love interest Finn Hudson, and was more strongly integrated into their ongoing relationship plot.[11][8]
The songs, as is typical for Glee, were chosen by Murphy with assistance from music supervisor PJ Bloom. On December 7, 2010, Bloom was interviewed about the process of producing the music. Bloom said that the Glee writers knew they wanted to incorporate the story of the Grinch in the episode, and so including "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was an obvious song choice. He noted that "sometimes the songs drive the plot concepts", saying that Murphy is a big fan of George Michael, and so chose to have the characters perform "Last Christmas".[6] Similarly, they felt that "Jingle Bells" was the most Christmas-y song, prompting its inclusion. Bloom acknowledged that the album "pukes Christmas", proudly saying that Glee had never tried to be subtle.[6]
Anders, Åström, and, on some songs, Nikki Hassman, arranged many of the songs of the album.[7] The traditional song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" was performed mostly a cappella,[18] and "Angels We Have Heard on High" was given gospel elements,[19] while popular Christmas track "Baby, It's Cold Outside" retained its soft jazz style.[18] The mashup "Deck the Rooftop" was an energetic rearrangement of traditional songs "Deck the Halls" and "Up on the Housetop", with choral ad-libs,[18][19] while "Last Christmas" is removed from its 1980s stylings and less upbeat.[20] Bill Lamb of About.com felt the hymns "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "O Holy Night" were respectful and reverent versions.[19]
The album's track listing was revealed in an exclusive feature by Michael Ausiello for Entertainment Weekly on October 25, 2010;[14][a] Assignment X noted that "for once, the [Glee album] features more songs than are actually featured on the show."[22] Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album was released digitally in the US and UK on November 9, 2010,[23] almost a month ahead of the Christmas episode airing. A Glee Christmas card featuring the cast in ugly Christmas sweaters was released to accompany and promote the album.[24] The album songs were also made available to listen to on the Glee Myspace page before physical copies could be purchased.[25] In the US, the physical album was released on November 16, 2010;[26] in the UK, it was released on November 29, 2010, though the second season of Glee did not begin airing in the UK until 2011.[1] The cast of Glee performed during the semi-final of The X Factor in the UK on December 5, 2010, and promoted the album release there.[27]
The opening track, Riley, Colfer, and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang)'s "We Need a Little Christmas", was praised in The Detroit News, which described it as "underappreciated",[39] and LA Music, which praised Riley's vocals and said the song "so wonderfully capture[s] the grandeur and spirit of Christmas."[18] However, it was awarded two stars in Berk's Vanity Fair episode review, copying his response to "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year", which he said was "Blech."[46] Rebecca Milzoff for Vulture was also unimpressed at the performance of "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year", saying the cast were singing "in a weirdly glazed over way", though she complimented Agron's vocals;[11][c] Robert Canning of IGN instead thought it was "slightly peppier" than the original, which he praised.[48] Emily St. James for The A.V. Club disliked the song, and wrote that it "sounds like something you might hear in a Walgreens."[49] LA Music instead enjoyed it, praising Overstreet's voice,[18] with Jen Harper of BuddyTV and The Atlantic's Fallon thinking it a fitting choice despite its cheesiness, as the glee club of the show are also a group of misfits.[8][50]
There was also praise for the performance of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", led by Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez),[52] and the vocals of the female singers (Michele, Riley, Ushkowitz, Agron, and Rivera) who performed it: Coachman was impressed with the quality of the harmonies, adding that the song takes on vulnerability because of how the singers "seem to be reining in the glory notes a bit",[44] and Allan Stackhouse of LA Music felt it was one of the best songs on the album, complimenting each singer's contributions to the song's progression and the "lovely textures" of Ushkowitz and Agron's harmonies.[18] St. James was disappointed that the song was not featured in the episode, but acknowledged that it would have been hard for Glee to incorporate religion well.[49] Reviewing covers of the song in 2015, Emma Green of The Atlantic wrote that the Glee version has an "elf-like sweetness", though she felt that this did not convey the dramatic stakes of the lyrics, which describe humanity falling under Satan's power, and instead reminded her of "early-aughts middle-school dances."[53]
On the Billboard Hot 100, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" peaked at number fifty-seven and the non-album episode single "Welcome Christmas" peaked at number fifty-nine.[62] "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "Welcome Christmas" also charted on the Canadian Hot 100, peaking at number fifty-three and number thirty-seven, respectively,[62][71] and other album songs "Jingle Bells" and "Deck The Rooftop" joined them with peaks at seventy-four and eighty-six (respectively) on the same chart.[72][73]
Several songs from the album impacted other Billboard song charts.[62] "We Need a Little Christmas" debuted on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart the week of December 6, 2010 at number twenty,[74] spending four weeks on the chart and peaking at fifteen. On Christmas Day 2010, "Deck the Rooftop" debuted on the Adult Contemporary chart at number twenty-nine, spending three weeks on the chart with a peak of twenty-two; and on New Year's Day 2011, "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" entered the same chart at number twenty-eight, staying there one week.[62][75][76] Six songs landed on the Canada AC (Adult Contemporary) chart: "We Need a Little Christmas", "Deck The Rooftop" and "Jingle Bells" all debuted on December 18, 2010, and all peaked on New Year's Day 2011, at numbers fifteen, two, and eight, respectively; "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" entered this chart on New Year's Day 2011, reaching their peaks at forty-three and thirty-three that same week; all six songs spent one more week in the charts after their peaks.[62]
"O Holy Night" peaked at position 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart on December 4, 2010, and "Last Christmas" debuted at number eight on the Hot 100 Recurrents chart on Christmas Day 2010.[62][d] The Holiday Digital Songs chart saw five songs from the album (and "Welcome Christmas") place: "Baby, It's Cold Outside" spent twenty-five weeks on the chart and peaked at number one; "O Holy Night" was on the list for thirteen weeks after debuting at number one; "Last Christmas" peaked at number three, with twenty-five weeks spent on the chart;[d] "Deck The Rooftop" spent four weeks on the chart and peaked at eleven; "We Need a Little Christmas" peaked at sixteen on its first of three weeks on the list; and "Welcome Christmas" debuted at number four on Christmas Day 2010 on its first of five weeks on the chart.[62] 2ff7e9595c
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