White Christmas

Martina Mcbride ~ White ChristmasLooking for a straight-ahead Christmas record, no gimmicky seasonal songs or original songs trying to sound like classics? Look no further than Martina McBride’s White Christmas. It’s so completely straight and narrow that the music doesn’t even sound country, country-rock, or anything but a very predictable slab of easy-listening pop–strings and all, safe as milk. McBride’s not out to sell anything but the songs, all 10 of them, including such staples as “The Christmas Song,” “Away in a Manger,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and… you get the idea. Deep? Not particularly. Surprising? You be the judge. McBride’s not blessed with a terribly distinctive voice, and the arrangements are more faithful to the original versions than swans who mate for life. –Martin Keller