Brad Paisley Christmas
A worthy addition to the country Christmas collection, this succinctly titled album combines respect for tradition with contemporary inspiration. "Winter Wonderland" features a Western swing arrangement and country references in the lyrics, "Away in a Manger" has a Cajun feel, and the "Jingle Bells" instrumental benefits from an injection of rockabilly twang (as does Paisley's revival of Buck Owens's "Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy"). Among the original material that distinguishes the collection, "Penguin, James Penguin" is like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the higher-tech generation, as Santa enlists a "secret-agent bird" to keep computerized tabs on who deserves what. "Born on Christmas Day" features a tape of a song Paisley wrote and initially recorded when he was 13, then segues into the artist today on the same tune. The album closes with a slam at political correctness on "Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday," with the Kung Pao Buckaroos (a.k.a. George Jones, Bill Anderson, and "Little" Jimmy Dickens) discovering that they get bleeped every time they mention "Chxxxxmas."--Don McLeese