Country Superstar Christmas 3
Country music Christmas albums are often the biggest offenders of the holiday music formula: load in the maudlin, the mawkish, the over-produced, string-ridden tracks to make sure everybody knows how reverent they view the season and how important that marshmallow sentiment is this time of year. But the result is often just the opposite for discriminating listeners: after so many of these artists milk the treacle machine, nobody sounds genuine anymore and that rarefied Christmas sentiment is buried beneath layers and layers of pretty paper. That said,A Country Superstar Christmas III, featuring veterans such asAlan Jackson,George Strait,Alabama, andReba McEntirealong with up-and-comers such asAlecia Elliott,Chely Wright, andMark Wills, fares pretty well.Toby Keith's "Christmas Rock" has some funny twists on an old rite,George Straittakes a new look at "Christmas Cookies," and onlyVince Gillseems really lost in the reverence realm with a very stately reading of "O Come All Ye Faithful." A pleasant mainstream collection.--Martin Keller