8 Days of Christmas
8 Days of Christmas is the fourth and penultimate studio album and the first and only Christmas album by American R&B girl group Destiny's Child, released on October 30, 2001 by Columbia Records. Background. The album contains twelve tracks featuring traditional Christmas songs and three original songs. Most of them are re-arranged with up-tempo beats in a contemporary R&B style. The album was recorded in Summer 2001 in the United States, but Kelly Rowland stated during the "8 Days of Christmas" video premiere on BET's "106 & Park" in Fall 2001 that parts  of the album were also recorded in Japan during Destiny's Child's overseas promo tour. In the same interview, Beyoncé revealed, "Actually we wrote the song two years ago when we went in the studio to do some Christmas something. That's what started the idea of doing a Christmas album." The song "8 Days of Christmas" first appeared on the double-disc reissue of "The Writing's on the Wall" in November 2000. Critical reception. "8 Days of Christmas" received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, gave the album 2.5 out 5  stars. In his review, he felt that it did not offer anything different from any other Christmas album and that it had the same formula as every other Christmas album, making it very predictable. Chris Willman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the album a B+. He felt that the album had a rough start, stating that song lyrics such as, "a pair of Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring" were too materialistic, leaving a bad taste in your mouth, however, he stated that originals like "Winter Christmas", and "This Christmas" helped the album quickly recover. "People" gave the album a  mixed review, stating that some songs of the album fell short, but despite that, there were a few gifts on the album, such as "Carol of the Bells". They came to the conclusion that while it was good, it was not destined for success. Alexa Camp of "Slant Magazine" gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stars. She said that the album sounded like a, "Survivor II: Winter Ghetto-chic," and that the album brought little justice to the original songs. Commercial performance. "8 Days of Christmas" made its debut on the "Billboard" 200 at number 59. On the chart  issue dated December 22, 2001, it reached its peak at number 34. On December 3, 2001, the album was certified Platinum in 2020 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) denoting shipments of 1,000,000 copies. Track listing. Credits adapted from the album's liner notes Notes Sample Credits