A list of all the latest Christmas CDs released in 2008
by the CountryMusicOnline.net staff
Christmas is just around the corner... And, for those of you who enjoy Christmas music, now is the perfect time to pick up a few of the new Christmas albums by some of your favorite artists. This year marks Faith Hill's first Christmas release, Joy To The World. Plus, newcomer Julianne Hough released her first Christmas album earlier this year called Sounds of the Season - The Julianne Hough Collection. Other new Christmas releases include George Strait's Classic Christmas, Amy Grant's The Christmas Collection and a few other surprises including an Elvis Presley duets album. That's right, Elvis with some of country music's top artists like Carrie Underwood, Wynonna, Martina McBride and more.
Below you will find information on all of the new Christmas releases this year. Plus, if you're looking for Christmas music from Taylor Swift, Diamond Rio, Randy Travis, Tracy Lawrence, Toby Keith and more, check out our Holiday CD Guide 2007 page. We've included a few of our top picks for great stocking stuffers below too! Enjoy your upcoming holidays!
GEORGE STRAIT – CLASSIC CHRISTMAS Release date: October 7, 2008 George Strait released his 3rd Christmas CD, Classic Christmas, on October 7, 2008. In the liner Strait says “I selected some favorite traditional Christmas songs – the ones I grew up hearing and singing – and added a little country flavor to make them sound more like me.” Strait picked 10 of his favorites for this CD, which include “Joy To The World,” “Silent Night,” and “Deck The Halls” among others. Classic Christmas is perfect for the George Strait fan – or anyone who enjoys the traditional Christmas tunes. The full track listing is shown below. For more information on George Strait, visit his official siteTrack listing:
1. Joy To The World
2. We Three Kings
3. Silent Night
4. Jingle Bells
5. O Come, All Ye Faithful
6. Up On The Housetop
7. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
8. O Christmas Tree
9. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
10. Deck The Halls
ELVIS PRESLEY – CHRISTMAS DUETS Release date: October 14, 2008 Elvis Presley's Christmas Duets is one of the most talked about Christmas albums this year. Several of today’s favorite country female artists contributed their vocals to this project. Martina McBride steps in on “Blue Christmas” while Carrie Underwood sings “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Wynonna Judd lends her vocals on “Santa Claus is Back in Town” plus Kimberly Schlapman and Karen Fairchild (of Little Big Town) can be found singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Other country artists included on this album are LeAnn Rimes, Sara Evans and Gretchen Wilson. The full track listing is shown below… Christmas Duets is available for $11.88 at Wal-Mart. Track listing:
1. Blue Christmas - Featuring Martina McBride
2. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Featuring Carrie Underwood
3. Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) - Featuring LeAnn Rimes
4. Santa Claus Is Back In Town - Featuring Wynonna Judd
5. Silent Night - Featuring Sara Evans
6. White Christmas - Featuring Amy Grant
7. Merry Christmas Baby - Featuring Gretchen Wilson
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Featuring Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman
9. Silver Bells - Featuring Anne Murray
10. O Come, All Ye Faithful - Featuring Olivia Newton-John
11. The First Noel
12. If I Get Home On Christmas Day
13. Winter Wonderland
AMY GRANT – THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION Release date: September 30, 2008 Amy Grant’s new project, The Christmas Collection, features 14 songs compiled from her previous Christmas CD’s, plus 4 new tracks. The four new tracks are Grant’s first songs that she’s recorded in 9 years. One of the new songs and most talked about include “Baby, It’s Christmas” – a song Grant co-wrote with her husband Vince Gill – as well as her new song, “I Need A Silent Night.” This one was written about the holiday traffic at the Green Hills mall in Nashville and features Grant’s youngest daughter Corrine citing Luke 2:8 and Isaiah 9:6 – which is a nice addition to this song. In early December, Grant and Gill began their Christmas tour – a night full of favorite holiday classics. Grant is known for her holiday songs and this album is another great Christmas CD for all her fans. The full track listing is shown below… For more information on Amy Grant, visit her official site at www.amygrant.com. The Christmas Collection is available for $13.88 atWal-Mart. Visit: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10371485
Track Listing:
1. Jingle Bells
2. It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
3. I Need A Silent Night
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Baby, It's Christmas
6. Sleigh Ride
7. Count Your Blessings
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Silent Night
10. Breath of Heaven
11. Joy To The World / For Unto Us A Child Is Born
12. Grown-Up Christmas List
13. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
14. Tennessee Christmas
15. A Christmas To Remember
16. O Come All Ye Faithful
17. A Mighty Fortress / Angels We Have Heard On High
18. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
JULIANNE HOUGH – SOUNDS OF THE SEASON: The Julianne Hough Collection Release date: October 7, 2008 Sounds of the Season – The Julianne Hough Collection marks Hough’s first Christmas release. Hough has been breaking into the country scene all year with the release of her self-titled album and hit singles “That Song In My Head” and “My Hallelujah Song.” This Christmas project just adds to her resume and shows her commitment of being an artist in country music. As many fans already know, Hough has appeared and won 2 seasons on Dancing With The Stars but she announced this year that she will not be back next season as she wants to focus on her music career. Hough’s exclusive Christmas collection from Target features 8 tracks – for the low price of $6.99. Her holiday collection begins with an instrumental called “Sounds of Christmas.” Hough shows her Christmas spirit on favorites “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and she also collaborates with country star Phil Vassar on “It Wasn’t His Child / Mary Did You Know?”.The full track listing is shown below… For more information on Julianne Hough, visit her official website at: www.juliannehough.com. Sounds of the Season is available for $6.99 exclusively at Target.
Track Listing:
1. Sound of Christmas (Instrumental)
2. Jingle Bell Rock
3. Feliz Navidad
4. It Wasn't His Child / Mary Did You Know
5. Santa Baby
6. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
7. Christmas Memories (Julianne shares her Christmas memories)
8. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
FAITH HILL – JOY TO THE WORLD Release date: September 30, 2008 Faith Hill also released her first Christmas CD earlier this year called Joy To The World. Hill has been promoting the CD a lot lately – everything from taking part in the Wal-Mart Soundcheck special to signing at the Virgin Megastore in New York last month along with appearances on the Today Show, The View and the Late Show With David Letterman. Joy The The World spotlights 11 tracks including the classics “O Holy Night” and “The Little Drummer Boy” plus Hill’s latest single, “A Baby Changes Everything.”Joy To The World took 2 years to complete, but earlier this year fans were finally able to get their hands on a Christmas CD from Faith Hill. The Nashville String Machine, Metro Voices (aLondon-based choir) and the London Oratory School Boys Choir are also featured on Faith’s Christmas project. The full orchestra sound on the CD was composed by Grammy Award winner David Campbell. Campbell created a unique sound for the orchestration – and leaves a new take on several of the classics that Faith covers. Dann Huff, Byron Gallimore and Faith co-produced this album, while Allen Sides engineered it. View some of the tracks from Joy To The World here. The full track listing is shown below… For more information on Faith Hill, visit her official website at: www.faithhill.com. Joy To The World is available for $11.88 at Wal-Mart. Visit: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10401239
Track Listing:
1. Joy To The World
2. What Child Is This?
3. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
4. Little Drummer Boy
5. O Come, All Ye Faithful
6. Holly Jolly Christmas
7. Away In A Manger
8. O Holy Night!
9. Winter Wonderland
10. Silent Night, Holy Night!
11. A Baby Changes Everything
GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS:
Taylor Swift – Fearless
* Fearless topped Billboard's 200 albums chart selling over 592,000 copies during its first week alone – making it the biggest U.S. sales week in 2008 by a female artist (all genres) and the 4th biggest overall this year.
* Fearless was also the largest country digital album debut in the Nielsen SoundScan history. (4th biggest digital album to date)
* Fearless includes the hit singles "Love Story" and "White Horse."
Fearless is available everywhere music is sold. (Buy online from Wal-Mart here)
George Strait – Troubadour (see review here)
* Troubadour was George Strait's 37th album released, and it debuted at #1 on both the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Top Country Albums charts.
* Troubadour won Album of the Year at this years CMA Awards. "I Saw God Today" also won Single of the Year. Strait now has won the most CMA Awards with 22.
* Troubadour features the hit singles "I Saw God Today" and "Troubadour."
Troubadour is available everywhere music is sold. To buy the album for $9.72 at Wal-Mart visit: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9190095
Lady Antbellum – Lady Antebellum (see review here)
* Lady Antbellum's self-titled debut album was released on April 15, 2008 and it debuted at #1 on the country charts during its first week out. The CD includes the hits "Love Don't Live Here" (a top 5 hit) and their current single "Lookin' For A Good Time."
* Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood (the members who make up this trio) took home the awards for new group at both the CMA Awards and the ACM Awards earlier this year.
Lady Antebellum is available everywhere music is sold. To buy the album for $9.72 at Wal-Mart visit:
Rascal Flatts – Greatest Hits, Vol.1 (Limited Edition) (2CD)
* Rascal Flatts has sold over 17 million albums since they made their debut in 2000 with "Prayin' For Daylight." Nine #1 singles, 17 top 10 hit singles, and 5 albums later, Rascal Flatts released their first ever greatest hits collection on October 28 of this year.
* Greatest Hits Volume 1 features 13 of their biggest hits including "Prayin' For Daylight," "Bless The Broken Road," "What Hurts The Most" and "These Days" among others. (See full track listing below)
* A limited amount of the CD will be packaged in a foil embossed 2-disc package featuring 3 newly recorded Christmas songs as a bonus. The bonus Christmas tracks are "White Christmas," "Jingle Bell Rock" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" sang a capella.
RASCAL FLATTS GREATEST HITS VOLUME 1 TRACK LISTING
Prayin' For Daylight
I'm Movin' On
These Days
I Melt
Mayberry
Feels Like Today
Bless The Broken Road
Fast Cars And Freedom
Skin (Sarabeth)
My Wish
What Hurts The Most
Stand
Life Is A Highway
LIMITED EDITION BONUS TRACKS
White Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 is available everywhere music is sold. To buy the album for $9.72 at Wal-Mart visit:http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10575787
December 2008
