Christmas Hits [Box set]

This is an absolutely AWFUL album. Christmas Hits - SOny BMG should be taken to Trading Standards for using that title. There are songs on it ive never heard of, therefore are NOT a hit. Slade, Mud, Greg Lake, Mistletoe and Wine - all MISSING. Instead they have put on real c&*p like Britney Spears, who we all know cant sing to save her life, Backstreet Boys, Dido, G4...that sums it up, an X Factor reject is put on a 'hits' album. Dont waste your money on this rubbish. There are less than half a dozen Christmas Hits, on FOUR cd's - 1 of which are Christmas Carols, ie NOT hits. I am VERY VERY disappointed in this and wish id seen a track listing before i bought it, but thought 4 cd's of 'hits' would cover ALL the hits, not B side rejects that were probably never produced!!

The first edition of this compilation was a triple CD, but this updated edition includes a bonus CD of carols, plus a few changes to the original compilation to include some more recent material. Wintersong (Sarah McLachlan), Silent night (G4), O holy night (Il Divo) and Pie Jesu (Angelis), all recorded between 2004 and 2006, replace tracks included on the original triple CD.

The first three CD's include plenty of songs that have become familiar during the festive season in Britain as well as some less obvious selections. Some obvious classics are missing; you'll find most of them on the triple CD Now That's What I Call Xmas, though I can`t help noticing that some classics (one example being Roy Orbison's Pretty paper) don`t appear on either, but they are not too difficult to find if you really want them. Comparison with Now That's What I Call Xmas shows some duplication of songs, but usually featuring different versions, so the original appears on one with the other featuring a cover. Four tracks appear in their original versions on both compilations, these being Fairytale of New York (Pogues and Kirsty MacColl), Rockin' around the Christmas tree (Brenda Lee) , Stop the cavalry (Jona Lewie) and Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) Here, you'll find the original version of Santa baby (Eartha Kitt), All I want for Christmas is you (Mariah Carey), Mary's boy child (Harry Belafonte), Driving home for Christmas (Chris Rea) and Last Christmas (Wham), cover versions of which appear on the other compilation. Note that Mary's boy child, a number one UK hit originally for Harry Belafonte but later for Boney M, is represented here by both versions. Meanwhile, the other compilation has original versions of Merry Xmas everybody (here performed by Steps rather than Slade), The Christmas song (here performed by Christina Aguilera rather than Nat King Cole) and White Christmas (here performed by Michael Bolton rather than Bing Crosby), so there`s not a lot to choose between them overall. Another interesting song is Walking in the air. First performed by Peter Auty (in The snowman), it later became a UK hit for Aled Jones. You'll find the original version here and the hit version on Now Christmas.

Cliff Richard is represented by just one song here (Millennium prayer) but you'll find three of his Christmas songs on Now That's What I Call Xmas. Frank Sinatra (Santa Claus is coming to town, Let it snow let it snow let it snow) and Shakin' Stevens (Merry Christmas everyone, Blue Christmas) are each represented by two songs here. Other popular songs include When a child is born (Johnny Mathis), 2000 miles (Pretenders) and It's the most wonderful time of the year (Andy Williams) to name a few.

The compilation title tells you that there are tracks here that happened to be UK hits at Christmas in the year of their release as singles, but which otherwise have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, but so does the other compilation. Conversely, I suspect that some of the tracks that obviously have a Christmas theme may not actually have been hits, but most of the tracks here are genuine Christmas songs that were hits in the UK singles charts, just as on the other compilation.

The music here is somewhat eclectic and even I don't claim to love every track; I've never been a fan of Britney Spears or the Wombles and their inclusion here merely serves to remind me why I'm not among their fans, but plenty of other people love their music so, in the spirit of Christmas, I don't object to their presence.

The bonus CD includes five carols recorded by the Norwich Cathedral Choir, with the remaining seventeen being recorded by the Westminster Cathedral Choir. Many of these carols will be familiar, at least to British ears, but there are some unusual selections, especially Come to the manger, Personent hope, Hail blessed virgin Mary and The seven joys of Mary. The compilers seem to have made a mistake by including Deck the halls, since Jackie Wilson's version is included elsewhere in this compilation and there are plenty of other great carols that could have been chosen instead, but that's a minor quibble.

If you don't have any compilation of Christmas pop and rock music and you only want one, you may have a hard choice deciding between this one and Now That's What I Call Xmas, but if you can afford to, you could buy both as there are only four duplicated tracks, though there is plenty of duplication of songs. I prefer Now That's What I Call Xmas, but only marginally; however, if I'd chosen to buy only one, I'd have bought this one because it contains more material that I didn't already have.

Downloaded this album from Amazon for £3.89. Their prices seem to fluctuate on this CD and other items but I think it's great value for money and very seasonal. Great when listened on a Sony mp3 player. I would highly recommend this download.