tek's rating: ½

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album
AllMusic; Amazon; Discogs; iTunes; Wikia; Wikipedia

This was released in 2010, but I didn't listen to it until 2021. It's the first of four Christmas albums from the TV series Glee, featuring six songs from the season 2 episode A Very Glee Christmas, as well as six songs that weren't in the episode. (The album excludes one song that was in the episode, Welcome Christmas from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But I downloaded that separately as an mp3.) For each song, I'll list the characters who sang it (taken from the liner notes).

1. We Need a Little Christmas (Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt): I don't think I'm familiar with this song, but I've heard the melody in other songs. It's from the musical "Mame", which I've never seen. I'm not sure how I feel about the song.

2. Deck the Rooftop (Rachel, Finn, Santana, Tina, Mercedes, Artie, and Brittany): This is a mashup of "Deck the Halls" and "Up on the Housetop". It wasn't in the episode. It's a little too busy for my taste, but not bad.

3. Merry Christmas Darling (Rachel): I'm not familiar with this song, and while it sounds okay, I'm not really interested in it.

4. Baby, It's Cold Outside (Kurt and Blaine): I'm not really a fan of the song in general, but this is a decent rendition, as the song goes.

5. The Most Wonderful Day of the Year (Artie, Rachel, Kurt, Sam, Tina, and Brittany): This is from the special Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I'm really a fan of this rendition, it's very cute. I also have this as an mp3, because I didn't think it was on the album before I got it.

6. Last Christmas (Rachel, Finn, Mercedes, Artie, Puck, Tina, and Kurt): Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the original by Wham!

7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Rachel, Mercedes, Santana, and Tina): This wasn't in the episode. Not bad, but I can't quite care about it.

8. O Christmas Tree (Will): This wasn't in the episode. But it's nice.

9. Jingle Bells (Finn, Puck, and Artie): This wasn't in the episode. I don't really care about it.

10. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Will and k.d. lang): This is also from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", of course. Will narrates the story, while lang does most of the singing, before it eventually becomes a duet. TBH, I could have done without the narration. The song itself was okay, but not one of my favorite renditions. In the episode, the lyrics were changed to "Sue the Grinch", but not on the album.

11. Angels We Have Heard on High (Mercedes): This wasn't in the episode. It's a pretty decent rendition.

12. O Holy Night (Rachel): This wasn't in the episode. It's quite a good rendition.

Overall I think the album is just okay, though there are a few standout tracks. But in the end, it's not something I feel like keeping. (I probably would have if I didn't already have "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" as an mp3.)

Glee Christmas Albums
Volume 1 * Volume 2 * Volume 3 * Volume 4


Christmas music index