25 beloved holiday albums to rediscover this winter

Merry Christmas II You – Mariah Carey

Surprise, she’s back! You didn’t think the QUEEN of Christmas herself would have only one entry, did you? Mariah Carey has been reigning on the Christmas front for years, but in 2010 she decided it was time to pop out some new holiday songs to secure her crown, so she released Merry Christmas II You (get it, her first album was titled Merry Christmas!).

Obviously, this album couldn’t quite reach the level of Mariah’s first Christmas album — nothing could — but it still managed to debut at #4 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Holiday Albums charts. This time around, Mariah once again had a mix of originals and covers, putting her spin on songs like “Auld Lang Syne (The New Year’s Anthem)” and “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)”, plus a special version of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” featuring a very special guest: her mother, Patricia Carey. It’s beautiful to hear mother and daughter performing together, and it’s easy to see where Mariah gets her talent from!

Mariah couldn’t turn her back on the song that made her the Queen of the holiday in the first place, so of course the album featured a new version of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” but this one is labeled as “Extra Festive”. It definitely lives up to the name, with even more jingle bells than the original! There were also four other originals co-written by Mariah, including the lead single “Oh Santa!” She also released “When Christmas Comes” as a single, featuring John Legend.