Mariah Carey, Merry Christmas | Album Review 💿

Mariah Carey still lays claim to one of the most popular, crowd-pleasing Christmas albums of all time with 1994’s Merry Christmas.

T

here’s one thing for sure, 🎙 Mariah Carey and Christmas go together perfectly, PERIOD.  How so? Well, Carey has long reigned supreme when it comes to festive music, with her 1994 album, 💿 Merry Christmas, being “kind of a big deal.” We all know that 🎵 “All I Want for Christmas is You” is the biggest attraction, earning the distinction as one of the rare holiday songs hitting no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  While “All I Want for Christmas is You” is the crowning achievement from Merry Christmas, the entire album is incredibly enjoyable, with no shortage of hits I find myself repeatedly playing year after year.  Why not celebrate this timeless album with a retrospective album review!

---

“Silent Night”

Mariah Carey sets the tone on Merry Christmas with a marvelous rendition of ✅ 🎵 “Silent Night.” Among the most spiritual Christmas songs, Carey ensures the religious message and vibe are front and center.  As far as production, things are relatively straightforward, with a stellar gospel choir, piano, organ, drums, etc.  Likewise, the form is straightforward, though, Carey adds a unique coda that is highly successful. She’s commanding vocally without overreaching. Still, she brings the heat, providing the right amount of oomph and punch. In her hands, “Silent Night” is celestial; it sounds as it should.

It takes a special breed of original Christmas song to stick the way that ✅ 🎵 “All I Want for Christmas is You” has.  A testament to its staying power is the fact that in 2019, it ascended to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time – 25 years after being originally released on the album, 💿 Merry Christmas.  You know what “All I Want for Christmas is You” did in 2020? It returned to no. 1! “All I Want for Christmas is You” is awesome thanks to its exuberant spirit, constructed via top-rate vocals by Carey, fun lyrics, and the refined, sweet, old-school vibes of the production by Carey and 🎛 Walter Afanasieff.  The chorus, of course, is the centerpiece!

“I just want you for my own (Ooh)
More than you could ever know (Ooh)
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
You, baby.”

It takes a big voice to deliver this the definitive holiday classic, 🎵 “O Holy Night.” Not everybody can sing “O Holy Night” – perhaps the biggest understatement ever. Ever heard a church choir butcher this gorgeous record at Christmastime? I have and it’s NOT music to the ears.  The good news, of course, is that Mariah Carey is no ordinary musician – she’s extraordinary darling! Simply put, she nails “O Holy Night,” flaunting her anointed pipes with those soulful ad-libs and that range! Sickening approaching 30 years after its release.

---

“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”

Following another sacred carol, Carey opts for a lighthearted, retro- soul holiday classic in 🎵 “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”  The 🎙 Darlene Love version is the definitive, beloved take – we all know this! That said, Carey slays on this remake, particularly those upper register runs that take immense skill to execute.  She slackens the pace, opting for balladry on 🎵 “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time),” the second original from Merry Christmas.  “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” plays to Carey’s strengths – she does what she does well.  Still, “Miss You Most” is clearly second fiddle (at best) to the definitive original (🎵 “All I Want for Christmas is You”), and I’d even argue I prefer sacred original “Jesus Born on This Day”.  Still, you can’t listen to “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” and NOT get the feels.  Love is perfect fuel for the fire in so many situations.

With her joyful rendition of beloved carol ✅ 🎵 “Joy to the World,” Mariah Carey gives listeners a little bit of everything.  The record commences as a ballad, with Carey showing off her prodigious pipes.  Soon enough, “Joy the World” picks up the tempo and adds an electrifying, danceable groove – hallelujah!  Carey further steps up her game vocally and is bolstered by a truly lit gospel choir.  One of the unique wrinkles appearing in this rendition are quotes from the joyful, jubilant 🎙 Three Dog Night classic – wait for it – 🎵 “Joy to the World”! Mariah gives one of the best, most joyful versions of this classic carol you’ll ever hear.

The marvelous ✅ 🎵 “Jesus Born on This Day” speaks to awesomeness of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  Carey wrote this song alongside Walter Afanasieff. “Today, a child is born on Earth,” Carey sings on the first verse, adding, “Today the glory of God / Shines everywhere / For all of the world.” The words are simple but incredibly ‘telling.’  Similarly, on the second verse, Carey shifts from explicitly calling him Jesus to referring to him as “the Lamb of God.” On the third verse, Jesus is simply referenced as Him. The centerpiece is the chorus (with variations) where Carey ensures the whole world knows his name is J-E-S-U-S. She’s backed by choir, amplifying the greatness of ‘The Son of God.’

“Oh, Jesus, born on this day
He is our light and salvation
Oh, Jesus, born on this day
He is the King of all nations.”

---

“Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” 

With sacred carol “Joy to the World,” Carey successfully livened it up.  She balanced the liveliness of “Joy” with the laudatory, sacred original “Jesus Born on This Day” which is slower and more reverent.  Fittingly, it’s time to have some fun again with the ‘never gets old’ secular classic, 🎵 “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” sounds novel in Carey’s hands (as it should), blending the soulfulness of the Jackson 5 rendition, and the glorious vibes of the retro-pop of the 1950s and 60s.  The vocals and the energy are electric.  Dipping back into sacred music, Carey combines two classics into one on 🎵 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / Gloria (In Excelsis Deo).”  The fusion works well thanks to a great arrangement and production, the warm, spiritually charged choir, and of course, Carey in the lead role. 

Mariah Carey is far from the first singer to perform traditional classic ✅ 🎵 “Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child”, but she does a marvelous job, backed by gospel choir.

“Jesus, Jesus
Oh, what a wonderful child
Jesus, Jesus
So lowly, meek, and mild
New life, new hope, new joy He brings
Won’t you listen to the angels sing
Glory, glory, glory
To the newborn King
Jesus, Jesus.”

“Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child” celebrates the birth of Jesus.  Also, by hailing “the newborn King,” the record alludes to the marvelous and miraculous things he’d come to do.  Carey sings the lead commandingly, making you feel the sheer awesomeness of the birth of Christ.  She exhibits her usual finesse, but she also gets ‘rough’ with it! One of the biggest surprises of the Carey performance is the double-time breakdown section, which transforms the song to the feel of Pentecostal service.  The riffs by Carey are on-point, and listening, it’s hard NOT to catch the spirit (or some semblance of it)!

---

Final Thoughts 💭 

All in all, Merry Christmas stands tall as one of the best Christmas albums of all time.  Is it perfect? No, but very few albums, particularly holiday albums, are. Mariah Carey delivers a surefire crowd pleaser with a fine blend of standards and memorable originals.  Furthermore, she does a nice job balancing sacred and secular, managing to even make a sacred gem like “Joy to the World” fun.  Merry Christmas still gets my seal of approval after all these years!

✅ Gems 💎: “Silent Night,” “All I Want For Christmas is You,” “Joy to the World,” “Jesus Born on This Day” & “Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child”

---

🎙 Mariah Carey • 💿 Merry Christmas • 🏷 Sony • 🗓 1994
[📷: Sony]

---