Top 3 Christmas Albums

It's CHRISTMAS TIME!!! I always love this time of year and not just because it includes my birthday, which is enough reason to celebrate in and of itself. It's time to pull out the decorations and deck the halls with all sorts of shiny sparkley pretties and more nativity scenes then there are gospels describing them. But we can't do this decorating thing without music to dance to. So what do we listen to? While I adore my Owl City, it's time for him to take a backseat to three of the best Christmas albums ever.

Skidding into third place on my list of Christmas must-haves is the "Christmas Offerings" album by Third Day. Maybe I'm a little biased because I'm currently on a Third Day kick with the recent download of the new album "Move". So loving it. Taking a holiday spin on their occasional worshipful "Offerings" albums, Mac Powell and his homies give a selection of Christmas carols the southern rock treatment. They surprised me with a few live concert recordings that actually came out quite well when stacked against all the other studio recordings. And nearly every song makes me want to dance. Or at the very least sway a little. Right now, it's on sale at Amazon for 5 bucks. I suggest you take advantage of the deal while you can.

Second place in my list belongs to my beloved Josh Groban with the album "Noel". I love that cd so much that I'm known to occasionally play it in the middle of the summer. Josh has such an outstanding voice, and he makes me melt when paired with Brian McKnight for "Angels We Have Heard on High" and Faith Hill for "The First Noel". I have absolutely no idea what he's saying in the Latin songs like "Ave Maria", but it is enchanting. Honestly, the man could be singing a string of expletives and I would still find it beautiful. Oh, and he'll be part of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Concert tomorrow night on NBC, and I will be watching just for him.

And finally, my Christmas would not be complete without listening to my first place winner, Mannheim Steamroller's 1988 album "Fresh Aire Christmas". During long road trips each Christmas to see grandparents, we would play this album several times through. While I would protest the seemingly billionth time mom played some of her old favorite cd's, I always enjoyed listening to Mannheim Steamroller's interesting versions of Christmas songs. Coming up soon we'll be making a trip to Virginia to see my grandfather, and I'll gladly turn off my mp3 player and take off my headphones to enjoy the album with my family. The music now seems little strange because it's undoubtedly from the 80s as it mixes horns and synthesizers, but it never fails to happify me.

I could go on and on about other Christmas classics, like the single "Carol of the Fryers", the soundtrack to "Charlie Brown Christmas" or the singing vegetables of Veggietales, but my list was long enough and I'm sure there's a character limit on blogger. But anyways, don't forget to pop in your favorite Christmas cd in December and dance like it's nobody's business. And if you do it again in July when it's 100+ degrees outside, I won't look down on you for it.