Arriving nine months after Katharine McPhee’s 2010 bleached-blonde AAA makeover Unbroken, Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You finds McPhee going back to her roots, returning to her brunette locks and reviving the show-stopping theatrics that made her a star on American Idol.
Christmas Is the Time is an old-fashioned holiday record through and through, from the reliance on standards to the soft, roomy arrangements that allow plenty of space for McPhee to hit her high notes, all without drawing too much attention to herself.
It’s a setting well suited for McPhee’s strengths, and song for song, this may be her strongest album: she does well by the standards, and the pop songs -- including “It’s Not Christmas Without You” and the title track originally sung by Billy Squier -- are good adult contemporary numbers.
The album is simple and lean, not intent on making McPhee into a chart star, benefiting from a seasonal formula that allows her to simply sing like she did when she was on Idol.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Katharine McPhee | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 2 | Jingle BellsJames Pierpont | Katharine McPhee | Play | 02:53 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | It's Not Christmas Without YouMichelle Lewis, Katharine McPhee, Doug Petty | Katharine McPhee | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 4 | Silver BellsRay Evans, Jay Livingston | Katharine McPhee | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 5 | Christmas Is the TimeBilly Squier | Katharine McPhee | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 6 | What Are You Doing New Year's EveFrank Loesser | Katharine McPhee | Play | 03:26 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | White ChristmasIrving Berlin | Katharine McPhee | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 8 | Who Would Imagine a KingJames Pierpont | Katharine McPhee | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 9 | Oh Holy Night | Katharine McPhee | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | Medley. O Little Town O Bethlehem - Away In A Manger | Katharine McPhee | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| 34 mins | 79 MB | |||||
| 34 mins | 200 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adolphe Adam | Composer |
| 2 | Dahlia Ambach-Caplin | A&R |
| 3 | Sachico Asano | Graphic Design |
| 4 | Kyle Benson | Release Coordinator |
| 5 | Chuck Berghofer | Bass |
| 6 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 7 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 8 | Chris Bleth | Woodwind |
| 9 | Chris Botti | Featured Artist, Trumpet |
| 10 | Jeff Bova | Keyboards |
| 11 | Trist Ethan Curless | Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Bernie Dresel | Drums, Drums (Snare), Tambourine |
| 13 | Bruce Dukov | Concert Master |
| 14 | Ray Evans | Composer |
| 15 | Valerie Hernandez | Hair Stylist, Make-Up |
| 16 | Kevin Kaska | String Arrangements, Woodwind Arrangement |
| 17 | Hollis King | Art Direction |
| 18 | Jamie Krents | Release Coordinator |
| 19 | Gayle Levant | Harp |
| 20 | Michelle Lewis | Composer |
| 21 | Jay Livingston | Composer |
| 22 | Frank Loesser | Composer |
| 23 | David Loucks | Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 25 | Katharine McPhee | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Steven Miller | Arranger, Producer |
| 27 | Scott Moore | Assistant Engineer |
| 28 | Evelyn Morgan | A&R |
| 29 | Monique McGuffin Newman | Release Coordinator |
| 30 | Gary Novak | Drums |
| 31 | Brian O'Conner | French Horn |
| 32 | Doug Petty | Arranger, Celeste, Composer, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, String Arrangements |
| 33 | Tim Pierce | Guitar |
| 34 | James Pierpont | Composer |
| 35 | Matt Rollings | Piano, Piano (Electric) |
| 36 | Wesley Seidman | Assistant Engineer |
| 37 | Fletcher Sheridan | Vocals (Background) |
| 38 | Tyler Shields | Photography |
| 39 | Allen Sides | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 40 | Billy Squier | Composer |
| 41 | Neil Stubenhaus | Bass |
| 42 | Traditional | Composer |
| 43 | Roger Treece | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 44 | Randy Waldman | Piano, String Arrangements |
| 45 | Alan Yoshida | Mastering |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |