Arriving six albums into Chris Young's career -- and not long after "I'm Comin' Over" gave him one of his biggest hits ever -- It Must Be Christmas capitalizes on the singer's penchant for crooning.
His best songs were often ballads, and while the album includes a fair number of slow fireside tunes, such a warm, easy touch benefits relaxed secular classics like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Young maintains this cozy vibe throughout It Must Be Christmas, although there winds up being a slight disconnect on the original tunes "Under the Weather," "There's a New Kid in Town," and "It Must Be Christmas," all fine numbers that are produced so they can slide onto contemporary country playlists in 2016.
They feel like radio tunes, they don't feel seasonal, so they wind up sticking out on a collection that is designed for snowy nights.
They may not quite fit but that's hardly enough to mar a collection that does everything a modern mainstream holiday album should do: it plays upon memories of Christmas while appealing to the moment at hand.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Christmas SongMel Tormé, Robert Wells | Chris Young | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 2 | Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector | Chris Young | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 3 | Under the WeatherCorey Crowder, Josh Hoge, Chris Young | Chris Young | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 4 | There's a New Kid in TownDon Cook, Curly Putman, Keith Whitley | Chris Young | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | Holly Jolly ChristmasJohnny Marks | Chris Young | Play | 02:18 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 6 | Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Chris Young | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 7 | The First NoelTraditional | Chris Young | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | I'll Be Home for ChristmasKim Cannon, Walter Kent, Buck Ram | Chris Young | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | Silent NightTraditional | Chris Young | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | It Must Be ChristmasJohnny Bulford, Will Doughty, Chris Young | Chris Young | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 34 mins | 78 MB | |||||
| 34 mins | 204 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zach Abend | Digital Editing |
| 2 | Nick Autry | Engineer |
| 3 | Jeff Barry | Composer |
| 4 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 5 | Boyz II Men | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 6 | Johnny Bulford | Composer |
| 7 | Kim Cannon | Composer |
| 8 | Joshua Carter | String Arrangements, String Engineer, Strings |
| 9 | Dave Cohen | Hammond B3, Piano, Synthesizer |
| 10 | Don Cook | Composer |
| 11 | Corey Crowder | Arranger, Composer, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Billy Decker | Mixing |
| 13 | Jim DeMain | Mastering |
| 14 | Will Doughty | Composer |
| 15 | Ellie Greenwich | Composer |
| 16 | Casey Henderson | Mixing Assistant |
| 17 | Josh Hoge | Arranger, Composer |
| 18 | Travis Humbert | Assistant |
| 19 | Alan Jackson | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 20 | Naoki Kakuta | Vocal Engineer |
| 21 | John Kelton | Engineer |
| 22 | Walter Kent | Composer |
| 23 | Kam Luchterhand | Assistant Engineer |
| 24 | Tony Lucido | Bass |
| 25 | Kendall Marcy | Guitar Engineer, Vocal Engineer |
| 26 | Amy Marie | Mastering Assistant |
| 27 | Johnny Marks | Composer |
| 28 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 29 | Alyson McAnally | Production Assistant |
| 30 | Miles McPherson | Drums, Percussion |
| 31 | Carl Miner | Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 32 | Brad Paisley | Featured Artist, Guitar (Electric), Vocals |
| 33 | Curly Putman | Composer |
| 34 | Buck Ram | Composer |
| 35 | Kristen Rogers | Vocals (Background) |
| 36 | Phil Spector | Composer |
| 37 | Keith Stegall | Vocal Engineer |
| 38 | Mel Tormé | Composer |
| 39 | Traditional | Composer |
| 40 | Derek Wells | Guitar (Electric) |
| 41 | Robert Wells | Composer |
| 42 | Keith Whitley | Composer |
| 43 | Brian David Willis | Digital Editing |
| 44 | Chris Young | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 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). |