Whitney Houston delivered One Wish: The Holiday Album, her first Christmas record, a year after her 2002 comeback, Just Whitney.
If it seemed like that record played it safe, that's nothing compared to One Wish, which is the straightest adult contemporary record Houston had released in years.
Of course, holiday records are the last place anybody would want to take a risk, since they're designed to be nice, pleasant mood music and, apart from a rather horrid version of "Little Drummer Boy" -- which features her daughter Bobbie Kristina Brown on vocals, but that's not what sinks it: it's Whitney's bewildering scat on "rump-pum-pum" that ruins the cut -- this suits the bill nicely.
The clean, pristine production, heavy on synths, sounds as if it was cut in the late '80s, yet it's also strangely spare, often being no more than a synth and a drum machine.
Still, it's a sound that's well suited for Whitney and her thoroughly predictable set of material (the title track is the only new song, then the final two songs are recycled from the soundtrack of The Preacher's Wife).
Ultimately, One Wish is the kind of album that may only appeal to a fan of Whitney who has already yearned for her holiday album, but for those fans, it will be satisfactory.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The First NoelTraditional | Whitney Houston | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)Mel Tormé, Robert Wells | Whitney Houston | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 3 | One Wish (For Christmas)Gordon Chambers, Barry J. Eastmond, Freddie Jackson | Whitney Houston | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 4 | I'll Be Home for ChristmasKim Gannon, Walter Kent, Buck Ram | Whitney Houston | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Whitney Houston | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 6 | O Come O Come EmanuelTraditional | Whitney Houston | Play | 03:06 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | Who Would Imagine a KingMervyn Warren | Whitney Houston | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | Joy to the WorldHoyt Axton, Traditional | Whitney Houston, Georgia Mass Choir | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 9 | Little Drummer Boy | Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina Brown | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 10 | Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night) | Whitney Houston | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 11 | Deck The Hall; Silent Night | Whitney Houston | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 43 mins | 99 MB | |||||
| 43 mins | 292 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Arbagey | A&R |
| 2 | Hoyt Axton | Composer |
| 3 | Julien Barber | Viola |
| 4 | Ray Bardani | Mixing |
| 5 | Sandra Billingslea | Violin |
| 6 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 7 | Edie Lehmann Boddicker | Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Joseph Bongiorno | Bass (Upright) |
| 9 | Alfred Brown | Viola |
| 10 | Ray Brown Trio | Primary Artist |
| 11 | Carmen Carter | Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Gordon Chambers | Composer, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Bernard Davis | Drums |
| 14 | Katherine K. Davis | Composer |
| 15 | John Dexter | Viola |
| 16 | Sante d'Orazio | Photography |
| 17 | Earl Dumler | Oboe |
| 18 | Barry J. Eastmond | Composer, Conductor, Engineer, Keyboards, Producer, String Arrangements |
| 19 | Max Ellen | Violin |
| 20 | Steve Fisher | Assistant |
| 21 | Roxanna Floy | Make-Up |
| 22 | Scott Frankfurt | Drum Programming, Percussion Programming |
| 23 | Ian Freebairn-Smith | Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Roger Freeland | Vocals (Background) |
| 25 | Kim Gannon | Composer |
| 26 | Michelle George | A&R |
| 27 | Georgia Mass Choir | Primary Artist |
| 28 | Sharlotte Gibson | Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | Sandi Hall | Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | Phil Hamilton | Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) |
| 31 | Reggie Hamilton | Bass |
| 32 | John Holmes | Assistant |
| 33 | Ashley Horne | Violin |
| 34 | Gary Houston | Vocals (Background) |
| 35 | Whitney Houston | Primary Artist, Producer, Vocal Arrangement |
| 36 | Regis Iandiorio | Violin |
| 37 | Freddie Jackson | Composer |
| 38 | Paul Jackson, Jr. | Guitar |
| 39 | Ronald Jenkins | Bass |
| 40 | Richard Thomas Jennings | Art Direction, Design |
| 41 | Bashiri Johnson | Percussion |
| 42 | Walter Kent | Composer |
| 43 | Thom "TK" Kidd | Engineer |
| 44 | Olivia Koppell | Viola |
| 45 | Gail Kruvand | Bass (Upright) |
| 46 | David Kutch | Mastering |
| 47 | Ellin La Var | Hair Stylist |
| 48 | Leonid Levin | Violin |
| 49 | Jesse Levy | Cello |
| 50 | Ezekiel Lewis | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 51 | Jason Locklin | Assistant |
| 52 | Stephen Mackey | Vocals (Background) |
| 53 | Joseph Magee | Engineer |
| 54 | Margaret Magill | Violin |
| 55 | Phil Magnotti | String Engineer |
| 56 | Nick Marshall | Assistant |
| 57 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 58 | Myrna Matthews | Vocals (Background) |
| 59 | Roger Moody | Assistant |
| 60 | Kermit Moore | Cello |
| 61 | Michael Morton | Flute |
| 62 | Jeff Moses | Assistant |
| 63 | Eugene J. Moye | Cello |
| 64 | Joe-Mama Nitzberg | Creative Director |
| 65 | Jack Odom | Assistant |
| 66 | Zack Odom | Assistant |
| 67 | Henry Onorati | Composer |
| 68 | Dean Parks | Guitar |
| 69 | Carol Pool | Violin |
| 70 | Buck Ram | Composer |
| 71 | Dave Reitzas | Mixing |
| 72 | Alex Reverberi | Assistant |
| 73 | Marnie Riley | Assistant |
| 74 | Maxine Roach | Viola |
| 75 | Anthony Ruotolo | Assistant |
| 76 | Matthew Schwartz | A&R |
| 77 | Tony Shepperd | Engineer, Mixing |
| 78 | Harry Simeone | Composer |
| 79 | Rob Skipworth | Assistant |
| 80 | Ivy Skoff | Production Coordination |
| 81 | Matt Snedecor | Assistant |
| 82 | Timothy Snell | Stylist |
| 83 | Andy Stein | Violin |
| 84 | Katherine LiVolsi Stern | Violin |
| 85 | Sally Stevens | Vocal Contractor, Vocals (Background) |
| 86 | Marti Sweet | Violin |
| 87 | Gerald Tarack | Concert Master, Violin |
| 88 | Craig "Niteman" Taylor | Assistant |
| 89 | Troy Taylor | Arranger, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Producer, Programming, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 90 | Shelene Thomas | Vocals (Background) |
| 91 | Mel Tormé | Composer |
| 92 | Traditional | Composer |
| 93 | Carmen Twillie | Vocals (Background) |
| 94 | Mervyn Warren | Arranger, Choir Arrangement, Composer, Conductor, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Percussion, Percussion Programming, Piano, Piano (Electric), Producer, String Arrangements, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 95 | Oren Waters | Vocals (Background) |
| 96 | Robert Wells | Composer |
| 97 | John West | Vocals (Background) |
| 98 | Gerald White | Vocals (Background) |
| 99 | Michael White | Engineer |
| 100 | Belinda Whitney | Violin |
| 101 | Frank Wolf | Engineer |
| 102 | Harry Zaratzian | Viola |
| 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). |