Sporting nearly identical cover art to Playing with Fire -- the sophomore solo set that appeared a few months earlier in 2016 -- To Celebrate Christmas actually contains more verve than its secular counterpart.
Freed from the need of having a hit, Jennifer Nettles plays around, letting "Go Tell It on the Mountain" groove to a hard rock riff and turning "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" into a hot dance shuffle that could've sounded at home during prohibition.
Nettles still will play it earnest -- "Circle of Love" is as straight as it gets -- and the record slides into a slow, deliberate march in its back half, heavy on ballads, all of which puts To Celebrate Christmas into the realm of immaculately crafted fireplace music that never quite captures the imagination.
That's too bad because early on, To Celebrate Christmas has some attitude -- enough to suggest the album wouldn't be conventional -- but eventually, Nettles finds her own cozy comfort zone, a place that is nothing more than pleasant.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go Tell It on the MountainJohn Wesley Work Jr. | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 02:49 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | God Rest Ye Merry GentlemenTraditional | Jennifer Nettles, Andra Day | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Little Drummer BoyKatherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone | Jennifer Nettles, Idina Menzel | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Celebrate Me HomeBob James, Kenny Loggins | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Circle of LoveDolly Parton | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Count Your Blessings Instead of SheepIrving Berlin | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 02:58 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | O Holy NightAdolphe Adam | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Merry Christmas With LoveGreg Wayne Davis, Billy Smiley | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | The First NoelTraditional | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Do You Hear What I Hear | Jennifer Nettles | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 37 mins | 85 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adolphe Adam | Composer |
| 2 | Roy Agee | Trombone |
| 3 | Hayley Atkin | Wardrobe |
| 4 | Marc Baptiste | Photography |
| 5 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 6 | Sandi Spika Borchetta | Art Direction |
| 7 | Tom Bukovac | Guitar (Electric) |
| 8 | Adam Chagnon | Engineer |
| 9 | Whitney Coleman | Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Dorian Crozier | Drums |
| 11 | Greg Wayne Davis | Composer |
| 12 | Katherine K. Davis | Composer |
| 13 | Andra Day | Featured Artist, Primary Artist |
| 14 | Nicole Dovolis | A&R |
| 15 | Justin Ford | Graphic Design |
| 16 | Lars Fox | Editing, Engineer |
| 17 | Paul Franklin | Dobro, Pedal Steel |
| 18 | Steve Herrmann | Trumpet |
| 19 | Jim Hoke | Clarinet, Horn Arrangements, Sax (Tenor) |
| 20 | Jeffrey Holstein | Vocals (Background) |
| 21 | Bob James | Composer |
| 22 | Ted Jensen | Mastering |
| 23 | Nik Karpen | Mixing Engineer |
| 24 | Laurel Kittleson | Production Coordination |
| 25 | Tim Lauer | Accordion, Arranger, Keyboards, Piano |
| 26 | Alfreda McCrary Lee | Vocals (Background) |
| 27 | Sam Levine | Sax (Baritone) |
| 28 | Owen Lewis | Assistant Engineer |
| 29 | Kenny Loggins | Composer |
| 30 | Chris Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 31 | Ann McCrary | Vocals (Background) |
| 32 | Regina McCrary | Vocals (Background) |
| 33 | Idina Menzel | Primary Artist |
| 34 | Seth Morton | Assistant Engineer |
| 35 | Jason Mott | Assistant Engineer |
| 36 | Jennifer Nettles | Primary Artist |
| 37 | Henry Onorati | Composer |
| 38 | Dolly Parton | Composer |
| 39 | Steve Patrick | Trumpet |
| 40 | Deborah Person | Vocals (Background) |
| 41 | Kiely Phillips | Vocals (Background) |
| 42 | Danny Rader | Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 43 | Julian Raymond | Arranger, Producer |
| 44 | Noël Regney | Composer |
| 45 | Becky Reiser | Art Direction |
| 46 | Doug Rich | Production Coordination |
| 47 | Gloria Shayne | Composer |
| 48 | Harry Simeone | Composer |
| 49 | Jimmie Lee Sloas | Bass |
| 50 | Billy Smiley | Composer |
| 51 | Janice Soled | Production Coordination |
| 52 | Brianna Steinitz | Production Coordination |
| 53 | Traditional | Composer |
| 54 | Howard Willing | Engineer |
| 55 | John Wesley Work Jr. | Composer |
| 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). |