Fair play to Joe McElderry. He may still be labelled in the media as one of X Factor's many flop winners, but he's the only contestant ever to sell more copies of his second album than his first, after Classic went Gold in two weeks over the summer. And, most importantly, he's a remarkably talented singer - no big shocker considering he's won two TV singing contests.
Be that as it may, it's a shame that Classic Christmas, his third LP in 13 months, is a largely uninspired seize-the-season offering with little to offer beyond big choirs, a shameless amount of sleigh bells and so much cheese it's tempting to eat it with crackers.
Most of it will appeal almost exclusively the older, more mature listener. ‘Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)’ and ‘O Holy Night’ (complete with children’s choir) are two particular examples, whilst ‘Mary’s Boy Child’, ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’ and ‘Santo Natale’ could have been lifted straight from a Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat style West End recording. Great if it’s your sort of thing, but for the casual pop music listener it’s nothing to get particularly excited about.
Don't even get us started on the ‘Last Christmas’ cover. Billed as a contender for Christmas Number One, there is genuinely more chance of a last-minute upset from Same Difference than that going anywhere near the Top 10.
But there are some upsides. ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack to a particularly epic movie, ‘White Christmas’ is gorgeous, and the simplicity of ‘Silent Night’ is enough to give you goosebumps. Then, right at the end, comes a brilliant cover of ‘Driving Home For Christmas’, and with it the unavoidable frustration that it’s the only song that goes down the Big Band route.
At the end of the day this isn’t really an album intended to re-design the pop wheel as we know it. It’s just a hastily-compiled, relatively diverting collection of Yuletide favourites; more a gift to Joe’s fiercely loyal fanbase than anything else. The rest of us, who saw the potential for something special back on The X Factor in 2009, continue to twiddle our thumbs.
Watch Joe McElderry's 'Last Christmas' below:
Will Matt Cardle follow Joe's footsteps next year?!
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