Christian artists and Christmas music go together like milk and cookies left for Santa. But for every cold, delicious glass of milk there's a stale cookie. Same can be said for WOW Christmas. There are plenty of traditional renderings like the delightful "Jingle Bell Rock" from Point of Grace, who could sing pages out of a phonebook and make it sound like the holidays; Zoegirl's "What Child Is This?"; Casting Crowns' "Away In A Manger"; Matthew West's "Let It Snow"; and, Mark Schultz's "The First Noel." For a different spin on the classics, check out Rebecca St. James' "Hark The Herald Angels Sing," otherwordly and strangely appealing; Tobymac's reggae-tinged "O Come All Ye Faithful"; Relient K's "Deck The Halls," which holds just enough energetic chutzpah to escape any charges of irreverency; and Bethany Dillon's smoldering jazzy take on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." New classics here give us a smile like Newsong's "The Christmas Shoes", David Crowder's south-of-the-border "Feliz Navidad," and Jars of Clay's ethereal "Little Drummer Boy." As for those overbaked cookies--FFH's close-but-no-cigar reworking of "Do You Hear What I Hear" or Jump 5's beat-silly "Sleigh Ride" will still be on the plate when Santa splits town. --Michael Lyttle
