The Lost Christmas Eve, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Lava)

Everything I said about these guys elsewhere on the site holds in spades -- your basic old-school progressive rock opera dressed up in holiday clothes and now turned into quite the money-making machine; two separate TSO troupes tour the USA during November and December to give you the live version of their oeuvre. This 2004 CD, their third Christmas album, has 23 cuts but it also recycles some of their older material with new performances. And if you're just coming around to these guys, all three of the holiday CDs are now available in a boxed trilogy set that also includes a DVD, "The Ghost of Christmas Eve." Oh, and for those of you still in thrall to the oft-aired "Metallica played with these guys" rumor, it's not true; the story is in the "elsewhere" link above.