Yep, it's been a quarter of a century since this series of rock and pop Christmas compilations supporting Special Olympics kicked off. As you'll read elsewhere on the site, there are two discs for 2012, and this is the one that cuts across the swath of popular music, which means rock, straight pop and country. Train kicks things off with a nicely rocked-up "Joy to the World," Cheap Trick puts some tinsel on their biggest non-holiday hit with "I Want You For Christmas," Dave Matthews Band revisits "Christmas Song" from VSP 3, done by Dave and Tim Reynolds back then, and Jason Mraz offers a sprightly acoustic "Winter Wonderland." That's pretty much it from the rock angle, although Martina McBride does a fairly credible "Please Come Home For Christmas" that has more Memphis than Nashville in it. Of the pop stuff, Francesca Battistelli offers a sweet midtempo "December 25," Jordin Sparks tackles "Do You Hear What I Hear," Christina Aguilera does that Christina diva thing on "O Holy Night," OneRepublic's single from last year "Christmas Without You" contributes to the cause, Grayson Sanders has a good original, "Something In the Air," Wonder Girls do "Best Christmas Ever" and Jewel and Michael Buble do their usual thing on "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," respectively. The rest is from country artists, Rascal Flatts with "Mary Did You Know," Vince Gill with "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)" and Amy Grant with her "Tennessee Christmas." Downloaders should note only five songs are available separately; fortunately Cheap Trick's song is one of them, along with Train, Sanders, Sparks and Wonder Girls.
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