Finally It's Christmas, Hanson (S-Curve)

Oh, look, another historic boy band from the 90s is back for 2017 with a Christmas album. We gave the original entry in the holiday sweepstakes by this group a fairly good review back in the day, so what have they got to offer this time around? Well, as a man band they're still not bad at their specialty, hook-filled pop-rock,  as their originals, the title song (previously out as a single a few years ago), "Happy Christmas," "Peace On Earth" and "Til New Years Night," amply demonstrate. The other 10 songs on here are covers of familiar tunes, although two of them, "Rudolph" and "Jingle Bells" are just 20-second stubs. Among the other selections are solid versions of Sir Paul's "Wonderful Christmastime," "Please Come Home For Christmas," Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "Blue Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "Joy to the Mountain," a strong medley of "Joy to the World" and "Go Tell It On the Mountain." You might regard this as fodder for 35-year-old executive secretaries, but I'd gladly place the title song and "Til New Years Night" in my playlists.