It seems as if every year brings another dubious Christmas album or 10-but every once in a while, a good song pops through. At first glance, it seems as if The Christmas Album might be another in the unfortunate tradition, but this collection is actually something else entirely: a collection of those occasional good songs. At 43 tunes strong, with everybody from Wham! to the Wombles, Elton John to Eartha Kitt, and the Backstreet Boys to the Jackson 5 (to Steps), there are few holes; and while The Christmas Album might only rarely get into a consistent groove, there are so many familiar tunes that it hardly matters. Besides, where else are you going to hear Mariah Carey and Neil Diamond back-to-back-or even on the same disc as Robson and Jerome? -Randy Silver Every festive season sees a glut of new festive favourites gathered together on a CD, bulked out with some lesser known stocking fillers and adorned with a cheery Santa/snowman/robin. The cheerily smiling and waving Santa who graces the cover of The Christmas Album has every reason to be happy, as his selection box comes armed with some of the finest Christmas tracks ever recorded. Forget Slade and Wizzard, this compilation has The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's "Fairytale Of New York" and Wham's "Last Christmas"-a refreshing change from the endless strings of Chris DeBurghs and their travelling Spacemen. Away from the more pop stylings of CD One, CD Two also has its little gems, including Eartha Kitt purring her way through "Santa Baby" and Tony Bennett adding his velvety tones to "Winter Wonderland". If you are looking for something that takes you slightly away from the usual Christmas fayre and serves up some welcome surprises then stick The Christmas Album on your list for Santa. -Helen Marquis.

Anyone who has ever sung in a church choir or choral society will enjoy this two-disc compilation of religious choral music. Some 29 tracks of complete short works or excerpts from larger pieces, written over the past 500 years, have been selected from recordings by cathedral, chapel and professional choirs. They range from Tallis's Spem in Alium to Arvo Pärt's De Profundis and Britten's A. M. D. G. , and include the Schütz Choir of London singing a chorus from Brahms' German Requiem, Harry Christophers and the Sixteen performing a Poulenc motet, the Taverner Consort, which provides six tracks, and the Bamburg Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (with soprano Christiane Oelze as soloist) singing Bruckner's setting of Psalm 150. Much of this music is more familiar today in the concert hall than in a liturgical setting, and whether some of the composers were religious or not, or even believed in God, hardly matters. The sound of combined human voices and the words they had to set inspired them all to produce music that is simultaneously calming and uplifting, allowing them to create music that continues to reach deep into the human psyche. -Richard Fawkes.