With Louise having shuffled off to a solo career of monumental irrelevance, the three remaining members of Eternal-Kèllè Bryan and sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett-regrouped and soldiered on, enlisting the same producers, Ronnie Wilson & Dennis Charles, who'd worked with them on their multi-platinum debut Always & Forever, in an attempt to recapture a little of that album's success. By and large, it worked-though, despite the presence of American influences (gospel legend BeBe Winans, R&B maestro Dallas Austin), they sounded, as ever, like nothing so much as a tamer, more distinctly British riposte to the likes of En Vogue. Still, that's not to deny the slick allure of "Who Are You" and the title track, or the unexpected gravity of their remake of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". More of the same, perhaps-but that was probably the point. -Andrew McGuire.

I'd never want to visit Destiny's Child's homes for the holidays, if their nonsensically named holiday album 8 Days of Christmas is any indication of what they've got under the tree. Chilly, forced and overdone, this mixed bag of modern classics, tarted-up traditional carols and a trio of tunes penned by Beyoncé Knowles doesn't conjure up a single warm-and-fuzzy image of chestnuts roasting on an open fire or Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Rather, it's just another forum to showcase the band's Gucci bag of vocal gymnastics and crass materialism. The Texas trio takes seasonal classics such as Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", "Silent Night" and "Little Drummer Boy" and embellishes them with its own trills and off-kilter harmonies, overwhelming the songs so that their simple beauty is totally obscured. "On the eighth day of Christmas, my baby gave to me, a pair of Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring," brags Knowles in the title song-which is a take-off on the "12 Days of Christmas"-without ever explaining why they loped off four days. In addition, the band are shamelessly self-indulgent throughout the dozen songs found here, taking untold liberties, such as renaming the "Carol of the Bells", "Opera Bells" and recasting "Silver Bells" into "Platinum Bells", to reflect their multi-platinum status. But the low point of the record is when Destiny's Child hawk their own Hasbro Toy manufactured dolls in the intro of "Platinum Bells": "Ladies remember long ago we asked Santa to give us Christmas Dolls? But this year the dolls are you and me under the tree". Humbug. -Jaan Uhelszki.