Holiday Wishes

Personnel: Tyler Gordon (programming).
Audio Mixer: Dave Reitzas.
Recording information: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA; The Bridge Recording, Glendale, CA; WallyWorld Studios, Studio City, Ca.
Photographer: Ruven Afanador.
Arranger: Walter Afanasieff.
Frozen opened the doors for Holiday Wishes, a seasonal album from Broadway superstar Idina Menzel. Without the 2013 Disney blockbuster, Menzel may have cut a Christmas record, but certainly Frozen's success meant that Holiday Wishes arrived to the biggest potential audience she'd ever have, so it's not a surprise the record plays it safe. Save for the presence of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which is now the closest thing to a new holiday standard, and perhaps the shoehorning of "When You Wish Upon a Star" into the Christmas theme, there are no surprises here, not in the choice of songs, not in the old-fashioned arrangements, not even in the choice of Michael Bublé as the duet partner for a de rigueur "Baby It's Cold Outside." Unsurprising though it may be, Holiday Wishes nevertheless is satisfying because producer Walter Afanasieff commits to his Christmas classicism, as does Menzel. Everything here sparkles with the gleam of freshly fallen snow: it's big, bright, and so stubbornly out of fashion that it'd never go out of style. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine