I blew off the last Very Special Christmas album from a couple of years ago because it was nearly all tween artists, and I don't regret that, because, well, tween artists. I've been more tolerant toward Christian artists as long as they are rocking the house while they're testifying. On this, one of two new discs to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first VSP in 2012, Christian artists take the lead in supporting Special Olympics. Of the 16 songs, there are a fair number of rockers, along with ballads and country-tinged numbers, which might make this a tough sell for a rockin' Christmas. Especially since individual song downloads are verboten, you have to buy the disc or download everything. But not all these songs are exclusive to the collection, starting with Sidewalk Prophets' pop-rocker "Because It's Christmas," a fine original that's also on an EP. Same with Francesca Battistelli's "O Come O Come Emmanuel," a typical slow ballad treatment of the carol from her new Christmas disc. Needtobreathe offer a U2-flavored "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and Big Daddy Weave does the same thing with "O Come All Ye Faithful," Jason Castro medleys "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Angels We Have Heard On High" in a standard hard rock arrangement, Jamie Grace gives us the poppy "Christmas Together," and Group 1 Crew puts a little R'nB spin on "O Holy Night." These are the highlights of the disc, and the rest, while competent, is also about what you'd expect on a Christian pop holiday disc.
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