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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2008

Updated:

Some notice the changing of the season in the first cold snap or in the brilliantly colored foliage of fall. For others, it's the kickoff of a new football season or the kids returning to school.

For me, it's the dropping of the first Christmas CD.

This occurred last month with the arrival of "Christmas at St. Michael's Abbey," followed closely by "And There Was Christmas!" a gospel compilation featuring Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams. Then came George Strait's latest holiday release. (Don't rush to the stores. These are advances.)

Soon to come are holly jolly albums from Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, Aretha Franklin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Melissa Etheridge and Bela Fleck & the Flecktones.

Each year, Friday Extra fills a center spread with brief reviews of the year's Yuletide musical offerings. Each year, space prevents us from reviewing all the discs we receive.

You might think with that many holiday CDs being released each year, a fair portion of them would be, well, decent.

And you'd be wrong.

There are two undeniable and apparently irrefutable tendencies at work here. "Frosty the Snowman" and the like must be delivered with childlike glee, no matter how creepy it sounds. "Silent Night" and the like must be delivered with the solemnity usually reserved for funerals and sentencing hearings.

Granted, it must be tough to get in a holiday frame of mind in May or June, which is when most of these albums get recorded. Maybe that's why most of them sound as festive as a staph infection.

Still, I have encountered, over the years, some Christmas tunes that do help to make the season bright. I'll devote an upcoming column to my all-time favorite holiday playlist. Later, though. Right now, it's too hot for cheer.

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