I figure a lot of folks are looking for Christmas albums at the moment (safe bet, isn’t it?) so I’ve compiled this list of the 10 current bestsellers in the Christmas album niche (basically I’ve picked out, in order, all of the Christmas albums on Amazon’s bestselling music list to come up with these ten Christmas CDs.)

#1 - My Christmas - Andrea Bocelli

I had never heard of this guy before (yes, Andrea is a guy) but apparently he is quite popular with some segment of the US population because this album has been selling boatloads since it’s release this year on November 3. Some research reveals that he’s an Italian classical singer (that means opera, right?) who has won five “Classical Brit” awards.

#2 - If On A Winter’s Night - String

I’ve definitely heard of Sting, but I haven’t heard of the songs included on this album. It looks like he didn’t want to record all of the same songs everyone else records for this types of holiday records (”Silent Night” etc) but instead wanted to do some lesser known gems. Some of the Amazon reviewers have said that this isn’t really a “Christmas album” but is actually a “winter album.”

#3 - Christmas 25th Anniversary Collection - Mannheim Steamroller

This is a double disc sort of “greatest hits” of songs selected from Mannheim Steamroller’s many previous Christmas albums.

#4 - Christmas From The Heart - David Archuleta

I believe this kid was on American Idol. The track listing includes mostly very familiar selections but some of the songs I’m not too familiar with (at least not by the titles) like “Pat-A-Pan” and “Riu Riu Chiu.”

#5 - Christmas In the Heart - Bob Dylan

“In” instead of “From.” With Dylan, you’re really crawling right up inside the heart, I suppose. This is probably the only album on this list I’d have any interest in buying myself, and I still probably won’t as I assume the novelty of Bob doing holiday classics would wear thin. The Amazon reviews are unusually harsh (one of the highest percentages - 36% - of 1 star ratings I’ve seen for an album on Amazon.)

#6 - Night Castle - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Apparently this isn’t actually a Christmas album but that’s what folks know Trans-Siberian Orchestra for so I’m including it here anyway as I figure it may appeal to the type of people who want to buy holiday albums. Amazon reviews for it have been pretty strong so it looks like most people who like this group, like this album (it’s a 2 CD set.)

#7 - Holiday Spirits - Straight No Chaser

Straight No Chaser is an a capella group of ten dudes who met at Indiana University a dozen years ago (thank you for the short bio Amazon!) The track listing is mostly very familiar (”Silent Night,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Carol of the Bells,” & “The Christmas Song” are all included.)

#8 - Let It Snow - Michael Buble

This is an EP (just six songs) that was originally released in October of 2007. It includes two versions of “Let It Snow” along with other classics.

#9 - Christmas Cheers - Straight No Chaser

Their second album on the list, this one was released on November 3 of this year and it includes 15 tracks. (Holiday Spirits listed above was released last year.)

#10 - Noel - Josh Groban

This one was released in 2007 and is still going strong. It includes many of the usual standards along with a few songs I don’t recognize by the title.

Michael Buble, Sting, Bob Dylan, David Archuleta, 2009

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