I love Christmas. I really do. Some might say it’s uncool but I couldn’t care less, I’m not a Grinch hipster. I enjoy decorating, I enjoy buying and getting gifts, I enjoy Xmas food,  and I even enjoy Christmas movies (the cheesiest the better. The other day I turned the TV on and this was airing: a direct-to-TV movie with Jodie Sweetin in a supporting role? Count me in!). I understand people saying they hate Xmas because everything gets hectic and chaotic, but what the heck, my life is hectic and chaotic 365 days a year, I can use some Christmas spirit.

That said, if there’s something I can’t stand about Christmas, that is music. Most of it at least. Michael Bublè suddenly reappearing, long dead crooners crooning again, John & Yoko taking the airwaves over, forgotten have-beens playing the corny card of the Christmas album… Some would surprise you. I mean, I love Billy Idol, but his ‘Happy Holidays’ album ranks among the worst crimes ever pressed on a disc. And the other day I learned that even REO Speedwagon has a freakin’ Xmas album under its belt. My boss said it’s good but, well, I’ll pass. Not trying to be snobbish here: I have no problem admitting I love ‘Last Christmas’, which is the most overplayed song this time of the year, and I have a few different versions of the ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ single by Band Aid, but I’ll gladly avoid 98% of the rest.

Cartoon characters usually have just four fingers per hand, and you could count the number of Christmas albums I own on the hand of a cartoon character. Coincidentally, 2 out of 4 are cartoon-related: ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ by Vince Guaraldi Trio and ‘Christmas With The Chipmunks’. The third one is ‘A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector’ and that’s an easy win with me, as I would buy anything with Ronnie Spector on it. The last one is actually the first of them I bought. It’s called ‘X-Mas Project Vol. II’ and includes Christmas songs played (butchered, some might arguably say) by members of German metal bands from the 80s and early 90s.

Story time: I picked this up when I was like 12 years old because, ahem, it seemed cool. Around that time, my 7th-grade music teacher said that for our last class before Xmas break we would be playing bingo, and added that we could bring any CDs or tapes of Christmas music to listen to on the school’s boombox.

“I have this cd with, err, ‘rock versions’ of Christmas songs. Can I bring it?“, I casually asked. “Sure”, said the teacher. I did, and we started to play it. About 20 to 30 seconds into this, the teacher stared at me with an embarrassed look: “Ehm… uhm… I think… Maybe… we should switch to something else”. And so we did.

That song is included both on volume 1 (available on vinyl) and volume 2 (only on cd as far as I know). I’m not saying you should get any, but…