House Of Heroes is a great rock/pop band—one of my favorite bands of all time. On this EP, Hark! The House Of Heroes Sing, they deliver 3 songs of Christmas cheer. It's a great version of "O Holy Night" with some sort of funky keyboard melody behind the chorus. And there's a great version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Joy To The World" which is an energetic take. But my favorite is the original song "Christmas Morning"—or I at least can't find any indication that it's a cover. It's a fun reflection of how we should retain that childlike wonder "like a kid on Christmas morning" throughout our lives. It's an instant classic and honestly, I think it should be played everywhere as it's a great original holiday track. (If this keeps you wanting more, three are four more Christmas songs also recorded by House of Heroes out there on the streaming services.)

Release Year: 2014
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This album may be the best telling of the Christmas story ever put to music, in my opinion. In the year 2000, young Andrew Peterson wrote new songs to tell the story of the Israelite people, their longing for a savior, and the baby Jesus who was born to save humanity. He subtitled it "the true tall tale of the coming of Christ". And yes, what a beautiful story it is! The music includes some of Nashville finest musicians and friends of Andrew Peterson telling the story in a Nashville folk/country/bluegrass style. There's very little of the carols you know or expect on a Christmas album; this is mostly all original songs that tell the story of Jesus's birth in 42 minutes. So it's maybe not an album to listen to in the background, but it's better to put it on and listen to every word and note carefully. The 2004 original recording of this album is out of print, but this is the 20th anniversary recording of the album. For 25 years now, Andrew Peterson and his band of musicians have been playing these songs in November and December across the Bible belt of America and beyond. I did get to see them play this album and many other songs in 2019 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, and it was a very beautiful night.

Release Year: 2019
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This is another of my favorites I've been enjoying for decades. In the 1990s, Steven Curtis Chapman was one of the biggest names in Christian pop & adult contemporary music. In this first Christmas album from the artist, he hits so many of the old carols with his beautiful vocals, an acoustic guitar, and lush strings and other instrumentation. There's also plenty of original songs, like "The Music of Christmas" and "Christmas Is All In The Heart", which encourage us to listen to what God is saying and to not focus on the presents, the decorations and the parties, but to be with family and friends in this season. I also love the instrumentals; there's a medley of carols in the middle of the album as well as "Carol of the Bells", both of which are a beautiful mix of pop and symphonic music elements. I remember setting up Christmas lights in my dorm 25 Christmases ago to this album, and it doesn't really start the Christmas season for me until I give this excellent album a listen.

Release Year: 1995
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Back before the era of streaming and endless digital singles and EPs, the "special event" and "compilation" albums were king. Tooth & Nail Records and their BEC Recordings label had the "Happy Christmas" series of albums of their artists and other rock bands in the world of Christian music presenting a fun collection of Christmas tunes, both sacred and secular. You've of course got lots of Tooth & Nail punk and indie rock bands delivering high-octane versions of classic carols and standards. There's also covers of songs popularized by Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee, Sixpence None The Richer's version of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch", and The Lost Dogs do their own hilarious take on Alvin & The Chipmunks's "The Chipmunk Song" which pokes fun at the future of music to close out the album. Some favorites of this release are All Star United's cover of '80s glam rock song "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and Plankeye's rock cover of a early 1900s hymn "Gesu Bambino (The Infant Child)". Original, new songs from punk band MxPx, electropop band Joy Electric and folk rock band The Normals are present, and I especially enjoy the last one. Unfortunately, since these special event albums had songs from many different labels and rights holders, this album and others will likely never be available on streaming services exactly as it is. So you might have to find a CD or cassette copy of this album to enjoy it as I have for the last 25 Christmases.

Release Year: 1999