Merry Christmas with Love

Merry Christmas with Love
Studio album by Clay Aiken
Released November 16, 2004
Recorded 2004
Right Track Recording
New York City, New York
Genre Pop
Length 39:00
Label RCA
Producer Phil Ramone
Walter Afanasieff
Clay Aiken chronology
Measure of a Man
(2003)
Merry Christmas with Love
(2004)
A Thousand Different Ways
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyD[2]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[3]

Merry Christmas with Love is Clay Aiken's first Christmas album, released by RCA Records on November 16, 2004. It was certified platinum and was recognized by Billboard as the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of 2004 and the best-selling Christian album of 2005.

The album was re-released on August 18, 2009 on the Sony label.

Aiken has toured four times with his Joyful Noise Tour (2004-2007) to promote this album.

Sales and chart performance

Merry Christmas with Love debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with about 270,000 copies sold;[4] this was also its peak position on the chart. By the end of 2004, around 1,004,000 copies of the album had been sold,[5] and the album won Billboard awards for the Best-Selling Christmas Album of 2004 and the Best-Selling Christian Album of 2005. The album set a new record for fastest-selling holiday album in the SoundScan era (since March 1991) and tied Céline Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine.[6]

On January 6, 2005, Merry Christmas with Love was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies in the U.S.[7] Going into the 2010 Christmas season, 1,416,000 copies had been sold in the U.S.[8] and 2 million worldwide.

Track listing

  1. "O Holy Night"
  2. "Winter Wonderland"
  3. "Silent Night"
  4. Medley: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"/"O Come All Ye Faithful"
  5. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
  6. "Mary, Did You Know?"
  7. "Joy to the World"
  8. "The Christmas Song"
  9. "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day"
  10. "Merry Christmas with Love"
  11. "Sleigh Ride"
  12. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

Song notes

Personnel

Musicians

Production

  • Andy Zulla - mixing
  • Joel Moss - recording
  • Mark Valentine - additional recording
  • Emanuel Kiriakou - engineer
  • Joe Wohlmuth - additional engineering
  • David Channing - additional engineering
  • Jay Spears - assistant engineer
  • Mike Schroffel - assistant engineer
  • Glenn Pittman - assistant engineer
  • Alex Rodriguez - assistant engineer
  • Dave Reitzas - lead vocal engineer
  • Jorge Calandrelli - arrangement
  • Patrick Williams - arrangement
  • Rich Davis - production coordination
  • Elena Barere - concert master
  • Torrie Zito - conductor
  • William Ross - conductor, arranger
  • Humberto Gatica - orchestra engineer
  • Sandy Decrescent - orchestra contractor
  • David Lowe - orchestra contractor
  • Jill Dell'Abate production manager
  • Joe Yannece - mastering

Studios

  • Right Track Recording, New York City, NY - recording
  • Sound Decision, New York City, NY - mixing
  • Chalice Studios, Los Angeles, CA - engineering
  • Hit Factory, New York - mastering

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
AC Christian AC
2004 "Winter Wonderland" 13 - Merry Christmas with Love
2005 "O Holy Night" 37 -
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing /
O Come All Ye Faithful"
27 -
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" 32 -
"Mary, Did You Know?" 35 32

Tours

2004: The Joyful Noise Tour [9]

2005: The Joyful Noise 2005 Tour [10]

2006: Holiday Tour[11]

2007: Christmas in the Heartland[12]

Aiken has ended each of his Christmas tours with his signature Christmas song, "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day."

Awards and nominations

Billboard Awards

American Christian Music Awards

References

Listen to this article (info/dl)


This audio file was created from a revision of the "Merry Christmas with Love" article dated 2016-01-04, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)
More spoken articles

  1. AllMusic review
  2. Entertainment Weekly review
  3. Rolling Stone review
  4. Margo Whitmire, "Eminem Thankful To Remain No. 1", Billboard.com, November 24, 2004.
  5. "Chart Watch Extra: Bring On Christmas!". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  6. Rogers, Steve. Clay Aiken's "Merry Christmas With Love" holiday album debuts to record sales realitytvworld.com. November 29, 2004. Retrieved 2009-08-08
  7. "RIAA Searchable Database - Gold & Platinum Certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  8. Mansfield, Brian (December 22, 2010). "Crystal Bowersox's 'Farmer's Daughter' debuts with 58K sales". USA Today.
  9. Dreaming of a Clay Christmas © 2004 McDonald’s Corporation (pdf). December 17, 2004. Retrieved 2009-08-20
  10. Kragen, Pam. "Pop nerd Clay Aiken brings 'Joyful Noise' to San Diego." North Country Times. November 9, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-25 (article archived)
  11. A Clay Aiken Christmas: Carols & Comedy .americanidolworship.com. December 21st, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-20
  12. "Clay Aiken Adds Dates to Magical Holiday Tour 2007." TicketNews.com June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-25
  13. Aiken's Christmas tour arrives Saturday by Sean T. McMann Poughkeepsie Journal (12/06/07). Retrieved 2008-02-23
  14. Without any further ado: the Clay Aiken/Poughkeepsie Journal story by Sean T. McMann Sean's Space (12/07/07). Retrieved 2008-02-23
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, January 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.