All I Want for Christmas

Mariah Carey, "Merry Christmas" (1994): No one would ever deny the talents of Huntington, Long Island's favorite daughter; Carey's vocal range is simply astounding. That said, "Merry Christmas" has a bit of a smell of desperation, of pressure, of fear. The arrangements are ... moreblindingly bright, and Carey's interpretation of the classics is preposterously over the top. On yuletide warhorses such as "All I Want for Christmas is You" and "Joy to the World," she just can't resist a single opportunity to send her pipes into the stratosphere, as if she's hell-bent on disproving negative claims about the extent of her talents that never have been made. Truly, it's lonely at the top of the Christmas tree.