Clay Aiken is a show-biz creature, so it's only appropriate that the sequel to his hit 2003 debut, Measure of a Man, is 2004's Merry Christmas with Love -- after all, there are few things quite as show biz as a holiday album. Aiken is a rarity in the new millennium: an old-fashioned, unironic middle-of-the-road singer. Those are the kinds of vocalists that always fare very well on Christmas records, so it should be no surprise that Aiken turns in a good holiday album. Actually, there are no surprises on the album -- the song selections are all standards, the arrangements are traditional and unobtrusive, always emphasizing Clay's voice, and the record is given a safe, high-gloss sheen ideal for adult contemporary radio. If there are any surprises with Merry Christmas with Love -- well, apart from Clay's impish, elfin look on the front cover -- it's that his singing is better, more assured here than it was on Measure of a Man. Then again, that debut was released a little over four months after he came in second on the second season of American Idol. He's had more time to work on Merry Christmas with Love, and it seems to benefit his performance, which bodes well for his second proper studio album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Michael McElroy (Vocals (Background)), Angela Fisher (Vocals (Background)), Frank Harkins (Art Direction), Humberto Gatica (Engineer), Michael Landau (Guitar (Electric)), Emanuel Kiriakou (Guitar (Acoustic)), Torrie Zito (Arranger), Clark Anderson (Vocals (Background)), Emanuel Kiriakou (Programming), Danielle Greaves (Alto (Vocals)), Joe Wohlmuth (Engineer), Quiana Parler (Vocals (Background)), Jill Dell'Abate (Contractor), Maurice Lauchner (Tenor (Vocal)), Kenny Ascher (Piano), Walter Afanasieff (Audio Production), William Ross (Orchestral Arrangements), Michael Elroy (Vocals (Background)), Glenn Pittman (Assistant Engineer), McCrary Choir (Vocals (Background)), Darryl Phinnessee (Vocals (Background)), Tracy Nicole Chapman (Alto (Vocals)), David Finck (Bass), Stephen Ferrera (Harp), Phil Ramone (Producer), Laura Dean (Soprano (Vocal)), William Ross (Conductor), Emanuel Kiriakou (Guitar (Electric)), Dave Reitzas (Vocal Engineer), Larita Gaskins (Alto (Vocals)), Gerti Lee James (Soprano (Vocal)), Alex Rodriguez (Assistant Engineer), Joe Yannece (Mastering), Catrice Joseph Hart (Soprano (Vocal)), Walter Afanasieff (Producer), Patrick Williams (Arranger), Allan Schwartzberg (Drums), Jill Dell'Abate (Production Coordination), Jorge Calandrelli (Arranger), Michael Schroffel (Assistant Engineer), David Lowe (Orchestra Contractor), Jay Spears (Assistant Engineer), Nathan East (Bass), Emanuel Kiriakou (Vocal Engineer), Clay Aiken (Vocals), Walter Afanasieff (Programming), Conesha Monet (Vocals (Background)), Walter Afanasieff (Keyboard Programming), Emanuel Kiriakou (Engineer), Eric Ogden (Photography), Clark Anderson (Vocals (Background)), David Channing (Engineer), Mark Valentine (Engineer), Sandy DeCrescent (Orchestra Contractor), Torrie Zito (Conductor), Stephen Ferrera (Percussion), Emanuel Kiriakou (Digital Editing), Elena Barere (Concert Master), Phil Ramone (Audio Production), Eliseo Román (Tenor (Vocal)), Glenn Rainey (Tenor (Vocal)), Bertilla Baker (Alto (Vocals)), Walter Afanasieff (Arranger), Vinnie Colaiuta (Drums), Chris Zelno (Tenor (Vocal)), Jeff Mironov (Guitar), John Eric Parker (Tenor (Vocal)), Stephen Ferrera (A&R), Tanesha Gary (Soprano (Vocal)), Andy Zulla (Mixing), Rich Davis (Production Coordination), Joel Moss (Engineer), Jacob Luttrell (Vocals (Background)), Lucia Giannetta (Alto (Vocals)), Ira Siegel (Guitar (Acoustic))
Merry Christmas with Love debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with about 270,000 copies sold;[1] this was also its peak position on the chart. Over one million copies sold within the first 6 weeks 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 1991) and tied Céline Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine.[2] The album was certified platinum by the RIAA on January 6, 2005 and going into the 2006 Christmas season 1.4 million copies had been sold in the US and 2 million worldwide.
^ "O, Holy Night" Written by: Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 3:38
^ "Winter Wonderland" Written by: Richard B. Smith, Felix Bernard / Produced by Phil Ramone - 2:49
^ "Silent Night" Written by: Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 2:17
^ Medley: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"/"O Come All Ye Faithful" Written by: Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley /Frederick Oakeley, John Francis Wade / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 4:00
^ "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Written by: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 3:27
^ "Mary Did You Know" Written by: Lee Rufus GreenebIII, Mark Alan Lowry / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 3:20
^ "Joy to the World" Written by: Isaac Watts, Lowell Mason / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 2:13
^ "The Christmas Song(Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" Written by: Melvin Torme, Robert Wells / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 2:36
^ "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" Written by: Celine Dion, Ric Wake, Peter Zizzo / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 4:33
^ "Merry Christmas with Love" Written by: Greg Wayne Davis, Billy Lee Smiley / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 4:04
^ "Sleigh Ride" Written by: Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 3:00
^ "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Written by: Frank Loesser / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 3:01
36-City, 40-Concert U.S. and Canada tour (November - December 2005)
The concert featured a traveling cast of actors, singers, and dancers, as well as a supporting cast recruited from each host city, to provide the theatrical component that threaded together the musical performances.
The opening act and contributing musician was pop-classical pianist William Joseph.
