We love those classic Christmas recordings.
And we get to hear Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, The Beach Boys, Darlene Love and other greats sing these standards every Christmas season.
Still, we also love to spice things up and add some new sounds to our holiday playlist.
Thankfully, we never have a shortage of contenders trying to make the cut. This is because dozens of new Christmas albums are released each season.
We have studied all the offerings thoroughly and have come up with what we consider to be the best.
Here are our picks for the top 10 new Christmas albums for 2025:
1. “On This Winter’s Night: Volume 2,” Lady A
The country act’s first seasonal offering, 2012’s “On This Winter’s Night”, was a joyous affair that included “The First Noel” and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” Like included fantastic versions of Christmas classics.
Thirteen years later, the platinum-plus-selling Nashville trio – featuring lead singers Hillary Scott and Charles Kelly as well as the multi-talented Dave Haywood – returned with an equally good follow-up record.
This second installment, which will hopefully develop into a longer series, includes “O Holy Night,” “Winter Wonderland” and other favorites. It also includes guest appearances from Ricky Skaggs on “Why We Sing Noel” and Chris Tomlin in an absolutely gorgeous version of “Silent Night”.
Listen: “Silent Night” (performed by Chris Tomlin)
2. “The Greatest Gift of All,” Stryper
The holidays are about to get heavy – but in the right way – as powerhouse metal act Stryper have finally released their first Christmas album.
The SoCal outfit, best known for its platinum-selling ’80s offering “To Hell With the Devil,” gives us a total shake-out around the Christmas tree as it thunders through a mix of holiday classics and originals.
As far as the latter goes, we’re really enjoying turning up the volume on “Still the Light” – which features some blistering guitar work from Michael Sweet and Oz Fox – and the Black Sabbath-esque “On This Holy Night”.
Really great stuff from one of Christian metal’s most famous bands.
Listen: “Still Light”
3. “Greatest Hits Christmas,” LeAnn Rimes
The country singer – considered to have one of the finest singing voices in the history of the genre – has a long history with holiday recordings. It began in the mid-90s when they recorded “Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart” as a promotional/bonus single for their blockbuster major-label debut “Blue,” and continued through the years.
This eclectic collection, big enough to warrant a double-LP release for vinyl fans, collects many of their classic Christmas recordings – from “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” to “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” – as well as three new cuts.
Collectively, these songs underscore that Rimes is one of the greatest Christmas music interpreters of the last 30 years.
Listen: “Little Drummer Boy”
4. “Let Me Carry You This Christmas,” Darius De Haas
The versatile singer has quite a track record in the theater world, having appeared in Broadway productions of “Rent,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Carousel,” “Marie Christine” and other plays. He has also had an impressive career as a concert/recording artist, performing with both the Boston and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras and releasing several albums.
Now, he’s making his mark in the seasonal music arena with this 11-track outing. She has a beautiful voice — which many know from singing for her role as Shy Baldwin in Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” — and she’s put it to great use on “The First Noel,” “Silent Night” and other holiday tunes.
Listen: “Who Would Imagine a King”
5. “Come Home for Christmas,” Matthew West
The contemporary Christian singer-songwriter, who voiced chart-topping hits like “More,” “You’re Everything,” “Hello, My Name Is,” “Grace Wins,” “Broken Things” and “The God Who Stays,” is inviting music fans to “Come Home for Christmas.”
The eight-song offering is another Christmas delight for West, who previously recorded “The Heart of Christmas” in 2011 and “We Need Christmas” in 2021. The set is a mix of original tunes and holiday standards. And, as an added bonus, it also includes a “children’s version” of West’s classic Thanksgiving song “Gobble Gobble.”
Listen: “Because of Bethlehem”
6. “Nolaig – A Christmas Journey,” The Celtic Woman
These PBS favorites originally came together for a one-off performance in Dublin, Ireland in 2004 and are still going strong 21 years later. And now they’re setting out on “a Christmas trip”.
To put it mildly, this is not his first such visit. Celtic Woman, described by some as “‘Riverdance’ for sound”, has released approximately 215,334 seasonal albums over the years.
Or it could be 215,335 – since the group has released another since I started writing this.
The reason Collective keeps releasing holiday platters – and the reason we keep buying them – is because it works really well with the Christmas songbook.
And that’s certainly the case, once again, with this great collection of winter tunes.
Listen: “God Rest Your Soul, Gentlemen”
7. “Christmas Time Has Come,” Herb Alpert
The famed trumpeter — who turned 90 earlier this year — has delivered such a gorgeous set of Latin-flavored holiday songs with “Christmas Time Is Here.”
The collection of mostly instrumentals begins with a true jaw-dropper – with Alpert infusing such emotion and feeling into a softly orchestrated version of “Feliz Navidad” – and then continues to shine through Christmas classics like “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Sleigh Ride.”
Of course, this isn’t the first holiday rodeo for Alpert, who scored massive success with 1968’s “Christmas Album” — recorded with his Tijuana Brass Band — and then followed up nearly 50 years later with the well-received “Christmas Wish.”
Listen: “Feliz Navidad”
8. “Christmas,” Natalie Grant
The Seattle native has had a lot happen since releasing her first seasonal offering – “Believe” – in 2005. For starters, she won four consecutive Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year from 2006-2009. (And then she’ll add a fifth such trophy to her collection in 2012.)
Twenty years after “Believe,” Grant returns with “Christmas,” another gorgeous set of holiday favorites (“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” etc.) and other tunes. We especially like his work with MercyMe’s Bart Millard in “Silent Night.”
Listen: “Silent Night”
9. “Snow Globe Town,” Brad Paisley
“Brad Paisley Christmas” was a wonderful holiday affair, filled with great covers of seasonal staples (“Silent Night,” “Winter Wonderland,” etc.) as well as some more unconventional selections (notably, the PC-diss track “Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday”).
The country music star’s long-awaited follow-up – coming 19 years after his 2006 debut Christmas outing – is another interesting platter that blends tradition and innovation.
Paisley, a fine singer and excellent guitarist, sounds like he’s rocking out on “That Crazy Elf (On the Shelf),” “A Marshmallow World” and other fun tunes. Nevertheless, listeners are likely to enjoy his work even more on the slower numbers.
Listen: “The First Noel”
10. “It’s Christmas,” Eric Bennett
The R&B singer responsible for top 10 hits like “Spiritual Thang,” “Femininity,” “Let’s Stay Together” and “Spend My Life with You” returns with his 10th full-length studio outing – which also happens to be his second of 2025.
“It’s Christmas,” which follows the release of “The Co-Star” in June, is warm and effortless from start to finish, as Bennett brings his equally sophisticated and soulful approach to “Please Come Home for Christmas” and other favorites.
When Bennett sings “It’s Christmas Time”, it feels like you’re both in the same room, putting back cups of eggnog and enjoying a softly glowing fire.
Listen: “Oh Holy Night”
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