The Christmas season is upon us, and there are plenty of new titles coming your way to make spirits bright!  Today's round-up looks at upcoming collections from Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong, and Reba McEntire, as well as one various-artists set filled with heavy hitters.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Kennedy Center Honoree Neil Diamond has been a Christmas music mainstay since the release of 1992's The Christmas Album.  The Brooklyn-born superstar, whose story is coming soon to Broadway in the new musical A Beautiful Noise, has since released three more original albums of yuletide music - most recently, 2016's Acoustic Christmas.  The October 28 release from Capitol/UMe of A Neil Diamond Christmas has been curated by Diamond and draws upon all four of his holiday LPs.  The 2-LP and 2-CD editions offer 24 and 25 songs, respectively, with one disc of secular favorites (including Neil-penned originals "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" and "Cherry Cherry Christmas") and one disc of spiritual material and classic carols.  The collection will be available in four different physical versions: 2LP black vinyl; 2LP Target-exclusive gold vinyl; 2CD; and 1CD "highlights" (19 tracks on the latter) as well as digitally.  All four editions include a previously unreleased new mix of "O Holy Night" from The Christmas Album.  Every track has been newly remastered for this project by Diamond's longtime associate Bernie Becker.

Country superstar Reba McEntire's The Ultimate Christmas Collection takes a similar approach.  Due on October 14 from Rockin' R Records, the 12-song set culls its selections from all three of McEntire's full-length seasonal albums: 1987's Merry Christmas to You, 1999's The Secrets of Giving, and 2017's My Kind of Christmas.  Like Diamond's set, McEntire's features both jolly Tin Pan Alley Christmas tunes ("Winter Wonderland," "Up on the Housetop," "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus") and reverent carols ("Away in a Manger," "O Holy Night," "O Come All Ye Faithful").  Reba's 2021 digital single "I Needed Christmas," makes its physical premiere on this set.  The Ultimate Christmas Collection will be available on both CD and forest green vinyl and digitally.

For an artist who never recorded a proper Christmas album, Louis Armstrong has become associated with the holiday due to the seasonal warmth of "What a Wonderful World" and even the irreverent "Zat You, Santa Claus?" which finds its way yearly to Christmas radio and playlists.  Numerous Christmas compilations have been built around Armstrong's discography, from 1975's MCA budget release A Merry Christmas with Good Old Satch to 1997's Louis Armstrong and Friends: What a Wonderful Christmas.  Those sets and others, notably 1996's Rod McKuen-produced Christmas Through the Years, tapped either non-holiday songs in Armstrong's catalogue or tracks from other artists to round out his few Christmas recordings.  On October 28, Verve and UMe will release what's being billed as the late trumpeter's first "official" Christmas album.  Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule brings together nearly every Christmas side released by Armstrong including six Decca singles as well as one previously unreleased goodie: his February 26, 1971 reading - just months before his death, and likely his final recording - of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," or "The Night Before Christmas," set to new piano accompaniment by Sullivan Fortner.  Velma Middleton and Ella Fitzgerald duet with Satchmo on, respectively, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm."  The couple of "ringers" here include the nostalgic "Moments to Remember" and "What a Wonderful World."  (Louis' 1924 recording of "Santa Claus Blues" is absent from the lineup.)  Armstrong historian Ricky Riccardi provides the new liner notes for this 11-song compendium.  Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule will be issued on CD, red vinyl, picture disc vinyl (due November 4), and digitally including high-res and Dolby Atmos.

Last but not least, September 30 saw Craft Recordings' vinyl premiere of the 2012 Christmas collection Holidays Rule.  The rollicking set anchored by Paul McCartney's "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" also features an array of indie-pop favorites including fun. ("Sleigh Ride"), Rufus Wainwright and Sharon Van Etten ("Baby, It's Cold Outside"), The Civil Wars ("I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"), The Head and the Heart ("What Are You Doing New Years Eve"), and Andrew Bird ("Auld Lang Syne").  And as no Christmas collection featuring McCartney would be appropriate without his "Wonderful Christmastime," it's heard here in a Beach Boys-inspired recording by The Shins.   Holidays Rule will be pressed on 2-LP translucent red vinyl; a limited edition clear with red-and-green splatter variant is available directly through Craft's webstore. Lacquers were cut by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering from the original high-resolution sources, and the reissue has been mastered by Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering.

You'll find the track listings and pre-order links for these releases below!

Neil Diamond, A Neil Diamond Christmas (Capitol/UMe, 2022)

2LP Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP Gold Vinyl: Target.com

Side A

1. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) 4:04
2. The Christmas Song 3:31
3. Jingle Bell Rock 1:49
4. White Christmas 3:55
5. You Make It Feel Like Christmas 3:35
6. Morning Has Broken 3:02

Side B

1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 3:25
2. Silver Bells 3:04
3. Cherry Cherry Christmas 3:26
4. Sleigh Ride 2:36
5. Winter Wonderland 2:39
6. Christmas Medley: It's Almost Day / Make A Happy Song / We Wish You A Merry Christmas 3:12

Side C

1. O Holy Night (New Mix) 3:27
2. Little Drummer Boy 3:51
3. O Come, O Come Emmanuel / We Three Kings Of Orient Are 2:56
4. Silent Night 4:00
5. O Come All Ye Faithful 4:12
6. Mary's Boy Child 3:18

Side D

1. Children Go Where I Send Thee 5:26
2. The First Noel 3:35
3. Hark the Herald Angels Sing 4:12
4. Angels We Have Heard On High 3:16
5. Christmas Prayers 4:30
6. Joy To The World 2:38

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1

1. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) 4:04
2. The Christmas Song 3:31
3. Jingle Bell Rock 1:49
4. White Christmas 3:55
5. You Make It Feel Like Christmas 3:35
6. Morning Has Broken 3:02
7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 3:25
8. Silver Bells 3:04
9. Cherry Cherry Christmas 3:26
10. Sleigh Ride 2:36
11. Winter Wonderland 2:39
12. Christmas Medley: It's Almost Day / Make A Happy Song / We Wish You A Merry Christmas 3:12

CD 2

1. O Holy Night (New Mix) 3:27
2. Little Drummer Boy 3:51
3. O Come, O Come Emmanuel / We Three Kings Of Orient Are 2:56
4. Silent Night 4:00
5. O Come All Ye Faithful 4:12
6. Mary's Boy Child 3:18
7. Children Go Where I Send Thee 5:26
8. The First Noel 3:35
9. Hark the Herald Angels Sing 4:12
10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 1:17
11. Angels We Have Heard On High 3:16
12. Christmas Prayers 4:30
13. Joy To The World 2:38

1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) 4:04
2. The Christmas Song 3:31
3. Jingle Bell Rock 1:49
4. White Christmas 3:55
5. You Make It Feel Like Christmas 3:35
6. Morning Has Broken 3:02
7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 3:25
8. Silver Bells 3:04
9. Cherry Cherry Christmas 3:26
10. Sleigh Ride 2:36
11. Winter Wonderland 2:39
12. Christmas Medley: It's Almost Day / Make A Happy Song / We Wish You A Merry Christmas 3:12
13. O Holy Night (New Mix) 3:27
14. The Little Drummer Boy 3:51
15. O Come, O Come Emmanuel / We Three Kings Of Orient Are 2:56
16. Silent Night 4:00
17. The First Noel 3:35
18. Christmas Prayers 4:30
19. Joy To The World 2:38

Reba McEntire, The Ultimate Christmas Collection (Rockin' R Records, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Away In A Manger
2. O Holy Night
3. White Christmas
4. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
5. Up On The Housetop
6. I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus
7. Mary, Did You Know?
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. Jingle Bell Rock
10. Winter Wonderland
11. I'll Be Home For Christmas
12. I Needed Christmas

Louis Armstrong, Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule (Verve/UMe, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Cool Yule
2. Winter Wonderland
3. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (w/ Ella Fitzgerald)
4. 'Zat You Santa Claus?
5. Christmas In New Orleans
6. White Christmas
7. Christmas Night In Harlem
8. Baby, It's Cold Outside (w/ Velma Middleton)
9. Moments To Remember
10. What A Wonderful World
11. Reading of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" with Sullivan Fortner, piano accompaniment​ (previously unreleased)

Various Artists, Holidays Rule (Hear Music/MPL HRM-34045-2, 2012 - reissued Craft Recordings, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. fun. - "Sleigh Ride"
2. The Shins - "Wonderful Christmastime"
3. Rufus Wainwright feat. Sharon Van Etten - "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
4. Paul McCartney - "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)"

Side B

1. Black Prairie feat. Sallie Ford - "(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag"
2. The Civil Wars - "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day"
3. Calexico - "Green Grows The Holly"
4. AgesandAges - "We Need A Little Christmas"

Side C

1. Holly Golightly - "That's What I Want For Christmas"
2. Irma Thomas with Preservation Hall Jazz Band - "May Ev'ry Day Be Christmas"
3. Heartless Bastards - "Blue Christmas"
4. Eleanor Friedberger - "Santa, Bring My Baby Back To Me"
5. Fruit Bats - "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"

Side D

1. Y La Bamba - "Señor Santa (Mister Santa)"
2. Punch Brothers - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
3. The Head and the Heart - "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
4. Andrew Bird - "Auld Lang Syne"