Make My Wish Come True: Vinyl, Singles, SACD to Commemorate 30 Years of Mariah Carey’s ‘Merry Christmas’
With the run-up to Christmas approaching full speed, the holiday’s musical queen is looking to take back her crown.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Carey’s Merry Christmas and its unforgettable, cross-generational hit single “All I Want for Christmas is You,” the Elusive Chanteuse will deliver an expanded version of the album on vinyl, featuring material from its most recent reissue and a 24-page booklet in a hardbound package with some holiday surprises. To boost “All I Want for Christmas is You” in its inevitable journey back up the Billboard Hot 100, a number of different physical formats of the single, boasting different cover art and B-sides, will be made available on her official online store. The singles are expected to ship around December 6, with the expanded vinyl available a week later at all retailers on December 13.
“All I Want for Christmas is You,” from Carey’s 1994 album of holiday cheer, was always a dependable seasonal chestnut, showcasing her versatile voice while putting a glossy new spin on the Wall of Sound-style production that accompanied A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records. In recent years, however, it’s become something more thanks to a rewritten Billboard chart rule that allows recurrent catalogue holiday songs to reappear on the Hot 100. Carey’s classic rose higher and higher until 2019 – the year she marked Merry Christmas‘ 25th anniversary with a 2CD reissue – when it peaked at the top of the chart, giving her a 19th career No. 1, only one less than The Beatles’ all-time record. (Last year, “All I Want for Christmas” notched two more weeks in the pole position during the week before and of Christmas; the two weeks before that were occupied by an even older holiday tune, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”)
Carey shouldn’t feel threatened by the chart battle; frankly, we’d like to see even more holiday hits lay claim to the top spot. But the pop star now perhaps best known for declaring the holiday season underway in theatrical videos is pulling out all the stops this year. She’s commemorating the three-decade mark since Merry Christmas was released – also featuring the heartbreaking original “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time),” “O Holy Night,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” a take on Darlene Love’s Spector-produced “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and a mash-up of both the carol “Joy to the World” and the Three Dog Night favorite of the same name – and embarking on her latest semi-annual holiday-focused tour, running through December at venues across the country. The expanded vinyl edition of the album will feature a stirring live set Carey recorded in the wake of the album’s release at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the accompanying book promises to trace Carey’s “Christmas journey” through rare photos and trivia. The set even includes a Christmas card from Mariah. (Additional vinyl variants include a picture disc and zoetrope LP of the original album, which will showcase a moving image across the grooves as it spins on your turntable.)
On the “All I Want for Christmas is You” singles, fans can find no less than five different B-sides, from alternate versions of songs: a take on “Oh Santa!” – from Carey’s second seasonal LP, 2010’s Merry Christmas II You – with guest vocals by Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson; live versions of “All I Want for Christmas” and The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping”; a rare version of “Sleigh Ride” and even the unissued video version of “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time).” It is unknown if a digital version will feature all the B-sides together.
And there’s one last present for hardcore Carey devotees and audiophiles: Merry Christmas will additionally be released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in three high-quality, numbered formats: a double 180-gram vinyl, mastered at 45 RPM speed and limited to 4000 copies; an Ultradisc “one-step” box set featuring the album on double 180-gram vinyl and mastered at 33 1/3 RPM (limited to 3000 copies); and a hybrid SACD (quantities were not disclosed). The Ultradisc box will also be available on December 13, but the other formats are available now.
You can find pre-order links and track lists for all versions below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Merry Christmas (30th Anniversary Edition) (Columbia/Legacy, 2024)
Deluxe 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Picture LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Zoetrope LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Cassette (original album): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP 1: Original album (released as Columbia CK 64222, 1994)
Side A
- Silent Night
- All I Want for Christmas is You
- O Holy Night
- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
- Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)
Side B
- Joy to the World
- Jesus Born on This Day
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (in Excelsis Deo)
- Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child
- God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (international bonus track – Columbia COL 477342 2, 1994)
LP 2: Live at The Cathedral of St. John The Divine, New York, NY – 12/8/1994
Side C
- All I Want for Christmas is You
- Silent Night
- Joy to the World
Side D
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (in Excelsis Deo)
- Jesus Born on This Day
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
- Hero
Side C and Tracks D1-3 released on Merry Christmas (Deluxe Anniversary Edition) – Columbia/Epic/Legacy 88875 12448-2, 2019
Track D4 released on “All I Want for Christmas is You” CD single – Columbia/Legacy 19075 99159-2, 2019
All I Want for Christmas is You (30th Anniversary Single) (Columbia/Legacy, 2024)
7″: Official Store
12″: Official Store
Cassette: Official Store
CD: Official Store
- All I Want for Christmas is You
- Sleigh Ride (7″ B-side)
- Oh Santa! (feat. Ariana Grande & Jennifer Hudson) (12″ double A-side)
- Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) (Video Version) (12″/CD single B-side)
- All I Want for Christmas is You (Live @ Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – 1/11-20/1998) (cassette B-side)
- Christmas Wrapping (feat. Roe) (Live @ Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 2022 or 2023) (CD single B-side)
Tracks 2-3 released on Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special (AppleTV+ Original Soundtrack) – Legacy (no cat. #), 2020
Tracks 4 and 6 previously unreleased
Track 5 released on Japanese pressing of Merry Christmas (Deluxe Anniversary Edition) – Sony Records Int’l SICP 31317-8, 2019 and The Rarities – Columbia/Legacy 19439 80694-2, 2020
Merry Christmas (Original Master Recording) (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, 2024)
180 gram 45 RPM 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
180 gram 33 1/3 RPM 2LP (Ultradisc One-Step Pressing): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Hybrid SACD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Same repertoire as LP 1 of 30th anniversary edition above
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1 thought on “Make My Wish Come True: Vinyl, Singles, SACD to Commemorate 30 Years of Mariah Carey’s ‘Merry Christmas’”
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honest question, why does anyone still bother making SACDs? how many people have (or ever had) the means to even play them? players have always seemed insanely expensive unless you piggyback off the handful of DVD or Blu-Ray players that can handle them, which I think was some Sony, Oppo… don’t remember…
Anyhow, curious what anyone else thinks.