Gift guide: Ringing in the season Strike fresh notes with new yuletide offerings The Detroit News There is the school of thought that there is entirely too much holiday music in the world already, especially between Halloween and January, so why encourage more? The other view is, if you're going to be driven mad with sleigh bells for three-plus months a year, why not have something new in the mix? This is not an exhaustive list. After all, as one of our number remarked, 'Life is too short to listen to a Wilson Phillips Christmas album.' Here are some hits, and several soggy misses, from our pile of mostly new holiday music. Reviews are by Susan Whitall (SW) Adam Graham (AG) and Lawrence B. Johnson (LBJ) 'Merry Christmas II You,' Mariah Carey (Island): Mariah Carey slides back into her Santa suit on 'Merry Christmas II You,' which follows her first holiday set, 1994's 'Merry Christmas.' That first set yielded 'All I Want for Christmas is You,' a certifiable holiday classic that shows up in a reworked version here. While recent pop efforts have cast doubt on Carey's ability to sustain her big notes, she's back in robust form here, muscling through traditional and gospel fare with resounding gusto. And when she teams up with Jermaine Dupri on a pair of high-stepping holiday cuts, including the giddy hip-hop rave 'Oh Santa!,' the results are a welcome blast of seasonal fun. GRADE: B+ AG 'Ronnie Spector's Best Christmas Ever,' Ronnie Spector (Bad Girl Sounds/The Orchard): She only had three songs on the ultimate holiday album, 'A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector' (first released in 1963), but the way Ronnie Spector sounds on those three songs - 'Frosty the Snowman,' 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' and 'Sleigh Ride' (with her 'ringdingalingaling' refrain) - has made her voice an instant reminder of the holiday. It's the ultimate fantasy cupcake voice, made for holiday froth. This new mini-collection includes five new holiday songs; 'My Christmas Wish' and 'Best Christmas Ever' stand out. We would have preferred more classics, but we'll take that whoa, whoa, whoa voice where we can get it. GRADE: B SW 'Christmas Season,' G?chinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart conducted by Helmuth Rilling; other artists (Hanssler Classic Records, two CDs ): Here's a stunning sleeper, 51 tracks mostly of excerpts from complete works of Bach recorded by the G?chinger chorus and Rilling's instrumental Collegium. You'll want to turn the sound up until the house rings with this joyous music from Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio' and cantatas as well as sundry pieces by other composers, mainly 18th century. Among further delights sprinkled in are Michael Praetorius' setting of 'Es ist ein Ros entsprungen' and, to finish, 'Stille Nacht.' GRADE: A LBJ 'Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You,' Katharine McPhee (Verve Forcast): Remember Katharine McPhee? She was the runner-up on 'American Idol's' fifth season, losing in the finals to Taylor Hicks. Her pop career following 'Idol' hasn't gained much traction, but her first holiday set returns her to doing what she does best: Wrap her sturdy pipes around time-honored standards. Along with the requisite holiday chestnuts, she throws a few lesser-known tunes into the mix as well; the title track was originally sung by Billy Squier. Meanwhile, the album's one original track, 'It's Not Christmas Without You,' is an unexpectedly tender and touching Christmas ballad. GRADE: B AG 'A Christmas Cornucopia,' Annie Lennox (Decca): As a child in Scotland, Lennox was in a choir that specialized in folk songs and carols, so it should be no surprise that she applies her earnest, idiosyncratic voice to traditional songs like 'The Holly and the Ivy' and the French 'Il Est Ne le Divin Enfant.' Be forewarned, Annie Lennox's Christmas is no marshmallow world, but a very Celtic back to an often-violent one, as with the carol 'Lullay, Lullay' and its dour reference to the story of the Nativity, when King Herod ordered the death of all first-born male children. Not the sort of thing to cuddle up with by the fire, but beautifully sung. GRADE: B+ SW 'A String Quartet Christmas,' violinist Arturo Delmoni and friends. (Listen, three CDs): This repackaging of CDs released singly in 1995, '97 and '98 offers 68 serene selections ranging from traditional carols like 'Silent Night' and 'The Holly and the Ivy' to Schubert's 'Ave Maria' and Handel's 'He Shall Feed His Flock' from 'Messiah.' Altogether, it makes for pleasant background listening, though the simple arrangements can become a bit repetitive even on oblique hearing. But there's nothing kitschy here, no what-if-Mozart-had-written 'Deck the Halls.' And the playing is quite fine. GRADE: B LBJ 'The Gift,' Susan Boyle (Columbia): 'Britain's Got Talent' sensation Susan Boyle returns with her second set, which is split between traditional Christmastime favorites ('The First Noel,' 'O Holy Night,' etc.) and a handful of pop covers, including Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day' and Crowded House's 'Don't Dream It's Over.' But musically, there's little variety between the 10 songs; everything is given the same big, sweeping treatment, whether it's 'Auld Lang Syne' or Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah.' Boyle is no doubt a talented vocalist, but that's all she is; and the repetition of this set is grating. It proves what we thought the first time we saw her on YouTube: She's a voice, not an artist. GRADE: C AG 'The Perfect Gift,' The Canadian Tenors (Decca): While the tenors take on 'O Holy Night' and 'Silent Night,' the lush, contemporary feel of most of the cuts mean you won't tire of it by Boxing Day, eh? Typical is ' Wintersong,' with their fellow Canadian Sarah McLachlan adding her ethereal soprano. At times, the Tenors veer off into too generic a sound, and Giorgio Armani gets a larger credit on the disc (for providing their haberdashery) than the producer, but we'll take it. GRADE: B SW 'The Christmas Album,' the cast of Glee (Columbia): Too often, 'Glee's' soundtrack compilations, which have nearly become a genre unto their own, result in little more than knockoff versions of popular hits. But the Christmas album format suits the 'Glee' cast well; and this 12-song album, which accompanies the Fox hit's Dec. 7 Christmas episode, works because it's got the right mix of goofy fun and fireplace sentimentality. The album kicks off with the underappreciated 'We Need a Little Christmas' and rolls through a batch of contemporary (Wham's 'Last Christmas') and standard ('Jingle Bells,' 'O Holy Night,' etc.) holiday fare, including a rare male-male take on 'Baby It's Cold Outside.' It's the best 'Glee' set yet. GRADE: B AG World Christmas Party (Putumayo): Interestingly, some of the best versions of winter classics on this world music collection are from tropical climates. The lugubrious rhythms of Jacob Miller's reggae don't quite work, but Poncho Sanchez's Latin jazz take on 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and Jose Conde's Brazilian 'Winter Wonderland' - that's more like it. And can I say this? The mellifluous voices of the two Hawaiian singers in Keahiwai are so much pleasanter than Brenda Lee's voice on 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' that it should by law replace it. GRADE: B ? SW 'The Cherry Tree,' Anonymous 4 (Harmonia Mundi): This newest of Anonymous 4's Christmas CDs extends a string of glorious celebrations of the season by the a cappella women's quartet. Mostly, the carols Anonymous 4 sings here are 15th century English airs with texts in Middle English ('Noel syng we bothe al and som' ) or Latin ('Alma redemptoris mater'), but there's also a lovely digression to the 19th century with William Knapp's sunny 'A Virgin Unspotted.' The 'Cherry Tree Carol' spans both ages, as a 15th century song performed in an arrangement from an early 20th century Kentucky hymnal! The singing throughout is angelic, radiant, irresistible. GRADE: A LBJ 