Holiday Wishes (also titledChristmas Wishes in the UK[1] andSnow Wishes in Japan) is the fourth studio album and the firstChristmas album by American singer-songwriter and actressIdina Menzel. Produced byWalter Afanasieff, it was released byWarner Bros. Records on October 14, 2014, in the United States, and on November 3 in the United Kingdom.[2][3][1] It is Menzel's fourth studio album to date, as well as her first in six years, and features a duet with Canadian singerMichael Bublé.
During her one night only concert atRadio City Music Hall, Menzel revealed details about the album, and indicated that the track "December Prayer" would be an original song. She also added, in regard to herJewish religion, "I know I'm Jewish. But a lot of famous Jewish people have written Christmas songs, so I'm going to try out some of their songs on the album."[2][4] Although it is the only song in the album that was written by Menzel, the song "December Prayer" is a cover of theYvonne Catterfeld song. Catterfeld's original rendition was included on her 2010 albumBlau im Blau.[citation needed]
According to Menzel,Holiday Wishes consists of mostly "songs that I've always wanted to sing."[5] The album begins with a cover of the holiday standard "Do You Hear What I Hear?", the recording of which was inspired by the late singerWhitney Houston's rendition.[5] The fifth song is a cover of "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which was originally recorded and made famous by R&B singerMariah Carey.[5] Menzel opted to record the track using an arrangement that producer Walter Afanasieff, who co-wrote and produced Carey's version, had never been able to use before.[5]
The seventh track "December Prayer" is the only original song featured on the album, which has been described by Randy Lewis of theLos Angeles Times as a "reflection about a soldier finding his way home for the holidays."[6]
Holiday Wishes has garnered positive reviews from music critics.Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic concluded, "Unsurprising though it may be, Holiday Wishes nevertheless is satisfying because producer Walter Afanasieff commits to his Christmas classicism, as does Menzel. Everything here sparkles with the gleam of freshly fallen snow: it's big, bright, and so stubbornly out of fashion that it'd never go out of style."[7] Praising Menzel's vocal performance, theLos Angeles Times' Randy Lewis wrote that the singer "brings a stocking-full of interpretive skill to some holiday classics." Lewis opined that despite "conventional" arrangements, "Menzel's tone and phrasing are consistently lovely."[6]
Upon its release,Holiday Wishes debuted at number 13 on theBillboard 200 albums chart with sales of 20,000 copies, making it the highest-charting solo album of her career. In its sixth week on the chart, the album sold 33,000 copies and reached a new peak of number 10, making it Menzel's first ever solo album to reach the top 10 on theBillboard 200. With sales of 370,000,Holiday Wishes was 2014's second best-selling holiday album, behindThat's Christmas to Me byPentatonix.[8] On December 20, 2014, the album peaked at number 6 on theBillboard 200.[9]
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