Platinum Christmas

With a fairly even mix of pure pop and R&B, Platinum Christmas should be on every chart fan's wish list for the festive season. On the pop front, Britney Spears ("My Only Wish (This Year)"), S-Club 7 ("Perfect Christmas"), Backstreet Boys ("Christmas Time") and N-Sync ("I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You") keep the seasonal goodwill at an all-time high with plenty of sleigh bells and winter warmers, only to be let down by Steps with an appalling cover version of one of the all-time greatest Christmas songs ever, Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which they desecrate with vocoders, plinky-plonky synths and some of the weakest vocals ever committed to disc. On the R&B front, things fare a bit better with Monica ("Grown up Christmas List"), R.Kelly ("World Christmas"), Whitney Houston ("Who Would Imagine A King") and TLC's startling, yet strangely compelling, reworking of Phil Spector's classic "Sleigh Ride". With the exception of TLC, the cover versions tend to be the less compelling tracks, with the original material proving a far fresher take on the Christmas theme. As for Steps--they'd obviously been at the sherry. --Mel Roberts

1. My Only Wish (This Year) - Britney Spears

2. Perfect Christmas - S Club 7

3. I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You - N-Sync

4. Merry Xmas Everybody - Steps

5. Grown Up Christmas List - Monica

6. World Christmas - R Kelly

7. Silent Night - Christina Aguilera

8. Posada - Santana

9. Little Drummer Boy - Jars Of Clay

10. Christmas Song - Dave Matthews

11. Christmas Day - Dido

12. Christmas Time - Backstreet Boys

13. This Christmas - Joe

14. Sleigh Ride - TLC

15. The Christmas Song - Toni Braxton

16. Who Would Imagine A King - Whitney Houston