Every year, new artists try their hands at making Christmas albums. It works for some (Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé), but for many others, it's just a weird experiment.
It's more or less expected for a lot of country singers and mainstream pop stars to make at least some kind of holiday offering, but there are plenty of musicians and bands who do so even though it doesn't seem to fit the general theme of their music. Here's our list of eleven Christmas albums from artists who we think have no business making Christmas albums.
11. Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good
Black Label Society (2011)
This three-track Christmas album from Zakk Wylde and his heavy-metal crew contains rocking covers of holiday classics "I'll be Home for Christmas," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Wonderful World." While we didn't see this one coming, it's not all that surprising since BLS released several covers on the album The Song Remains Not the Same earlier that year. Maybe Black Label Society is getting a little softer in its old age, or maybe Wylde is just a big fan of Christmas; either way, the group gets bonus points for the most descriptively and accurately named Christmas album on his list.
10. We Three Kings
The Reverend Horton Heat (2005) If anyone was going to make a psychobilly Christmas album, it was going to be the Reverend Horton Heat. As opposed to some bands, whose holiday "albums" only contain a few songs, RHH put out a full thirteen-song, 40-minute disc. We Three Kings is made up of a dozen classic Christmas covers and one new original song ("Santa on the Roof"), but they're all unmistakably done in the outlandish style of RHH. Don't act like you've never wanted to hear a spunky three-piece play through "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman" on an upright bass.
9. Christmas Is 4 Ever
Bootsy Collins (2006)
Without a doubt the funkiest Christmas album we found, Christmas Is 4 Ever doesn't exactly feature any holiday covers, but it does contain several reimaginings of songs. Tunes like "Jingle Belz," "Winterfunkyland" and "Dis-Christmiss" might not be the exact versions of the classics you'll hear elsewhere, but what else would you expect from the Parliament-Funkadelic bassist? If you're looking to add a bit of funky flair to your holiday soundtrack, you should start here.
