There's something wonderful about holiday standards sung a cappella. Pentatonix, featuring gay members Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying, certainly does. A Pentatonix Christmas (RCA) brings the cappella group's holiday release tally to three, including the 2012 EP PTXmas and 2015's full-length That's Christmas to Me. With the originals "The Christmas Sing-Along" and "Good To Be Bad," the quintet adds its distinctive touch to holiday favorites "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Up on the Housetop" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Pentatonix earns points for teaming up with the legendary Manhattan Transfer on "White Christmas" and digging out Nsync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays." The five-voice group performs a lovely rendition of Leonard Cohen's oft-covered "Hallelujah."
Acoustic Christmas (Capitol) by Neil Diamond, who is sounding more like fellow yeshiva bocher Leonard Cohen with each passing year, contains more sweet caroling (get it?) from the music legend. "Children Go Where I Send Thee" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain" are given the full gospel treatment when Diamond is joined by the Blind Boys of Alabama. Diamond delivers acoustic versions of familiar holiday numbers "Do You Hear What I Hear?," "Silent Night," "O Holy Night" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." He also unwraps a pair of new original songs, "Christmas Prayers" and "Make a Happy Song."
On his first solo Christmas album Tis the Seasons (Rhino), Frankie Valli reteams with fellow Four Season Bob Gaudio, as producer. You wish that Valli had done something like this sooner, when his voice still had its strength. But it's nice to hear what Valli does with tinsel tunes "The Christmas Song," "Merry Christmas, Baby" (joined by Jeff Beck), a disco-y "Frosty the Snowman," "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve."
Susan Boyle's A Wonderful World (SYCO/Columbia), with its leafless snow-covered trees and the suggestion of snowflakes in her hair on the cover, is a holiday album without stating the obvious. Angels dominate on ABBA's "I Have a Dream" and Robbie Williams' "Angels," while Boyle's is schmaltzy as all get out on An American Tail 's "Somewhere Out There" (a duet with Michael Bolton). Her reading of McCartney's "Mull of Kintyre" verges on the patriotic. The real surprise is how she cleans up Madonna's "Like a Prayer." No icon smooching there.