The O’Jays will always be defined by their Philadelphia International years in the 1970s, but original members
Eddie Levert and
Walter Williams haven’t let that stop them from releasing new
O’Jays material from time to time. Still, this new holiday album is a bit of a surprise. Coming six years after the last studio album, 2004’s
Imagination, and some 20 years after the group’s holiday release from 1991,
Home for Christmas,
Christmas with the O’Jays is a pleasant, unhurried, and joyous outing, highlighted by two new holiday originals,
Levert's “I’m What You Want This Christmas” and the
Williams co-write “’Cause It’s Christmas,” which sports a nice little funky groove, as well as an elegantly smooth “The First Noel” and a lightly updated and fun version of “Jingle Bells.” ~ Steve Leggett