Longtime friends and long-ago Grease co-stars
John Travolta and
Olivia Newton-John chose to team up once again in 2012, this time for a Christmas album designed to benefit their respective charities, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Center and the Jett Travolta Foundation. So,
This Christmas is camp for a cause, a cheerful celebration of the familiar trappings of the season. There are friends by the busload --
Cliff Richard,
Chick Corea,
Barbra Streisand,
Kenny G,
Tony Bennett, and
James Taylor all pop in for a tune -- there's a production as clean and crisp as newly fallen snow, there's as much cheesy Christmas cheer as a stack of reindeer sweaters sitting underneath a plastic Christmas tree. Musically, the only left turn arrives in the amiably rocking new song "I Think You Might Like It" -- its guitars sound randier than the rest of the record but that's certainly on a relative scale -- otherwise these are songs you know by heart, all sung with a visible smile that's either ingratiating or insufferably, unwittingly campy, depending on your perspective. The thing of it is,
This Christmas winds up serving both audiences equally well: it'll brighten the season of fans who take this at face value, and for those looking for a ridiculous dose of celeb Christmas cheer,
Travolta's asides to "Liv" will more than fulfill their needs. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine