The first volume of A very special Christmas was incredible, but this follow-up is just as good and even more eclectic. Now, I have wide musical tastes but I can't believe there are too many people who enjoy listening to Randy Travis (singing Jingle bell rock here) and also enjoy the music of Run DMC (rapping Christmas is). Country and rap just do not mix, even though the Bellamy brothers once recorded a song called Country rap - it was a good try but didn't really work. And even if you are in the minority that enjoy both Randy Travis and Run DMC, will you also enjoy Michael Bolton, Debbie Gibson and everything else here? Probably not. In my case, I can tolerate one rap track for the sheer brilliance and diversity of the rest of this collection.
Tom Petty sets the standard with the opening track, Christmas all over again. Darlene Love, one of the stars of the Phil Spector Christmas album, reminds us all how Christmas rock music really began, here to be heard singing a cover of Rocking around the Christmas tree. Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown bring a touch of the blues to the collection with their rendition of Merry Christmas baby. Santa Claus is coming to town features Cyndi Lauper and Frank Sinatra, though this is not a true duet - Cyndi's vocals were overdubbed on Frank's original recording. Jon Bon Jovi does an excellent cover of the Eagles classic Please come home for Christmas.
There are so many superb songs here, brilliantly performed. It may not be possible to like every track, but if you enjoy most of them (I enjoyed almost all of them), their quality will more than make up for the others.