Wikipedia

Classic Christmas (Joe McElderry album)

Classic Christmas is the third studio album and first Christmas album by the British singer Joe McElderry. It was released on 25 November 2011.[1] It is his second album released under Decca Records.

Classic Christmas
The cover consists of McElderry wearing a navy blue wool jacket with snow covering it. Both the artist's name and album title appear below him, colored in white and light brown respectively.
Studio album by
Joe McElderry
Released25 November 2011 (2011-11-25)
RecordedOctober 2011
Genre
Length44:39
Label
Producer
Joe McElderry chronology
Classic
(2011)		 Classic Christmas
(2011)		 Here's What I Believe
(2012)
Singles from Classic Christmas
  1. "Last Christmas"
    Released: 4 November 2011

Background

edit

Before the album's official announcement, it was available to pre-order from Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and HMV's website. On 6 October, McElderry announced that he was working on the album on Twitter[2] and later on his official website.[3] The album features a collaboration with one of his Popstar to Operastar mentors, Rolando Villazón. A limited Christmas gift edition was announced, it includes the album along with his previous album, Classic, the set also includes a signed photograph, a keyring, and a tag from McElderry on the hand wrapped box.[4]

Promotion

edit

An advert was filmed, directed by Steve Lucker, it features McElderry outside in the snow, collecting logs and taking them to a large house preparing for a Christmas party, singing a selection of songs of the album.[5] 2 short music videos were made from the footage that was filmed, "Last Christmas"[6] and "O Come All Ye Faithful".[7]

On 8 December, he performed at Durham Cathedral to an audience of 1,500, singing, "In the Bleak Midwinter" and David Essex's "A Winter's Tale", with a new verse written by Tim Rice.[8] He will introduce The Nutcracker at The O2 arena from 27 December 2011 to 30 December 2011.[9]

Reception

edit
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Entertainment FocusStarStarStarStar[10]
The PressStarStar[11]

Entertainment Focus praised the album, calling it "another winning release from Joe McElderry", giving the album 4/5 stars.[10] Dan Bean of The Press found Classic Christmas a "harmless but vapid" collection of generic pop, jazz and crooning, packed with familiar seasonal standards and overproduced arrangements. He highlighted "O Holy Night" with Rolando Villazón as a standout and praised McElderry’s vocal ability, but criticised the album's blandness and described it as more of a "stocking filler" than an essential Christmas record.[11]

Commercial performance

edit

Classic Christmas achieved moderate commercial success, particularly in the United Kingdom. During its first week of release, the album sold 34,043 copies at retail in the UK,[12] allowing it to debut at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart.[13] It also performed strongly in Scotland, reaching number 16 on the Scottish Albums Chart.[14] In Ireland, Classic Christmas had a more limited chart impact, debuting and peaking at number 73 on the Irish Albums Chart.[15] The album received a Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in the United Kingdom, representing 100,000 units based on certification figures.[16]

Track listing

edit

Personnel

edit

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Classic Christmas.[17]

Charts

edit
Weekly chart performance for Classic Christmas
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Irish Albums (IRMA)[15] 73
Scottish Albums (Official Charts)[14]16
UK Albums (Official Charts)[13]15

Certifications

edit
Certifications for Classic Christmas
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Gold 100,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

edit
Classic Christmas release history
Region Date Format
Ireland 25 November 2011
United Kingdom 28 November 2011

References

edit
  1. ↑ "Classic Christmas by Joe McElderry on Apple Music". iTunes. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Tweet by Joe McElderry (verified account) Twitter. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Joe McElderry News joemcelderryofficial.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Christmas Gift Edition Universal Music Group online store. Retrieved on 21 November 2011.
  5. ↑ Behind The Scenes at Joe's Classic Christmas Winter Wonderland! on YouTube Decca Records on YouTube. Retrieved on 21 December 2011.
  6. ↑ Last Christmas music video on YouTube
  7. ↑ O Come All Ye Faithful music video on YouTube
  8. ↑ Royal approval for charity carols night The Northern Echo. Retrieved on 13 December 2011.
  9. ↑ The Nutcracker introduced by Joe McElderry – Book Tickets Archived 13 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine theo2.co.uk. Retrieved on 28 November 2011.
  10. 1 2 "Joe McElderry – Classic Christmas | Entertainment Focus". Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  11. 1 2 Bean, Dan (16 December 2011). "Joe McElderry, Classic Christmas (Universal) **". The Press. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  12. ↑ Alan Jones, Official Album Chart analysis: Olly Murs becomes 10th X Factor No. 1 From Music Week (4 December 2011). Retrieved on 5 December 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart on 4/12/2011 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 4/12/2011 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  15. 1 2 Archived Irish Albums Chart for the Week Ending 1 December 2011 From Chart-Track. Retrieved on 4 December 2011.
  16. 1 2 "British album certifications – Joe McElderry – Classic Christmas". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Classic Christmas Joe McElderry in the "Search:" field.
  17. ↑ "Joe McElderry – Classic Christmas". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Classic_Christmas_(Joe_McElderry_album)&oldid=1359441381"