This Is Christmas is the tenth studio album by American singer Luther Vandross. It was released on October 18, 1995, by LV Records and Epic Records. The follow-up to Songs (1994), it marked the singer's first Christmas album. Produced by Vandross along with Nat Adderley Jr. and Marcus Miller, This Is Christmas consists of ten tracks, featuring seven original songs and three cover versions of Christmas standards and carols, including a duet with Darlene Love.
The album received polarizing reviews from music critics. It peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard 200 and number 4 on both Billboards Top Holiday Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Being a steady seller throughout the Christmas season, it was eventually certified platinum in 2002 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2002, Sony Music released six of the album's tracks, along with two spiritual tracks from the same era, on the compilation album, Home for Christmas.
In September 1994, Vandross released his ninth studio album Songs, a collection of cover versions that produced the singles "Endless Love", "Always and Forever", and "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." It became Vandross' highest-charting album by then and earned four nominations at the 1995 Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Album. Work on his follow-up project and first Christmas album began the following year. Vandross reteamed with musicians Nat Adderley Jr. and Marcus Miller to produce songs for This Is Christmas and co-wrote all of the seven original tracks on it.
Apart from Adderley and Miller, Vandross consulted several close musical friends to work with him on the album, including singer Darlene Love and saxophonist Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen's The E Street Band, both of whom contributed to the original song "I Listen to the Bells," as well as singer Cissy Houston, who provided backing vocals on several tracks, including the album's title song. Tawatha Agee, Fonzi Thornton and Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson sang in the choir of "O Come, All Ye Faithful."
In November and December 1995, the album lent its title to a syndicated television special which was hosted by Vandross and featured songs from the album, as well as performances by special guests, including Houston, Paulette McWilliams, Thornton, Agee, and Adderley. The hour-long show also saw the premiere of the music video for Vandross' "Every Year, Every Christmas," the first single from This Is Christmas. In further promotion if the album, Vandross, along with NBC Today show co-host Katie Couric lit the 1995 Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center where Vandross he also sung "O Come All Ye Faithful," accompanied by a 75-voice choir.
In October 2012, Sony Music Special Products rearranged, expanded, and repackaged the album under the new title, The Classic Christmas Album. The additional tracks were odd songs Vandross had recorded for other Christmas releases, with "The Christmas Song" being previously released on A Very Special Christmas 2 (1992), "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," a live duet with Chaka Khan, being a recording from the 1998 Soul Train Christmas Starfest and "May Christmas Bring You Happiness" and "At Christmas Time" taken from the compilation albumFunky Christmas (1976), released through Cotillion Records. Some of these songs were re-released on the 2023 three-track EP Luther Vandross Classic Christmas, issued by Primary Wave Music and The Luther Vandross Estate.
Cash Box critic Gil L. Robertson IV found the album was "a superb Christmas collection that will only add to his stature as the premiere male soul artist of this age. As with every Vandross project the music here excels in the area of execution, production and background support. Unlike so many other holiday projects, Vandross breathes new life into the solid, but often-heard standards he covers [...] Christmas records have become common place, however, this one is really special." Ebony editor Lynn Norment felt thath This Is Christmas "has an abundance of beautiful and romantic music that will get you in the mood to spend the holidays with someone: special. And his voice is in fine form [...]."
Varietys Tood Gilchrist wrote: "Featuring heartbreak ("Every Year, Every Christmas"), hearthside canoodling ("A Kiss for Christmas") and heavenly rapture ("O Come All Ye Faithful"), Vandross balances traditional music and an updated sensibility on a record that's as good for a Christmas Eve party as the ride to church the next morning." Chris Willman and Tiarra Mukherjee, writing for Entertainment Weekly, gave the album a Bâ rating and called it "a modest collection of Quiet Storm-style yuletide standards and soggy originals." AllMusic editor Roch Parisien rated the album two our five stars and declared This Christmas "one other slick, highly polished production piece." In a retrospective review, Vibe wrote about the album: "Perhaps believing he could bounce back with a Christmas album, he tried, and failed egregiously."
This Is Christmas debuted at number 190 on the US Billboard 200 in the week of November 25, 1995. It eventually peaked at number 28 in the week ending December 30, 1995. The album also reached number four on both the Top Holiday Albums chart and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Billboard ranked This Is Christmas 81st on its Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1995 year-end chart. The album reached Gold status on December 19, 1995, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on April 17, 2002.
Notes
Choir on "O' Come All Ye Faithful"