It Must Be Christmas

It Must Be Christmas is the sixth studio album and first Christmas album by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released on October 14, 2016, by Columbia.[1] Young co-wrote two of the album's ten tracks.

It Must Be Christmas
Studio album by Chris Young
Released	October 14, 2016
Recorded	2016
Genre	Country Christmas
Length	34:00
Label	Columbia
Producer	Corey Crowder Chris Young
Chris Young chronology
I'm Comin' Over (2015) It Must Be Christmas (2016) Losing Sleep (2017)

Reception

Critical

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five. "[It] does everything a modern mainstream holiday album should do," writes Erlewine, "it plays upon memories of Christmas while appealing to the moment at hand." He added that the original songs "feel like radio tunes" rather than seasonal material.[1] Chuck Dauphin of country music blog Sounds Like Nashville wrote a positive review in which he praised Young's "classic approach" to the holiday fare. "Whether it be a "New" classic or an evergreen one," he writes, "Young hits all the right notes on the album."[2]

Commercial

Upon release, It Must Be Christmas debuted in the top five of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at number four and also topped the Holiday Albums chart. The album has sold 74,100 copies in the US as of November 2017.[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Christmas Song"	Mel Tormé, Robert Wells	3:34
2.	"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"	Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector	2:42
3.	"Under the Weather"	Chris Young, Corey Crowder, Josh Hoge	3:06
4.	"There's a New Kid in Town" (featuring Alan Jackson)	Don Cook, Curly Putman, Keith Whitley	4:09
5.	"Holly Jolly Christmas"	Johnny Marks	2:18
6.	"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"	Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin	3:25
7.	"The First Noel" (featuring Brad Paisley)	Davies Gilbert, William Sandys	3:35
8.	"I'll Be Home for Christmas"	Kim Gannon, Walter Kent, Buck Ram	3:37
9.	"Silent Night" (featuring Boyz II Men)	Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr	4:03
10.	"It Must Be Christmas"	Young, Johnny Bulford, Will Doughty	3:31
Total length:			34:00

Personnel

• Boyz II Men - vocals on "Silent Night"
• Joshua Carter - string arrangements, strings
• Dave Cohen - Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer
• Corey Crowder - programming, background vocals
• Alan Jackson - vocals on "There's a New Kid in Town"
• Tony Lucido - bass guitar
• Miles McPherson - drums, percussion
• Carl Miner - acoustic guitar
• Brad Paisley - electric guitar and vocals on "The First Noel"
• Kristen Rogers - background vocals
• Derek Wells - electric guitar
• Chris Young - lead vocals, background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position UK Country Albums (OCC)[4] 7 US Billboard 200[5] 48 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[6] 4 US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard)[7] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position US Country Albums (Billboard)[8] 79

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (October 14, 2016). "It Must Be Christmas - Chris Young". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
2. Dauphin, Chris (October 17, 2016). "Album Review: Chris Young's 'It Must Be Christmas'". Sounds Like Nashville. SpinMedia. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
3. Bjorke, Matt (November 26, 2017). "Top Country Catalog Sales Chart: November 26, 2017". Roughstock. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
4. "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
5. "Chris Young Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
6. "Chris Young Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
7. "Chris Young Chart History (Holiday Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
8. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 4, 2018.