Frozen
opened the doors for
Holiday Wishes
, a seasonal album from Broadway superstar
Idina Menzel
. Without the 2013
Disney
blockbuster,
Menzel
may have cut a Christmas record, but certainly
's success meant that
arrived to the biggest potential audience she'd ever have, so it's not a surprise the record plays it safe. Save for the presence of
Mariah Carey
's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which is now the closest thing to a new holiday standard, and perhaps the shoehorning of "When You Wish Upon a Star" into the Christmas theme, there are no surprises here, not in the choice of songs, not in the old-fashioned arrangements, not even in the choice of
Michael Buble
as the duet partner for a de rigueur "Baby It's Cold Outside." Unsurprising though it may be,
nevertheless is satisfying because producer
Walter Afanasieff
commits to his Christmas classicism, as does
. Everything here sparkles with the gleam of freshly fallen snow: it's big, bright, and so stubbornly out of fashion that it'd never go out of style. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine