My Kind of Christmas

Aguilera achieved success following the release of her first two studio albums, Christina Aguilera in 1999 and Mi Reflejo in late-2000 respectively, both of which were certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Recording for My Kind of Christmas began from early to mid-2000, when Aguilera was touring to support her debut and Spanish-counterpart albums. A cover version of the song "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music was recorded for the album but ultimately it was not included on the tracklist and remains unreleased. ==Composition==

My Kind of Christmas is a Christmas and dance-pop album, which is made up of mainly cover versions of Christmas standards along with several new tracks. "This Year" was co-written by Aguilera and is a hip hop and R&B-infused song where "Aguilera sings about spending the holidays with her sweetheart in a typical xtina fashion". However Dr. John was chosen instead. "The Christmas Song", previously released in late-1999 was also included in the album. This was followed by an interlude titled "Xtina's Xmas". The album ends with "The Christmas Song (Holiday Remix)" which was Aguilera's version of "The Christmas Song" remade as a dance-styled number by Thunderpuss who set the song to "a kicking dance beat". ==Promotion==

The album was released on October 24, 2000, by RCA Records as Aguilera's third studio album in the United States, following her two first albums Christina Aguilera (1999) and Mi Reflejo (2000). On December 10, 2000, Aguilera performed "The Christmas Song", "Genie in a Bottle" and "What a Girl Wants" during a concert at Franklin High in Milwaukee, being watched by 1,300 students. She also performed during an ABC special concert later in December; the set list included songs from her three first studio albums, including a song from My Kind of Christmas, "Have Yourself A Little Merry Christmas". There, she performed the track with Brian McKnight. It became Aguilera's fifth top-twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 18 on the chart. RCA released the song in the United States and BMG distributed it throughout Europe. A promotional live video was released as well. On November 10, 2023, both a sped up and slowed version of "This Christmas" was released on streaming, through Sony Music Solutions. The song was later certified gold by IFPI Danmark for selling over 45,000 units. 25th anniversary ==Reception==

Initial reception The album initially garnered mixed reviews from music critics, and claimed that the album "is just another forum to showcase Aguilera's formidable bag of vocal gymnastics and posturing without a shred of sincerity or warmth". The Austin Chronicle writer Christopher Gray gave the album two stars noting that "Aguilera certainly has the pipes to outlast such jejune nonsense, but she's got to learn some subtlety first, and Christmas songs aren't exactly the best material to be practicing on". Retrospective reception In a retrospective review, Billboard writer Taylor Weatherby noted in 2016 that "for some reason, Aguilera's album is not really one that gets circulated annually when local radio stations go into full-on Christmas mode, even despite reaching number-one on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart". In 2023, Forbes named a promotional single "Christmas Time" as one of the fifteen most iconic Christmas pop songs, adding that "as time has passed, this track reigns with its mere pop brilliance." In his 2018 Rolling Stone interview, American rapper and singer Ty Dolla Sign opined that it was "one of the greatest albums ever made". ==Commercial performance==

My Kind of Christmas debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of about 25,000. It reached its peak at number 28. ==Track listing==

• ChakDaddy • Sol Survivor • E. Dawk • Fair }} • Lauren Christy • Graham Edwards • Scott Spock • Charlie Midnight • Christina Aguilera }} • The Matrix • Fair }} • Ralph Blane • Hugh Martin }} • ChakDaddy • Sol Survivor • E. Dawk • Fair }} • Lou Baxter • Johnny Moore }} • Robbie Buchanan • Fair }} • Donny Hathaway • Nadine McKinnor }} • Mel Tormé • Robert Wells }} • Tormé • Wells }} • Barry Harris • Chris Cox • Fair }} }} ==Personnel==

• Lead vocals, background vocals – Christina Aguilera, E. Dawk, Dr. John, Kim Johnson, Miari • Keyboard – Alex Alessandroni, BabyBoy, E. Dawk, The Matrix • Trumpet – Wayne Bergeron • Bass guitar – Chuck Berghofer • Saxophone – Pete Christlieb, Gene Cipriano, Dan Higgins, Sal Lozano • Drums – Vinnie Colaiuta, Peter Erskine, Harvey Mason, Harold Jones • Percussion – Larry Bunker, Steve Forman, Luis Conte • Violin – Mario de Leon, Joel Derouin, Assa Drori, Kirstin Fife, Armen Garabedian, Galina Golovin, Agnes Gottschewski, Endre Granat, Lily Ho-Chen, Tiffany Ju, Joe Ketendjian, Johana Krejci, Gary Kuo, Natalie Leggett, Kathleen Lenski, Alan Mautner, Francis Moore, Katia Popov, Barbara Porter • Guitar – John Goux, Ashley Ingram • Piano – Dr. John, Tom Ranier, Bob Sanov, Billy Preston • Trumpet – Warren Luening • Organ – Myron McKinley, Billy Preston • Producers – Ron Fair, The Matrix • Executive producer – Ron Fair • Engineers – Brad Haehnel, The Matrix, Michael C. Ross, Sol Survivor • Assistant engineers – Howard Karp, Chris Wonzer • Mixing – Peter Mokran, Dave Pensado, Michael C. Ross • Mastering – Eddy Schreyer • Assistants – Chad Brown, Bobby Butler, Brian Dixon, Tony Flores, Paul Forgues, David Guerrero, Michael Huff, Ed Krautner, Charles Paakkari, Howard Risson, Chris Shepherd, Jason Stasium, Bradley Yost • Digital editing – Tal Herzberg • Vocal recording – Michael C. Ross • Programming – ChakDaddy, The Matrix, Sol Survivor • Arrangers – Ron Fair, The Matrix, Don Sebesky • String arrangements – Ron Fair • Vocal arrangement – ChakDaddy, Eric Dawkins, Ron Fair • Orchestration – Don Sebesky • Art direction – Brett Kilroe • Design – Vivian Ng • Photography – Norman Jean Roy ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==