Merry Christmas

Fitting in between the artistic rebuild of Music Box and the creative breakout of Daydream, 1994’s Merry Christmas could on the face of it simply be an accomplished holiday standards effort by Mariah Carey, with striking performances on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria” and “Silent Night” among others. But that ignores the bombshell among her three originals: the exuberant “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” easily the last great 20th century song added to the seasonal canon, a Wall of Sound-nodding tribute that became a monument in its own right.