A Very Special Christmas 3 (various artists)
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This came out in 1997. It's part of a series that benefits the Special Olympics. My overall rating is elevated by just two songs, while some others are okay, and some drag down the rating from what it could have been.

1. "I Saw Three Ships", by Sting: This is a good rendition.

2. "Christmastime", by The Smashing Pumpkins: This is an original. It's okay, but I don't find it very memorable.

3. "Children Go Where I Send Thee", by Natalie Merchant: I'm not familiar with this song at all. It's pretty funky, but I don't think I'll find it very memorable.

4. "Santa Baby", by Rev Run & The Christmas All Stars featuring Mase, Puff Daddy, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Salt n' Pepa, Onyx & Keith Murray: This is a unique version of the song, with lots of new lyrics. It's one of the tracks on the album that I find most memorable, and possibly my favorite version of the song. (Though I'm not entirely sure it really counts, because of how different it is.)

5. "Oi to the World", by No Doubt: This is another one of the tracks I find most memorable, it really rocks. And I really like it.

6. "Blue Christmas", by Sheryl Crow: It's okay, I guess. But despite being a fan of Crow's, I'm not really a fan of this rendition.

7. "Christmas", by Blues Traveler: This is another original. I like the lyrics (despite the title, it's about more holidays than just Christmas), and it sounds alright, but I don't find it especially memorable. Which is a shame. But I'm glad I have this copy of the song, so I can hear it again some year.

8. "Oiche Chiun (Silent Night)", by Enya: You can always count on Enya for some good, ethereal music. This is no exception. It almost sounds like it belongs on a different album, but that's what's good about these albums: the diversity of artists and genres.

9. "The Christmas Song", by Hootie & The Blowfish: I'm a fan of Hootie, but I can't manage to care much about this rendition of the song.

10. "Ave Maria", by Chris Cornell with Eleven: I'm not familiar with these artists. And I don't really care for the drumming in the background. It's definitely not among my favorite renditions of the song. Unfortunately, it's the longest track on the album.

11. "Christmas In the City", by Mary J. Blige featuring Angie Martinez: This is another original. It's about New York City, and the song really makes it sound like it's a great place to spend Christmas.

12. "Santa Claus Is Back In Town", by Jonny Lang: Well, it's very blues-y, which is a good thing. But I'm not sure how much I care about the song.

13. "Christmas Song", by Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds: This is another original. It was recorded live, so you can hear the audience cheering some of the time, but not too much. It has some interesting lyrics I guess. It seems to be about Jesus, though I couldn't really follow the whole story. It sounds more about Easter than Christmas. I'm not sure how much I care about it.

14. "Christmas Is Now Drawing Near at Hand", by Steve Winwood: I'm not at all familiar with this song. I don't really care for it.

15. "O Holy Night", by Tracy Chapman: It's a pretty decent rendition, but more low key than I'm used to. I usually like this song to have some really high notes at certain points, but this is a nice change of pace.

16. "We Three Kings", by Patti Smith: There's some recitation mixed with the singing, which itself is pretty subtle. The background music sounds metal, but it's also subtle. It's an interesting interpretation of the song, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't think I like it much.