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|align="left"|Spain <small>([[Productores de Música de España|PROMUSICAE]])</small>
|align="left"|Spain <small>([[Productores de Música de España|PROMUSICAE]])</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|Platinum<ref name="spain">{{cite book |last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|accessdate=accessdate=2010-07-13|edition=1st |year=2005|month=September|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|location=Spain|isbn=8480486392}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|Gold<ref>[http://promusicae.es/english.html PROMUSICAE]</ref>
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|align="left"|Switzerland <small>([[International Federation of the Phonographic Industry|IFPI]])</small>
|align="left"|Switzerland <small>([[International Federation of the Phonographic Industry|IFPI]])</small>

Revision as of 23:01, 14 August 2010

Untitled

Merry Christmas is a holiday album and fourth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey. Released in the United States on November 1, 1994, by Columbia Records, it is a holiday album featuring both cover versions and original material.

It was released at what was the peak of the initial stretch of Carey's career, between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995).[2] It was certified 5x platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over 5 million copies in the U.S.[3] This album was re-released in 2005 in DualDisc format with bonus tracks and music videos. In Japan, Merry Christmas has sold over 2,500,000 copies and is the second best-selling album of all time in Japan by a non-Asian artist, behind only Carey's other release Number 1's.[4] [5] Merry Christmas has sold 12 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling Christmas album of all time.[6][7][8]

Reception

Merry Christmas debuted at number 30 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 45,000 copies sold in its first week; it peaked at number 3 in its fifth week with 208,000 copies, but its sixth week (when it was at number 6) was its most successful week of sales, with 500,000 copies sold. It remained in the top twenty for eight weeks and on the Billboard 200 for just thirteen weeks, but re-entered the chart three times; it peaked at number 149 the first time, at 115 the second and at 61 the third (it has spent a total of twenty-seven weeks on the Billboard 200). According to Billboard magazine, dated October 31, 2007, it is the 3rd best-selling Christmas album of the Nielsen SoundScan era, behind Kenny G's Miracles: The Holiday Album and Celine Dion's These Are Special Times'.[9]

Several singles were released from the album, but most were on a strictly promotional basis in the U.S. to help boost sales of the album. The first, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", was a radio airplay hit in the U.S. and sold well in countries where it was given a commercial release. The second, "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" (whose music video was directed by Diane Martel) was less popular on U.S. radio, as was "Joy to the World" (which had been considered for a full single release), though the latter peaked at number 17 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play.[10] In December 1995, it reached also a top forty in Australia, peaking at number 33.[11] Fourth single "Jesus Born on This Day" was only promoted to Christian radio outlets in the U.S., and a video was not commissioned for it, though it was given a limited release in Sweden and some other markets. "O Holy Night" was released in 1996 as a promotional single for the album, and again in 2000 with a video accompanying it. Paul Wilson Gardon, a very close friend to Carey, was said to have influenced her to create a Christmas album.

Carey's former label Columbia re-released Merry Christmas on October 25, 2005. The anniversary edition is a DualDisc consisting of the original album with exclusive videos and two additional tracks, including "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix, remixed by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox), which also appeared on a CD single with the DVD of the 1970s film Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town. The re-released Merry Christmas re-entered the U.S. Billboard Comprehensive Albums at number 136 and peaked at number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums.

In Australia, the album finished 11th on ARIA 1994 End of Year Chart.[12]

Adaptation

Carey is developing a movie musical based on her Christmas album. It's about a town outside a city - perhaps not unlike Carey's hometown of Huntington, New York - where a ruthless developer wants to turn it into one big mall. "Mariah doesn't want to let that happen," says her producing partner Benny Medina. "Her character uses song and love to keep the Christmas spirit alive."

Carey said the script, which High School Musical writer Peter Barsocchini is working on, is still in the early stages. But she told, "Since I recorded the Christmas album, I've always wanted to make a movie to go with it, something that people could watch and hear and enjoy every year. I'm into it. I'm all about the holiday season."[13]

Track listing

  1. "Silent Night" (Fr. Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber) – 3:41
  2. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff) – 4:01
  3. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam) – 4:27
  4. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) – 2:35
  5. "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:32
  6. "Joy to the World" (George Frideric Handel, Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts, Hoyt Axton)
  7. "Jesus Born on This Day" (Carey, Afanasieff)
  8. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (John Frederick Coots, Haven Gillespie) – 3:24
  9. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria in Excelsis Deo" (Charles Wesley, Felix Mendelssohn) – 3:01
  10. "Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child" (Traditional) – 4:26
  11. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (Traditional) – 1:18 (non-U.S. bonus track)

DualDisc version

CD

  1. "Silent Night"
  2. "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
  3. "O Holy Night"
  4. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
  5. "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
  6. "Joy to the World"
  7. "Jesus Born on This Day"
  8. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"
  9. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria in Excelsis Deo"
  10. "Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child"
  11. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"
  12. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix)

DVD

  1. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix)
  2. "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
  3. "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
  4. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (So So Def remix featuring Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri)
  5. "Joy to the World" (celebration mix)
  6. "O Holy Night 2000"
  7. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (black and white version)
  8. "Joy to the World" (live at St. John the Divine)

Charts and certifications

  • Most certifications are from old criterion (sales may be higher than the certification level says now).

References

  1. ^ "Boston.com Local Search - Boston Globe Archives". Nl.newsbank.com. 1994-12-04. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  2. ^ Mariah's new remix Premiere at AOL's PopEater
  3. ^ RIAA - Gold & Platinum
  4. ^ "Billboard Magazine". Recording Industry Association of Japan. 1999-01-23. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  5. ^ Billboard Magazine 1996
  6. ^ "Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' Is World's First Double... - NEW YORK, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/". New York: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  7. ^ "Official Site and Honey B. Fly Fan Club for Mariah Carey news.news". Mariahcarey.com. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  8. ^ "Old chestnuts roasting: ghosts of Christmas music past - Features, Music". The Independent. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  9. ^ [1][dead link]
  10. ^ Hot Dance Club Play[dead link]
  11. ^ Australian Chart
  12. ^ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 50 Albums 1994". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  13. ^ Mariah Carey makes new Push into acting
  14. ^ Australian Albums Chart
  15. ^ Austrian Albums Chart
  16. ^ Canadian Albums Chart
  17. ^ Dutch Albums Chart
  18. ^ European Albums Chart
  19. ^ Finnish Albums Chart
  20. ^ French Albums Chart
  21. ^ German Albums Chart
  22. ^ Hungarian Albums Chart
  23. ^ Italian Albums Chart[dead link]
  24. ^ Oricon Albums Chart
  25. ^ New Zealand Albums Chart
  26. ^ Norwegian Albums Chart
  27. ^ Spanish Albums Chart
  28. ^ Swedish Albums Chart
  29. ^ Swiss Albums Chart
  30. ^ UK Albums Chart
  31. ^ U.S. Albums Chart
  32. ^ a b [2]
  33. ^ ARIA
  34. ^ IFPI Austria
  35. ^ CRIA
  36. ^ IFPI
  37. ^ IFPI Germany[dead link]
  38. ^ FIMI
  39. ^ RIAJ
  40. ^ NVPI Netherlands
  41. ^ Scapolo, Dean (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts 1966-2006. RIANZ. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8.
  42. ^ http://www.ifpi.no/sok/index_trofe.htm
  43. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 8480486392. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Missing pipe in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  44. ^ IFPI Switzerland
  45. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
  46. ^ "Gold & Platinum - July 20, 2010". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
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