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 Frozen's success meant that
Holiday Wishes 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 Bublé as the duet partner for a de rigueur "Baby It's Cold Outside." Unsurprising though it may be,
Holiday Wishes nevertheless is satisfying because producer
Walter Afanasieff commits to his Christmas classicism, as does
Menzel. 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