The holidays wouldn’t be the same without the King.

This season RCA Records and Legacy Recordings decided to spice things up with Christmas With Elvis And The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, uniting some of Elvis Presley’s holiday classics with orchestral accompaniment recorded at Abbey Road studios in London.

To hear “Blue Christmas” with the harmonies and an orchestral underlining simply redefines the ownership Presley took of the song when he first recorded it in 1957. “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” and “Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me),” written for Elvis’ Christmas Album, are equally engaging. And if you’re not moved by “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” then you might as well move to another universe. At the end of the day, I think we can all agree that everyone’s holiday needs a shot of Elvis to make it go down that much smoother.

—
Shawn Perry