Cee Lo Green
Cee Lo’s Magic Moment

Have I ever mentioned that Joni Mitchell’s “River” is thoroughly, hang-yourself-by-the-fireplace-with-care depressing, and that it’s not even a Christmas song? No? Someone evidently never told Cee Lo Green, who emotes all over it here. He’s better off when he sticks to admittedly predictable old-school-soul numbers, like Stevie Wonder’s “What Christmas Means to Me”, Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”, and Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas” (although, if you’re like me, you can’t hear that one without thinking of the fucking Eagles). The fact that Green can sing his ass off is this collection’s saving grace, and it almost makes up for the duets with Christina Aguilera and Rod Stewart.