5 Christmas Albums That You Might Not Have Heard

Ready to use Aunt Tillie's Michael Buble CD as a frisbee?  Need some fresh Christmas music for your playlist?  Here are a few favorites out of the Sheehan collection that might surprise you!

5) 38 Special- A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night.  A much better idea than it seems on paper!  They do an especially rockin' "Jingle Bell Rock," a nice bluesy "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," and a very tender "Little Drummer Boy."  One of Southern Rock's most underrated bands delivers the goods on this one.

4) Twisted Sister- Twisted Christmas.  Great for shock value, and let's face it, who doesn't love a version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" that sounds just like "We're Not Gonna Take it?"

3) The Brian Setzer Orchestra- Dig That Crazy Christmas. The Stray Cats guitarist leads his big band through jazzy, snazzy renditions of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "'Zat You, Santy Clause?"

2) The Smithereens- Christmas With The Smithereens.  The Jersey rockers do covers of the Beatles' "Christmas Time Is Here Again," the Who's "Christmas" and a version of "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" that sounds like it could have been released at the height of the British Invasion.

1) Brian Wilson- What I Really Want For Christmas.  Brian's band sounds more like the Beach Boys than, well, the Beach Boys do sometimes!  He puts his trademark California harmonies on lots of traditional Christmas carols in this set, and can't resist doing a spot-on remake of his own "Little Saint Nick."