8 Days of Christmas

Last updated
8 Days of Christmas
Destiny's Child - 8 Days of Christmas.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 30, 2001 (2001-10-30)
RecordedJuly 2000; July–September 2001
Genre
Length41:00
Label Columbia
Producer
Destiny's Child chronology
Love: Destiny
(2001)
8 Days of Christmas
(2001)
This Is the Remix
(2002)
Singles from 8 Days of Christmas
  1. "8 Days of Christmas"
    Released: December 16, 2001
  2. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
    Released: January 3, 2002

8 Days of Christmas is the fourth studio album and only Christmas album by American R&B girl group Destiny's Child, released on October 30, 2001 by Columbia Records.

Contents

Background

The album contains twelve tracks featuring traditional Christmas songs and three original songs. Most of them are re-arranged with up-tempo beats in a contemporary R&B style. The album was recorded in Summer 2001 in the United States, but Kelly Rowland stated during the "8 Days of Christmas" video premiere on BET's 106 & Park in Fall 2001 that parts of the album were also recorded in Japan during Destiny's Child's overseas promo tour. In the same interview, Beyoncé revealed, "Actually we wrote the song two years ago when we went in the studio to do some Christmas something. That's what started the idea of doing a Christmas album." [1] The song "8 Days of Christmas" first appeared on the double-disc reissue of The Writing's on the Wall in November 2000.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [4]
People mixed [5]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

8 Days of Christmas received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, gave the album 2.5 out 5 stars. In his review, he felt that it did not offer anything different from any other Christmas album and that it had the same formula as every other Christmas album, making it very predictable. [2] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+. He felt that the album had a rough start, stating that song lyrics such as, "a pair of Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring" were too materialistic, leaving a bad taste in your mouth, however, he stated that originals like "Winter Christmas", and "This Christmas" helped the album quickly recover. [7] People gave the album a mixed review, stating that some songs of the album fell short, but despite that, there were a few gifts on the album, such as "Carol of the Bells". They came to the conclusion that while it was good, it was not destined for success. [5] Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stars. She said that the album sounded like a, "Survivor II: Winter Ghetto-chic," and that the album brought little justice to the original songs. [6]

Commercial performance

8 Days of Christmas made its debut on the Billboard 200 at number 59. [8] On the chart issue dated December 22, 2001, it reached its peak at number 34. On December 3, 2001, the album was certified Platinum in 2020 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) denoting shipments of 1,000,000 copies. [9]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes [10]

8 Days of ChristmasStandard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."8 Days of Christmas"
3:31
2."Winter Paradise"
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Moore
3:36
3."A "DC" Christmas Medley"
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Moore
3:59
4."Silent Night" (Beyoncé)B. Knowles3:41
5."Little Drummer Boy" (Solange)
  • B. Knowles
  • Alonzo Jackson
3:36
6."Do You Hear What I Hear" (Kelly Rowland)
  • Wirlie Morris
  • Alan Floyd
3:47
7."White Christmas" Irving Berlin
  • B. Knowles
  • Damon Elliott
1:42
8."Platinum Bells"
  • B. Knowles
  • Elliott
1:26
9."O' Holy Night" (Michelle Williams)E. Williams4:24
10."Spread a Little Love on Christmas Day"
3:41
11."This Christmas"
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Calvin Gaines [c]
  • Bill Lee [c]
3:38
12."Opera of the Bells"B. Knowles4:34
8 Days of ChristmasInternational bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."The Proud Family" (Solange featuring Destiny's Child)
  • Kurt Farquhar
  • Gerald Harbour
  • B. Knowles [d]
  • Farquhar
2:17
8 Days of ChristmasJapan and Wal-Mart edition [11]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."Emotion" (with strings)
4:23
8 Days of Christmas2005 reissue and digital edition [12]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Home for the Holidays"
3:10
2."Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Johnny Marks
  • B. Knowles
  • McCalla
2:34
3."8 Days of Christmas"
  • B. Knowles
  • McCalla
  • B. Knowles
  • McCalla
  • M. Knowles
3:31
4."Winter Paradise"
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Moore
  • Michael
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Moore
3:36
5."A "DC" Christmas Medley"
  • Gillespie
  • Coots
  • Pierpont [a]
  • Nelson
  • Rollins
  • Marks
  • Oliphant [a]
  • Autry
  • Haldeman
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Moore
3:59
6."Silent Night" (Beyoncé)
B. Knowles3:41
7."Little Drummer Boy" (Solange)
  • Davis
  • Onorati
  • Simeone
  • B. Knowles
  • Jackson
3:36
8."Do You Hear What I Hear" (Kelly Rowland)
  • Regney
  • Shaine
  • Morris
  • Floyd
3:47
9."White Christmas"Berlin
  • B. Knowles
  • Elliott
1:42
10."Platinum Bells"
  • Evans
  • Livingston
  • B. Knowles
  • Elliott
1:26
11."O' Holy Night" (Michelle Williams)
E. Williams4:24
12."Spread a Little Love on Christmas Day"
  • B. Knowles
  • Edwards Jr.
  • B. Knowles
  • Focus...
  • Wake
3:41
13."This Christmas"
  • Hathaway
  • McKinnor
  • B. Knowles
  • Fusari
  • Gaines [c]
  • Lee [c]
3:38
14."Opera of the Bells"
B. Knowles4:34

Notes

Sample Credits

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for 8 Days of Christmas
Chart (2001–02)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [20] 65
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA) [21] 10
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [22] 60
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [23] 34
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [24] 6
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [25] 24
French Albums (SNEP) [26] 134
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [27] 80
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [28] 20
UK Albums (OCC) [29] 117
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [30] 19
US Billboard 200 [31] 34
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [32] 27
US Holiday Albums ( Billboard ) [33] 3

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for 8 Days of Christmas
Chart (2002)Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [34] 158

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [35] Gold50,000^
United States (RIAA) [9] Platinum1,000,000

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormat
United StatesOctober 30, 2001 CD
AustraliaNovember 11, 2001
Europe [36] November 12, 2001
United StatesOctober 18, 2005 DualDisc

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