The album earned a mixed reception by music critics, many of whom praised the production but were divided upon Houston's vocal performance. Upon its release, One Wish debuted at number 49 on the US Billboard 200, and at number 14 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Its first and only single, a rendition of Freddie Jackson's "One Wish (for Christmas)", reached the top twenty on Billboard's US Adult Contemporary chart. In January 2018, the album achieved a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping half a million copies, making Houston one of a few artists to have all of their albums in their lifetime get certified in the United States.[1]
New York Daily News editor David Hinckley felt that One Wish "reminds us why we liked her so much in the first place: her voice, for which holiday songs are a splendid vehicle." He noted "there's some elaborate production behind songs like "Joy to the World" and "O Come, O Come Emanuel," but also a stocking-full of lovely singing."[10]AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked that "holiday records are the last place anybody would want to take a risk, since they're designed to be nice, pleasant mood music and, apart from a rather horrid version of "Little Drummer Boy" [..] this suits the bill nicely. The clean, pristine production, heavy on synths, sounds as if it was cut in the late '80s, yet it's also strangely spare, often being no more than a synth and a drum machine. Still, it's a sound that's well suited for Whitney and her thoroughly predictable set of material."[7]Moscow-Pullman Daily News wrote that Houston's "voice [...] dazzles on [the album] [...] as she soulfully interprets holiday classics. Her voice – though at times a bit raspy – captivates on every track."[11]New York Times critic Jones Pareles noted the "lavish swoops, the sultry whispers, the gospelly asides and the meteoric crescendos" from Houston.[12]
Richard Harrington from The Washington Post found that the "album feels like a contractual obligation-slash-holding action" and was "not particularly memorable."[13] Caroline Sullivan, writing for The Guardian, noted that "stuff like this is so piddling for her that [Houston] seems to have zoned out halfway through. Why put any elbow grease into the "project" when all she need do is set her larynx to "reverent," then doze off? Saying that, she gives "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" some a cappella welly, and the cocktail doo-wop of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is quite irresistible. Still, this is the Voice at its numbest."[14]Slant critic Sal Cinquemani found that "one can't help but think that One Wish: The Holiday Album is nothing more than damage control [...] Houston's voice just isn’t what it used to be – she warbles her way through an otherwise understated version of the contemporary classic [...] and sings 'Tiny little tots with their eyes all aglow/Will find it hard to sleep tonight' on Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song" like she wants to eat them."[9]Rolling Stone described the album as a "lamentable Christmas collection."[15] In 2014, Los Angeles Times critic Randy Lewis included One Wish on his listing of the "12 of the worst holiday albums of the last 20 years." He noted that "for this set, Houston seemed intent on shoehorning more notes into each syllable than Mariah Carey, resulting in an orgy of melismatics that often obliterates the spirit of these holiday tunes."[16]
Commercial performance
One Wish: The Holiday Album debuted and peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard 200, the lowest chart position of her albums during her lifetime and her only album to miss the top 40 of the Billboard 200.[17] On Billboard's component charts, it reached number 14 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, becoming the first and only album in her career to miss the top ten there. It was more successful on the Top Holiday Albums chart, where it peaked at number five and would spend 30 cumulative weeks on the chart; on the two former charts, it spent 13 and 6 weeks respectively on those charts.[18]
The album produced four Billboard chart singles: "One Wish (for Christmas)" reached number 20 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart on January 3, 2004.[3] The same song in later years made the Billboard gospel charts, peaking at number 13 on its Gospel Digital Song Sales chart in January 2021.[19] "The First Noel" reached number 99 on the Holiday 100 chart on December 30, 2017, with the same song peaking at numbers 12 and 1 respectively on the Gospel Digital Song Sales and Gospel Streaming Songs charts, with the song spending five weeks atop the latter chart.[19][20] "Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)" peaked at number five on the Gospel Streaming Songs chart in January 2014, while "Little Drummer Boy" reached number 12 on the same chart in January 2018.[20] In December 2012, the album returned to the Billboard 200 during the Christmas season following Houston's death early that February.
In January 2018, One Wish achieved a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for domestic shipments figures in excess of 500,000 units, making Houston one of a very few artists to have all of their lifetime albums receive an RIAA certification in the United States.[1] In 2021, the album was re-released as a deluxe edition vinyl LP and featured her posthumous Billboard AC hit duet with Pentatonix, on a remade version of Houston's 1987 Christmas hit, "Do You Hear What I Hear?", which later was certified gold by the RIAA in January 2023. According to Spotify, the album has accumulated more than 107 million streams.[21]
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