Wintersong

Last updated

Wintersong
SarahMcLachlanWintersong.jpg
Studio album by
Released17 October 2006
Recorded1994, Spring-Summer 2006 [1]
Genre Christmas music
Length45:43
Label Nettwerk (Canada)
Arista (US)
Producer Pierre Marchand
Sarah McLachlan chronology
Mirrorball: The Complete Concert
(2006)
Wintersong
(2006)
Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2
(2008)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Blogcritics (?) [3]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [4]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Wintersong is the sixth album and first Christmas album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released in October 2006. It was produced by longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand and includes contributions from Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies. [6] The album also includes a collaboration with Jazz musician Diana Krall. [7] In 2007, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In 2015, all songs from Wintersong plus five more tracks were released as The Classic Christmas Album .

Contents

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" John Lennon, Yoko Ono 3:28
2."What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)" William Chatterton Dix 3:31
3."River" Joni Mitchell 4:02
4."Wintersong" Sarah McLachlan 3:31
5."I'll Be Home for Christmas" Walter Kent, Kim Gannon 3:15
6."O Little Town of Bethlehem" Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner 3:51
7."The First Noel / Mary Mary"Traditional5:00
8."Silent Night" Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber 3:48
9."Song for a Winter's Night" Gordon Lightfoot 3:48
10."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane 3:44
11."In the Bleak Mid-Winter" Christina Rossetti, Gustav Holst 3:46
12."Christmas Time Is Here" (featuring Diana Krall) Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson 3:59

A "sampler" CD exists, featuring similar artwork on a cardboard sleeve, which omits "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "Song for a Winter's Night", and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

Singles

"River" was released as a single from that album in September 2006. [8] The song was performed in mid-October on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show and reached No. 71 in the Billboard Hot 100. [9] McLachlan's video for "River" premiered on Yahoo! music, on 1 November 2006. Silent Night from this album was used in an ASPCA commercial

Charts

YearSingleChartPeak position [9]
2006River Billboard Hot 100 71
2006 Pop 100 70
Hot Digital Songs 66
2007 Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 8
Have Yourself A Merry Little ChristmasHot Adult Contemporary Tracks6
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks5

Sales

Wintersong debuted on the Billboard 200 album sales chart at number 42, selling about 20,000 copies in its first week. [10] The album later peaked at number 7 on the chart. [11]

Wintersong was also the best-selling holiday album of 2006 in the United States according to sales figures from Nielsen/SoundScan, with total sales of 759,000 copies that year. [12]

On 13 December 2007, Wintersong was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies in the U.S. [13] In Canada, it has sold over 200,000 copies, and has been certified Double Platinum. [14]

On the week of 17 December 2011, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 195. [15]

Personnel

Charts

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [23] 3× Platinum300,000^
United States (RIAA) [24] Platinum1,100,000 [25]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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