If you have to have a Christmas album, you might as well have one by Stevie, right? Not necessarily.

There are a few renditions of Christmas standards ("The Little Drummer Boy," "Silver Bells"), but most of the songs are Motown originals, and you end up with the worst of both worlds: the subject matter is hackneyed and the orchestral arrangements are saccharine and stale, yet the tunes lack cozy-up-by-the-fire familiarity. Nothing was written by Wonder (though he did come up with a couple of Christmas numbers for the Miracles a few years later), with Ron Miller doing most of the dirty work. Almost everything is in the same sluggish tempo; the one tune that's standard Motown pop, the single "That's What Christmas Means To Me," sounds amazingly like "Ain't That Asking For Trouble" - it's the best tune on the record, for what that's worth, and does feature a fine harmonica solo.

Otherwise, what saves the disc from complete disaster is the singing: Stevie doesn't give his all here, but half-assed Stevie vocals still beats the hell out of full-assed most other people vocals. Produced by Cosby.

Wilson & Alroy's