Sounds of the Season

No matter how many times you've heard the line "make the yuletide gay," it takes on a different - definitely more literal - meaning when Melissa Etheridge sings it. Yeah, I did go there, and if Kristin Chenoweth can turn a "Sesame Street" standard into a cutesy holiday tune, then let's call it even - OK? Both polar-opposite singers - one a lesbian, the other one lusted over by lesbians (she's adorable, ain't she?) - are making the yuletide gayer. I can't say the same for The Boxmasters or Faith Hill, who are also part of our annual Holiday Hear Me Out, but I'm betting, guys, you've had a fantasy or two involving Hill's hubby, Tim McGraw. And that's pretty gay. 

Melissa Etheridge, 'A New Thought for Christmas'

You like whiskey over wine to take the edge off the holidays? Based on her first-ever Christmas album (and, let's face it, she's probably no sipper), I'm betting Etheridge does, too. The lesbian leader's sandpaper-y tone on growlers - the sexy "Merry Christmas Baby," "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and original war-lament "Christmas in America" - frame her rock-out style, seemingly ill-fit for the sweet snowman-making of Christmas. But sprinkled between faithful classics like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Blue Christmas" (a perfectly picked ornament), her 10-song set isn't about frolicking in a winter wonderland; it's about love, war and peace - all as-of-late Etheridge muses. "Glorious," which borrows from "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Silent Night," is a love-spreader, while call-for-change "Ring the Bells" and "It's Christmas Time" sound like holiday-tinged takes from her sociopolitical album, "The Awakening," released last year. Closing with "O Night Divine," Etheridge's shoot-'em-dead delivery - that note near the end: holy lesbian! - is rousing, but who really expected anything less?

Aretha Franklin, 'This Christmas Aretha'

If oohs and aahs were decorative lights, our home-grown Queen of Soul would need a loan to pay her electricity bill. Heavily Aretha-ized, her first-ever-in-her-half-century-career (!) Christmastime album - generically titled, by the way - is wrapped in smooth soul ("This Christmas" - featuring son Eddie) and churchy gospel ("The Lord Will Make a Way"). And the bow? It's the sassy, gut-busting spoken-word "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - given her, ah, "personal" touch. (Available only at Borders and Waldenbooks)

Faith Hill, 'Joy to the World'

Gotta have Faith. If not for her last album (can't blame ya), then now with her traditional big-band-sounding Christmas debut. "Away in a Manger" and "O Holy Night," blanketed with strings and a choir, are tender beauts, but it's not all sleepy-time lullabies; it's worth strolling through her "Winter Wonderland," too. "A Baby Changes Everything" - no, not advice for Jamie Lynn Spears - is a baby Jesus parable. In fine voice throughout, Hill's un-country Christmas is a good (sleigh) ride.

For more holiday music reviews, pick up Between The Lines on Thursday or visit www.pridesource.com