Under The Mistletoe by Justin Bieber // album review + first edition vinyl
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Justin Bieber's Under The Mistletoe features several original holiday songs, as well as covers of Christmas classics with a unique twist. I love the way so much of his personality and musical influences is within this music too, with blends of pop and R&B. There is also so much whimsy and joy for the season embedded into every single song. The album was inspired by his personal favorite holiday music and the artists that made them. "I just picked my favorite Christmas songs. I picked 'Silent Night,' I picked 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,' because everyone loves those songs. Those are classics," Justin told MTV News in 2011. "And then, for songs that we wrote, we wanted to make enough new songs for people to hear new music and not just hear some classics. There's a lot of new stuff on there."
This album also features several collaborations throughout, some of which were interesting creative decisions that many probably wouldn't have expected from him at that point in his career. Friends and frequent collaborators are featured on the album like Usher, Boyz II Men, and Busta Rhymes, along with more unexpected choices like The Band Perry, who brings a bit of a country flair to the record with "Home This Christmas".
"It was getting near the holiday season and I hadn't put out an album in a while, so I was thinking, you know, I had a lot of ideas and I thought maybe I could write a few Christmas songs," Justin said in a teaser video alongside the album's announcementin 2011. "So I was like, 'Hey let's do a Christmas album.' And I was able to put together a cool Christmas album for all my fans." This is not only one of my personal favorite holiday albums ever, but it also went on to become one of the defining Christmas albums of the modern era of music.
The Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey, also makes an appearance to perform a special duet version of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with Justin. That is obviously a legendary collaboration for him to have had this early in his career and it ended up being such a special moment of this album. I also believe it was the first and only time "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was performed as a duet with Mariah herself. That alone is a testament to what a rare talent Justin was in the industry at the time of his debut, which he has only further proven in the years to follow. This song is such a classic and really reinvented the art of making modern holiday music, so having it included on this album was essential. "I mean the fact that I might be singing with one of the greatest voices ever one of the greatest songs of Christmas ever......" he tweeted back in 2011 before the collaboration was announced.
Under The Mistletoe covers such a variety of sounds and influences, as it incorporates all of the beloved tropes of a classic holiday album, while still making it all his own. "I love Boyz II Men's Christmas album, I love Mariah Carey's Christmas album, and luckily enough, I got them both on my album," he continued in an interview with MTV News. "So that was amazing. I wanted to make a Christmas album that everyone would remember. Those are albums that people remember, so to have them be able to collaborate with me was incredible."
Justin is an artist that really sparked my love for music in such a major way, so I will always have a very special place in my heart for his work. Under The Mistletoe is such a fun Christmas album that continues to be a staple for me every holiday season since I was twelve years old. This album was released in my early Belieber days, I think I discovered his music about a year prior, which retrospectively was a very formative time for me with music. I definitely had a very serious case of Bieber Fever at that point in time and well over ten years later, I can confidently say that there is no cure for it either! So much of this music holds so many great memories for me, I always think back to them every time I listen to it.
Under The Mistletoe was released during such a fun era of his career in 2011, coming right off the success of his debut My World and My World 2.0, as well as his massive concert film Never Say Never released earlier that year. He was only just getting started and this was such an exciting time to be a fan. The album debuted at number 1 on the charts, making history as the first ever Christmas album by a male artist to do so. This also marked his third number 1 album, making him the first artist under 18 years old to ever do so as well. His third album, Believe, was released the following year and was a great continuation of the incredible streak he was on in his career.
Even though it is just a Christmas album, this was one of the first times that he showed more dimension to his artistry than just another teen heartthrob, something he continued to prove the following year with his third album Believe. Under The Mistletoe is very much the starting point for that image shift that he continued to refine with future releases. He debuted a more mature sound and style that would carry through into his other work around this time.
The album's lead single was the title track "Mistletoe", which showcased a lot of that artistic growth he experienced during this time. It's a really cute and cozy holiday song, one that is such a highlight of this record. "We are in the holiday spirit," he said in a behind the scenes video, "I'm really excited. The song is really catchy. I know all my fans are going to love it. It's something that I feel like they're going to be singing every Christmas."
"Mistletoe" is one of his many holiday love songs, all of which showcase his vocals and beautiful falsetto. Songs like "Christmas Eve" and "All I Want Is You" are two more really beautiful moments of the record that encapsulate all of the reasons why this album is so special. "Fa La La" featuring Boyz II Men is probably my favorite of all though, their voices harmonize so perfectly together - it really is an instant classic. I love all of the really sweet moments like that on Under the Mistletoe, the original songs he wrote for it are so special.
Justin's unique renditions of holiday classics are also so much fun to hear throughout the album between the new original songs. "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is probably the brightest shining moment of this album, it's definitely the definitive version of that song for me. It is just so festive and fun, I love it. The song also samples the Jackson 5's "ABC" and "I Want You Back", which results in such a cool and unconventional blend of all three songs. "Drummer Boy" featuring Busta Rhymes is another classic that Justin made all his own on this album. They are both rapping throughout the song, which is honestly really iconic. No one has ever sounded cooler performing "Drummer Boy" than Justin! I always loved that song, it's been my favorite ever since I first heard it years ago!
Under the Mistletoe ends with a beautiful cover of "Silent Night", an essential song for any Christmas album. He takes a traditional approach with this song, which is such a beautiful vocal performance from him and a very special way to end this record.
Under The Mistletoe was released in 2011, but was later re-issued in late 2016 on vinyl for the first time. His first three albums were also re-released on the format around that time, which I also have in my collection. I had only been collecting vinyl for about two years at this point, so it was very exciting to be able to add all of his discography to my collection back then. If I remember correctly, my first vinyl from Justin I ever owned was Purpose, but I bought Under The Mistletoe soon after. I now have a very extensive collection of his music on vinyl that I absolutely love! For Under The Mistletoe, I have the first pressing of the black variant, which I purchased from Barnes and Noble. I remember being so excited to see this record on the shelf there, as I had no idea it was being pressed on vinyl!
It also comes with a 12x12 booklet inside with photos, credits and lyrics, which is the same as the 5x5 booklet that is inside of the CD. I love when records come with a booklet like this instead of just a standard insert. The artwork for this album was designed so well, I love the vibrant red, black, white and silver color palette.
It's hard to rank what my favorite albums are, but Under The Mistletoe has always been some of the very best work Justin ever released. I would love for Justin to release more Christmas music one day, his voice is so perfect for it!
Thanks for reading! This post is apart of a new series on my blog focusing on a few of my favorite holiday vinyl records, I'd love for you to read about more of them here. If you are interested, I have also written extensively about all of Justin Bieber's music in the past, including more of the special vinylI have of his music, which are all linked here and below. More reviews of his music are also coming very soon too! I have so much more exciting new music content to come, I hope you'll come back soon to check it out!
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas! 🎄
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