Merry Christmas II You | ||||
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Studio album by Mariah Carey | ||||
Released | November 2, 2010 | |||
Recorded | April–September 2010 | |||
Genre | Christmas | |||
Length | 44:53 | |||
Label | Island Def Jam | |||
Producer |
Various
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Mariah Carey chronology | ||||
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Singles from Merry Christmas II You | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 60/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
About.com | |
BBC Music | (Positive) |
Houston Chronicle | |
Rolling Stone | |
Slant Magazine | |
The Village Voice | (Negative) |
Merry Christmas II You is the second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on November 2, 2010. Recording began in April 2010 and continued while Carey became pregnant. She was the executive producer of Merry Christmas II You and worked with various record producers, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Randy Jackson, James Poyser, Marc Shaiman, James "Big Jim" Wright and Johnny "Sev" Severin of RedOne. The album features Carey's mother Patricia Carey as a guest vocalist on "O Come All Ye Faithful" / "Hallelujah Chorus". The album is composed of original songs and covers, ballads and uptempo tracks. It incorporates R&B, soul and house music in its composition.
The album received mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented its relaxed yet lively and contemporary feel, while others felt it was predictable and too overproduced in places. It debuted at number four on the United States Billboard 200 album chart, and reached number one on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Holiday Albums chart. It was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments exceeding 500,000 copies. Elsewhere, however, the album failed to make an impact, reaching the top thirty in Australia and Hungary, and the top fifty in Austria and Italy. It missed out on the top one-hundred in the United Kingdom by one position, peaking at one-hundred and one on the albums chart.
The album produced four singles, including the US Adult Contemporary record-breaking song "Oh Santa!". It reached number-one in its second week, the quickest ascent in the history of the chart and the only song to do so. Other singles included "Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)", a single release version of "When Christmas Comes" in 2011 with John Legend and "Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" in 2012. To support the album, Carey made promotional appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Lopez Tonight, and hosted her own television special called Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You.