Bah humbug.
Hot on the heels of reworking her modern holiday classic "All I Want for Christmas is You" with teen queen Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey continues her bid to become permanent Pope of Christmastown with her corresponding appeal to Urban Adult Contemporary audiences -- a reworking of "When Christmas Comes," off last year's holiday effort, Merry Christmas II You. This time, she's brought John Legend to the party.
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On paper, this sounds like a winner -- the original "Comes" was a soulful highlight of the MCIIY album, and Carey and Legend have shown they work quite well together. Frankly, the song was tailor-made for this duet.
Problem is, it's not really a duet. The shoddy mixing makes obvious the fact that Legend's vocals were simply (and haphazardly) slapped on to the original record, and his melodic choices on the pre-hook end up undermining what used to be the best part of the song. These factors just underscore the overall feeling the song gives: these two never once stepped into the studio together. (Hell, the harmony abortion Legend committed on a record by the reigning monarch of harmony makes one wonder if they've actually even met.) Such cold detachment is not a good look when trying to give audiences the warm holiday fuzzies.
Call your attorneys, John Legend. You just got served by Bieber.
Mariah Carey feat. John Legend: "When Christmas Comes"
