''That's Christmas to Me'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group

Pentatonix Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements wit ...

. It is their sixth release overall and their second holiday release following their 2012 EP '' PTXmas''. It only features previously unreleased material (except "

Let It Go "Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film '' Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show ...

", a bonus track of the Japanese Edition of ''Vols. 1 & 2''). It was released on October 21, 2014 through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and has been certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. The album is named after the eponymous song by Pentatonix, the only original song featured on the album. By year's end, December 31, 2014, according to ''Billboard'', it reached a final 2014 total of 1.14 million copies sold, becoming the 4th best selling album of 2014 by any artist of any genre. The album is also the highest charting holiday album by a group since 1962. The album has sold 2,200,000 copies in the United States as of December 2016.

Commercial performance

''That's Christmas to Me'' peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States. and at number 4 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

. The album also charted moderately in other countries including Australia, New Zealand and Norway. On December 1, 2014, ''That's Christmas to Me'' was certified gold by the

and became the group's first accredited release in the US. By year's end (December 31, 2014), ''Billboard'' reported that the album had sold a total of 1.14 million copies, becoming only the 4th album to sell a million copies in 2014 in any genre (being surpassed only by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's ''

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

'', the '' Frozen'' soundtrack, and Sam Smith's '' In the Lonely Hour'') and was the Top Selling Holiday Album for 2014. Pentatonix became the first act to top both the Holiday Albums and Holiday Songs charts simultaneously since the Holiday 100 launched as a multi-metric tabulation in December 2011. The album is also the highest charting holiday album by a group since 1962. The album has sold 1,900,000 copies in the US as of December 2016. It is the only Christmas album to appear on the 2010s decade-end chart for the Billboard 200, charted at 75. A single from the album, the group's cover of " Mary, Did You Know?", both debuted and peaked on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

at number 26, number 7 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, and at number 44 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. The album's title track, "That's Christmas to Me", also peaked at number 8 on the Adult Contemporary chart. During the holiday season, seven songs from ''That's Christmas to Me'' charted on the ''Billboard'' Holiday Digital Songs chart: " Mary, Did You Know?" at number 1, " White Winter Hymnal" at number 2, "

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

" at number 5, " Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" at number 8, " Sleigh Ride" at number 12, "That's Christmas to Me" at number 16 and "

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is an English Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection ''Hymns and Sacred Poems''. The carol, based on , tells of an angelic chorus singing praises to God. As it is known in the modern era, it ...

" at number 17.

Critical reception

The album received generally favorable reviews by critics. Popdust complimented its "blistery bold arrangements," and the group's "truly remarkable, pinpoint precision." Markos Papadatos from ''Digital Journal'' described it as "pure joy and one of the best projects I've heard this year." FDRMX gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, claiming the album has "a good mix of traditional holiday songs, religious ballads and originals thrown in." The ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'' dubbed it a "Christmas miracle," citing a "streak of beautifully sung, creative arrangements."

Promotion

In November 2014, Pentatonix were invited by Australian film director, producer and screenwriter

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

to be involved with the Holiday Window display at

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in New York City. Pentatonix performed at the opening night with a medley of songs from ''That's Christmas to Me''. On November 27, 2014, Pentatonix participated in the annual

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the American-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States ...

in New York City, performing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" on the Homewood Suites float. Pentatonix also performed during NBC's annual ''Christmas in Rockefeller Center'' special on December 3, 2014, performing "Sleigh Ride" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". Pentatonix returned to ''

The Sing-Off ''The Sing-Off'' is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It debuted on NBC on December 14, 2009, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Outlaw Productions, with Mark Burnett's One Three Media (for a t ...

'', performing a medley of songs from ''That's Christmas to Me'' during the Season 5 holiday special, which aired on December 17, 2014.

Track listing

All songs arranged by Pentatonix and Ben Bram.

Personnel

* Scott Hoying – producer,

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

, co- vocal bass, and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

backing vocals on "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" *

Mitch Grassi Mitchell Coby Michael Grassi (born July 24, 1992) is an American singer from Arlington, Texas. Known for his high tenor voice, Grassi came to international attention as a founding performer in two groups—the a cappella quintet Pentatonix, and ...

– producer,

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

lead and backing vocals * Kirstin Maldonado – producer,

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

lead and backing vocals *

Avi Kaplan Avriel Benjamin Kaplan (born April 17, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for being the former vocal bass of the a cappella group Pentatonix from 2011 to 2017. As a part of the group, he released five studio albums, won three ...

– producer, vocal bass,

lead and backing vocals * Kevin Olusola – producer, vocal percussion and backing vocals, lead vocals on "Mary Did You Know?" and "The First Noel" Additional personnel *Ben Bram – producer *

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...

– lead vocals in "Winter Wonderland" / "Don't Worry Be Happy" * Andrew Kesler – string producer on "Mary, Did You Know" (featuring The String Mob) * Ed Boyer – mixing * Bill Hare – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2014 Christmas albums A cappella Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Pentatonix albums RCA Records Christmas albums