Brand New Year (Lyric Street, 2000)

Doubts be gone. SHeDAISY's first Christmas album veers sharply away from whatever country roads they'd been associated with. Laden with poppy choruses and keyboards, re-arranged holiday standbys such as "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells" sound contrived. Not terrible, just not good.

Instead, producer Dan Huff (Bryan White, Megadeth) straddles middle-of-the-road Top 40 pop, steering the trio smack dab into the middle of nowhere. The album's 13 tracks of snow-strewn fare may as well have been made in the middle of a desert. Lifeless. And SHeDAISY's three shakes-and-a-smile style simply doesn't work. Otherwise, outstanding material like "Sleigh Ride" sinks knee deep in the yellowest snow you've ever seen. Yucky. Ditto the trio's collaboration with Rascal Flatts on "Twist of the Magi."

Want worse? More religious tunes like "What Child is This" deserve voices that feel, not squeaks that squawk. Bury, bomb or blast this one to Kingdom Come. Better yet, leave it to the Grinch. He could use a chuckle or two.