It Won't Be Christmas Without You (Arista, 2002)

Eleven years after their debut, Brooks & Dunn finally release their first Christmas album this year, and it's about what you would expect from this pair of hard-driving honky tonkers.

The disc opens with Ronnie Dunn singing the classic "Winter Wonderland," backed by everything from electric guitar to saxophone to organ, with some sleigh bells thrown in for good measure. "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" features a more traditional Christmas arrangement - a lot of xylophone, piano, and horns, with some flourishes of fiddle.

The title song is the best track here, a slow Christmas tearjerker co-written and sung by Dunn. "Santa's Comin' Over to Your House," on the other hand, is an obnoxiously performed Kix Brooks/Don Cook number. On the balance, this album is by no means a Christmas classic, but it should please fans of country's most famous duo.