Christmas Essentials LP

Eighteen Grammys and a spot as the first woman in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame don't happen to someone who ever fully left the church, and this Sony Legacy set proves it by refusing to pick a side. Holiday staples like "Joy to the World" and "Kissin' by the Mistletoe" sit next to live gospel readings of "Oh Happy Day," "The Lord's Prayer," and "Ave Maria," the same two rooms Aretha Franklin worked her whole career. Pick any track and you land in one room or the other, and either way it's her.