Keith Sweat - 'A Christmas of Love'

You've got to give Keith Sweat credit for his longevity. It was more than 20 years ago that his breakthrough album, Make It Last Forever was released, and during those two decades, he's hit the highest of highs (successful albums that topped the music charts) and the lowest of lows (being ridiculed by critics over the years regarding his vocal style and subject matter). It seems like these days, people either love Keith Sweat's music or hate it. But despite the haters, Keith isn't planning on disappearing anytime soon, as he shows and proves on A Christmas of Love, his first holiday album.

A Christmas of Love, Keith's first official holiday album, was released in November 2007, 20 years after his first - and best - album, Make It Last Forever, which came out in November 1987. To his credit, Keith looks and sounds just as good as he did 20 years ago. But to his detriment, his vocal style hasn't really evolved much over the years, and many of the things he's been lampooned about in the past (begging, whining, sounding like a lamb, etc.) are definitely in effect at times on the album.

But the album's lowlights are minimal. There's only nine songs and no skits or filler material, which is a smart move, since Keith's vocal style has a tendency to become monotonous and borderline annoying after repeat listening. There's a mixture of both new material and old-school classics. If you've heard any of Keith's albums then A Christmas of Love won't contain any surprises for you. It's the same formula he's been using for decades, only all the songs have Christmas themes instead of sex/love themes.

This is a solid, if unspectacular Christmas album, with two of its highlights, the songs "Point of Christmas" and "Under the Tree," stowed away at the very end of the album. These two tracks vary somewhat from the standard Sweat formula, both musically and vocally: the uptempo, piano-laced "Point of Christmas" serves as a fine reminder of the true spiritual meaning of the holiday; and "Under the Tree" is a holiday love ballad that manages to be both tender and over-sung at the same time.