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When Christmas rolls around at the end of each year, there’s nothing we love more than to listen to the Glee holiday albums. The soundtracks contain a wide variety of songs, from Christmas classics to festive originals, and we can’t get enough of (most of) them. As fans know, each album matches up with its corresponding holiday episode. So which festive hour of the iconic television show contains the best songs?

Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez and Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson in 'Glee' Season 2 Episode 10, 'A Very Glee Christmas.' Santana wears her red, black, and white cheerleading uniform. Finn wears a dark green sweater.
Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez and Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson | Photo by FOX Image Collection via Getty Images

A list of the ‘Glee’ Christmas episodes

Over the course of Glee‘s six seasons, the Fox television series released four Christmas episodes. They are:

  • Glee Season 2 Episode 10, “A Very Glee Christmas”
  • Glee Season 3 Episode 9, “Extraordinary Christmas”
  • Glee Season 4 Episode 10, “Glee, Actually”
  • Glee Season 5 Episode 8, “Previously Unaired Christmas”

So, only seasons 1 and 6 don’t have holiday specials. With a show like Glee, it comes as no surprise that they leaned heavily into the holiday spirit. But which episode of the musical dramedy has the most festive and extraordinary soundtrack?

Which ‘Glee’ episode contains the best Christmas songs?

Since Glee Season 5 Episode 8’s Christmas soundtrack only consists of six songs, one of which is “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late),” it’s easy to rank it last. And while Glee Season 4 Episode 10 has Cory Monteith’s pleasing take on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” everything else on the album is rather forgettable.

So that leaves us with the soundtracks from Glee Season 2 Episode 10 and Glee Season 3 Episode 9. Everyone knows that the originals are always the best, anyways.

Plenty of songs on the first album are on repeat during December, including “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and “Last Christmas.” Those are two iconic duets sung by the two most popular ships on the show. But even though they are arguably two of the best Glee Christmas songs, season 3’s soundtrack contains more consistent quality.

With songs like “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Christmas Wrapping,” “Santa Baby,” “River,” “Blue Christmas,” and so much more, Glee Season 3 Episode 9’s album is a favorite. Plus, it daringly includes two catchy original songs — “Extraordinary Merry Christmas” and “Christmas Eve With You.”

So if you only have time to listen to one Glee holiday album this year, we recommend Volume 2.

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1 ‘Glee’ cast member went on to star in a Netflix holiday film with Lindsay Lohan

Even though Glee ended in 2015, one star is still basking in the Christmas spirit in 2022.

Chord Overstreet, who played Sam Evans in Glee, starred alongside Lindsay Lohan in Falling for Christmas, a Netflix holiday film. The movie is a fun rom-com about a spoiled heiress, played by Lohan, of an Aspen luxury ski resort who loses her memory before Christmas. Overstreet’s character, the owner of a small lodge, takes her in, and you can guess what happens next.

Netflix released an album for the film, which includes Overstreet’s cover of “Everybody Loves Christmas.”

The Glee Christmas episodes are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+. And fans can listen to the show’s Christmas albums on all streaming platforms.

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