Along with most of the charting artists from 1998, "Brian McKnight" recorded his entry in this year's Christmas Music Lottery. Not too many people purchase a whole lot of new Christmas CDs every year, so most of the albums covering standard Christmas songs and carols are vying with each other for the consumer dollar.

Having listened to NUMEROUS new Christmas CDs, I have to say that "Bethlehem" is pretty average. Yes, it has the R&B/Soul take on such songs as "Let It Snow," "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," "The First Noel," "Silent Night" and "Home For The Holidays" among others. It's also what I've come to see as typical for any R&B/Soul/Urban album that comes out anymore. There are four out of eleven tracks by Brian McKnight. All the rest feature somebody else - from "The McKnight Family Choir" to "Mrs. Nat King Cole" (on "Silent Night"). "Boyz II Men" make an appearance, as do "Michael Sembello," "Niko," "Brian McKnight Jr.," "Tim Miner," "Claude McKnight," "Dave Koz" and "Julie McKnight."

There are lots of friends and family on this album, but nothing really outstanding. Just think R&B versions of the songs I mentioned and you pretty much have it. It's not a bad album, but there are so many more exceptional Christmas albums out there, if you're not a die-hard Brian McKnight fan, you'll probably get more bang for your buck on something else.