I don't get the hate really, for most Christmas songs. Maybe it's because I grew up on Elvis and Andy Williams, but I LOVE "All I Want For Christmas", and "Step Into Christmas", and "Last Christmas". Oddly, since I'm a McCartney freak, the one song I don't care for is his. Then again, I'm not really a McCartney SOLO freak, but a Beatles freak.
Ugh...I cannot stand that McCartney song.
I'm fairly traditional when it comes to Christmas music. I like most of the classics (including those that are religious in nature), with Sleigh Ride and Carol of the Bells probably being my favorites. The TSO stuff is ok once in a while as a change of pace, but too much of it is...well...too much. I was going to say that Amy Grant did
a Christmas album that I really like, and then I see that she's done a shitload of Christmas albums. The one I'm talking about is Home for Christmas. It has many traditional Christmas songs and one called Breath of Heaven that I think is an original.
Back in the early days of our relationship, my wife had me buy an album called "Music Box Christmas" (or something like that) by someone named Rita "Don't Call me Lita" Ford. It's basically a bunch of recordings of music boxes playing Christmas songs and is ANNOYING AS FUCK, and I strongly recommend you all avoid it like the plague.
George Winston did an album int he early 80s called December that I like. However, it's most memorable to me for what I recall as being a rather hilarious disclaimer in the liner notes about the album not endorsing Christianity or any particular religion.