Clay Aiken may look wide-eyed and unassuming, but when it comes to figuring out what his fans want for Christmas, he's got it all figured out. On Merry Christmas with Love he so cannily anticipates the musical sugarplums dancing in the heads of his devotees that you half expect him to climb down the chimney and hand-deliver it. Key to the dozen-song collection's appeal is its straightforwardness: Parting ways with the sea of celebrities who use holiday discs as an excuse to cut loose, Aiken banishes irony and coyness so absolutely here that certain carols--the medley "Hark the Herald Angels Sing/O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night" especially--take on church-like tones; expect tree trimmers to put aside their tinsel and contemplate the meaning of the season. Yet don't expect them to ...