Ever since The Little Drummer Boy laid down his perfectly honed snare patterns, rock and roll has been a cherished part of the holiday season Each successive yuletide finds a fresh crop of both new and established artists anxiously pressing the vinyl to make their versions of Christmas pop the best yet.

Some of these rockers simply rework traditional, time-tested material. Meat-loaf, for example, garnered high critical honors for his moving rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Neil Young's version of "Silent Night"--complete with a gut-wrenching, distorted guitar solo--also hit the mark, proving that this hard-bitten rocker has a little bit of holiday cheer.

Others daringly tried to break new ground. The Beatles shocking mid-60's release. "The Fool on the Hill" was widely viewed as a thinly-veiled caustic reworking of the Sermon on the Mount. Other noteworthy holiday originals from the past include the somewhat more reverential. "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison and Three Dog Night's lilting "Joy to the World."

Despite the moribund state of the record industry, this year's Christmas offerings are of surprisingly high quality, as a visit to any local record shop will prove. The latest single by the Chipmunks. "(All I Want For Christmas) Is My Two Front Teeth" (Mistletoe Records) should be on the top of everyone's gift list. Inexplicably buried in a compilation called The Best of Christmas along with some drab tunes by Lawrence Welk and Liberace, this recording finds lead vocalist Alvin Chipmunk in fine form Alvin's singing has gained in assurance over the years and his soulful yet understated crooning superbly conveys the emotion of his quest for new incisors.

But if the chipmunk's mainstream pop doesn't satiate your more adventuresome taste, try the Christmas Rock collection on Rhino Records. Likely to become a collectors item, this limited edition on a green, Christmas-tree-shaped disk features one of the hottest punk groups around. The Dragons, as well as California surf-rock veterans the Malibooz. The former let loose with an ear-shattering version of "Silent Night" that makes the infamous Neil Young rendition sound like chamber music. As for the Mals, they make Christmas in California a real treat. Who cares that there's no snow in Malibu. When Santa eschews his sleigh to hang ten in "Santa Goes surfin'" you forget all about the cold back East and groove to the good vibrations. Life is all fun and games for Mr. Claus in this carefully crafted, Beach Boyesque tune.

It doesn't snow that much in Nashville, Tennessee, either, but Willie Nelson sure seems to have an innate musical understanding of the holiday season, with his recent Xmas release, Pretty Paper. Jimmy Carter's favorite country crooner has never really been that adventurous in the first place, and so the restrained reliance on cover material doesn't really seem that odd on his latest album. And how can you really go wrong with tunes like "White Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "Frosty the Snowman?" Indeed, Nelson's quiet touch on the acoustic guitar, combined with a voice more plaintive and searching than ever, casts a haunting new perspective on these past top-40 hits.

Take that old favorite, "Rudolph," an ironic paean to a drunk reindeer

Rudolph, the Rednosed Reindeer.

Had a very shiny nose.

And if you ever saw him.

You would even say it glows.

The lyrics are old, but the bitterness in Nelson's quiet Southern drawl suggestively evokes this tundra-beast's hurt. Mickey Raphael's Dylanesque harmonica adds to the bittersweetness, blowing a soulful lament around Rudolph's gloomy late.

A little further south, Jamaican reggae producer Joe Gibbs has compiled a group of his favorite artists to give us a Christmas ganja-style. Replete with dub noises and other rasta effects. Regeae Christmas brings the spirit of Marley's ghost (Bob that is) to interpretations of old holiday faves and new Christmas songs alike "I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas, a blistering, syncopated reworking of an old chestnut will keep serious music lovers swinging for many holidays to come