[2] A portion of the proceeds from the sales of each album went to Toys for Tots, a charity supported by the United States Marine Corps.

[6] Allmusic's MacKenzie Wilson dubbed the compilation an "album suited for those twenty-somethings searching for [their] not-so-typical Christmas collection.

The album opens with Phantom Planet's "sweet rock romp" rendition of Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith's "Winter Wonderland".

[1][7] Tracks exclusive to the album include Vanessa Carlton's piano-driven rendition of the traditional song "Greensleeves" as well as Bright Eyes' cover of "Blue Christmas" (Bill Hayes, Jay Johnson); others include Sense Field's version of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "What a Year for a New Year" by Dan Wilson, lead singer of the rock band Semisonic.

[6]Jimmy Eat World's "12/23/95", described by The Austin Chronicle's Christopher Gray as "serious emo" and The New York Times' Kelefa Sanneh as a "gentle ballad of apology",[7][8] previously appeared on the band's 1999 album Clarity.

[10] Jack Johnson incorporates an "upbeat street-corner" shuffle into his version of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks, Robert L. May), just over two minutes in length.

[11] The traditional song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is performed as a duet by the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan.

Allmusic's MacKenzie Wilson awarded the album three out of five stars and described it as a "solid holiday effort" for both "casual and die-hard music fans".

[1] In the United States, Maybe This Christmas reached a peak position of number thirty-eight on Billboard's Top Holiday Albums chart.