Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas in the Aire
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Free Music Notes for Christmas in the Aire
Free Music Review: Mannheim indeed but Steamroller it ain't
Hit: 3 Stars
Same as always. These guys are top musicians. You'd think they'd invest more time in getting more creative. Oh it's good music but I sense because of Rush Limbaugh their sales went up and they thought hey "Let's do another that sounds exactly the same". That they did. This sound would of passed in the mid 80's but did they realize we're in 1999?. Hey Mannheim "There are news sounds out". Nice try but I think they could have done better. It's dissappointing to hear such awesome musicians try to duplicate old sounds for new bucks. Was it talking heads who said "same as it ever was, same as it ever was"? Try again. I know you guys got it in you.Free Music Review: OK, but...
Hit: 3 Stars
Mannheim Steamroller sure knows how to milk a winning formula, don't they?Well, maybe I am being a bit cynical, but all of this starting to sound a somewhat contrived. Sure, I think Christmas music is some of the best music on Earth, but there is only so much that I can stand of Mannheim's interpretations of these songs.
I bought the first Christmas album. The other two I received as gifts. The first one is still the best, in my opinion. And even that one suffers from some overly-synthesized junk like their version of "Deck The Halls." It gets a bit irritating after a while, and I reach for my Nat King Cole Christmas album, or something along those lines.
Free Music Review: More of the same.
Hit: 3 Stars
Another reviewer hits the nail on the head when he says some people think Mannheim's approach has become too "formulaic." I'm one of them. What was once new and interesting has now become a by the numbers production, saved by the obscurity of some of the tunes ("Pat a Pan" "Gagliarda") where the listener can form no preconceptions of how the songs will come out of the Chip Davis "Mixmaster." Still enjoyable fluff but the newness has worn off.Free Music Review: Not as good as other Mannheim
Hit: 3 Stars
Frankly I'm disappointed in this CD. It is mainly synthesizer music. Mannheim has much better ones on Christmas Extroadinare and Christmas 1984. Hold you money when it comes to this CD..Free Music Review: from Solo Piano Publications
Hit: 2 Stars
I was really looking forward to the third in a series of Christmas albums from Mannheim Steamroller, and have to say that I was at least as disappointed in "Christmas In the Aire" as I was in seeing Mannheim in "concert" (the Milli Vanilli of instrumental music!!!). With a few exceptions, most of these songs sound like the group was trying too hard to top the previous two albums and instead turned out a mostly ho-hum CD. "Joy to the World" is wonderful and full of exuberance. "Rudolph" is almost impossible to listen to all the way through - totally obnoxious to my ears. "Pat A Pan" is inventive, fresh, and very infectious - this was the kind of creativity I was hoping for in more of the album. "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" are pretty standard stuff. "Angels We Have Heard on High" is full of percussion and rhythm - again close to the mark. "Gagliarda" is classic Mannheim and their Renaissance Ensemble Le Doo Dah Band."Los Pesces en el Rio" is a less well-known holiday piece that mixes soothing wordless vocals with a rock beat in the middle - catchy! "Christmas Lullaby" is a Chip Davis original that is the best thing about this mixed bag of an album. Sublimely sweet and sentimental without any gag factor, this song is a winner! The closing track is a downright depressing rendition of "Jingle Bells". The piece is lovely, but there is no "laughing all the way" or "oh what fun". It's interesting, but I really don't see the point.