Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas Song
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CD Details
Brand: American GramaphoneComposer: Chip Davis
Performer: Mannheim Steamroller
Performer: Olivia Newton-John
Performer: Johnny Mathis
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-10-09
Music Label: American Gramaphone
Product features:
- Christmas Music
- Compact Disk
- Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
- The Christmas Song
- Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
- Feliz Navidad
- Catching Snowflakes On Your Tongue
- Masters In This Hall
- Above the Northern Lights
- Frosty the Snowman
- Traditions Of Christmas
- Christmas Lullaby
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Music reviews of Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas Song
Music Review: Pretty darn good even though not their strongest..
Rating: 4 Stars
Okay, let me start by saying that for me, 'Steamroller' music is now a must-hear Christmas tradition & I have all of their Christmas CDs. As for the new 2007 'Christmas Song', I actually like the record a lot in many respects, but I also do agree with some of the negative comments regarding the quality of the material and some arrangements.
First, the NEGATIVE points:
1) In the liner notes, Chip Davis says this album was actually created `based on popular demand' and I personally feel THAT better-explains the compromise in the quality of the material versus past efforts more than anything else! Of course, I love Nat's `Christmas Song' and Gene Autry's `Frosty the Snowman' as much as anyone, but while a thoughtful gesture on Chip's part, perhaps giving what the typically tone-deaf masses wanted was not such a great idea for a Mannheim recording in a world where talent-free rappers dominate 'popular music' sales... Let's fact it - unfortunately, many listeners will largely gravitate towards fluffy Xmas ditties (e.g., `Frosty', `Santa Claus is Coming to Town) in terms of material versus an obscure Celtic carol like `Wassail, Wassail' or `Carol of the Birds" that made Mannheim's first records so unique. Part of the charm of the older `Mannheim' releases is Chip always managed to dig up beautiful carols like the latter, beautifully arrange & pristinely record them, and then share some of his equally impressive knowledge of their history in the liner notes. Next time, I think Chip should return closer to form and do some beautiful arrangements with HIS material of choice regardless of what he thinks will `sell' the most.
2) Use of Vocalists: I prefer the more Christmassy chorale-oriented vocals on the earlier CDs, but I don't think the presence of vocalists is as problematic as are the arrangements behind them. The vocal tracks on `Steamroller CDS could've all used some more organic-sounding harpsichord, dulcimer and/or woodwind backing, or even some good old acoustic guitar as opposed to the synth-heavy sound, which would make them sound more like classic `Steamroller with vocals as opposed to a more tame Lite-FM'ish sound. The one track where I think the big synths actually work extremely well is `Above the Northern Lights'. The real `Northern Lights' are an ethereal sight and the dreamy arrangement & melody and nice vocal by Gene Nery (to me) evoke images in my head similar to the swirly `Christmas Tree in the sky' on the cover art. And love him or hate him, Johnny Mathis is one of the classic Christmas voices (for me his perennial "It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas" is one of the definitive renditions of that tune). His `Christmas Song' rendition here isn't so bad, but I think his vocal on `Oh Tannenbaum' from 2001's `Extraordinaire' was a bit more robust. Olivia-Newton John is okay on `Christmas Lullaby', but it's too bad they couldn't do something different with the arrangement - The '95 instrumental version is better.
3) Arrangements / Song selection: Alluding to my previous paragraph, as an acoustic guitar player and big fan of acoustic stringed instruments, I wish there was some more of the `Renaissance' sound on here in the arrangements, and I also agree that it's time for Chip to start digging for NEVER-recorded songs for the next outing versus recycling previous instrumentals by adding vocals.
4) Songs I mostly skip:
(Track 10) The `Traditions of Christmas': This music-box style sounds pretty, but at just 36 seconds, why even bother including it? It's the most pointless track here...
(Track 2) "The Christmas Song" - Johnny Mathis sounds pretty good here to me, but the bland Lite-FM-ish arrangement detracts from it way more than he does... It needs some guitar or pan flute in there.
(Track 3) `Santa Claus is Coming to Town': Surely included for the kiddies, I have mixed feelings on this one -sometimes I'll listen to it, sometimes I skip it.
(Track 11) `Christmas Lullaby': Olivia Newton John's vocal is only mezza-mezza here, and the arrangement is not as nice as the 95 instrumental version, which I still prefer.
(Track 12) "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" - not horrible, but just not my favorite arrangement here.
Okay, now for the POSITIVE:
Songs I listen to repeatedly:
(Track 1) `Let it Snow': Has the classic synth-&-pan-flute `Steamroller recordings and is a pleasant start.
(Track 4) `It Came Upon A Midnight Clear': My personal fave on this CD because it features a beautiful finger-style 12-string acoustic guitar-harpsichord combo driving the lush arrangement - beautiful stuff! I wish they'd use that 12-string acoustic more often...
(Track 5) `Feliz Navidad': Of course it ain't Jose Feliciano (I'm surprised they didn't have him sing here since they had almost everyone else on here!), but I found the arrangement to be kind of fun despite a slower tempo than Jose's hit.
(Track 6) `Snowflakes on Your Tongue' - A very pretty original that has a nice harp-driven arrangement and nice flute work.
(Track 7) `Masters in This Hall': NOW they're getting it done! This is by far the most vintage-Mannheim track on the CD! Half Celtic Renaissance/half rocking, this track would fit in very well on their older CDs.
(Track 8) `Above the Northern Lights' - As I said earler, very `dreamy' and ethereal arrangement and vocals... Nice track
(Track 9) `Frosty the Snowman' - Another one for the kiddies that most people on here seem to hate, but I'd dare say that I like this one better than "Santa Claus ICTT". It is a bit out there in terms of the melody, but reminds me of `Rudolph The RNR" from `95's "Christmas in the Aire", which also strayed a lot from the melody but still managed to be fun, so it's not as bad as it could be...
So, the final score for me is 7 out of 12 tracks I really like plus 3 I'll still play once in a while, so it could be much worse.
Well, that's as detailed a review I can give here... let me know what you think. Merry Christmas to all!!!
Description of Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas Song
2007 holiday treat from Chip Davis and Mannheim Steamroller, their first new Christmas album in six years! Features guest vocals from Johnny Mathis (no stranger to great holiday recordings) plus Olivia Newton-John. 12 tracks including 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', 'Frosty The Snowman' and many others. American Gramaphone.Miscellaneous CDs
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