Mannheim Steamroller - Fresh Aire 8 (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

It's about time!

David Troska | New York | 08/23/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's been ten years and several inferior albums since Fresh Aire 7, but the Steamroller is finally back on track. While Fresh Aire 7 is still the undisputed champ of the series, Fresh Aire 8 is one of the stronger competitors, with a rich, full sound that offers a well-balanced blend of synthesizers and orchestra. The topic this time is "infinity," and this allows for some rather bizarre musical pieces. "The Big Bang" (Infinity in Cosmology) is an extremely effective piece. I don't normally like pieces that are so heavily laden with sound effects and so light on melody, but this one actually works quite well. Listen to it in the dark through big speakers for the best effect. "Circle Of Love" (Infinity in The Wedding Ring) is one of the best pieces of music Chip Davis has written in several years, showcasing the fact that he does, indeed, still know how to write great music without using MIDI keyboards."Leonardo" (The Infinite Thinker) is classic Mannheim, opening with some solemn Renaissance-style chord changes and then going into a style of music similar to earlier pieces like "Four Rows Of Jacks" and "Baroque A Nova." "The Heart And The Feather" is an overly long Egyptian-themed piece. It's not bad, but there's a lot of wasted time. The piece is close to 8 minutes, but you can skip to the last four and get your money's worth. "The Waterfall" is based on M.C. Escher's painting. There's something oddly mesmerizing about this bolero-style piece, and again, I was glad to see Chip making use of a full-orchestra. It also does a great job of musically telling the story that's given in the liner notes. There are a few throw-away tracks here, and they're what ultimately keeps this album from reaching the excellence of Fresh Aire 7. "The Night Party" is downright irritating, and far too repetitive with no sense of progression or build. At least it's mercifully short. "The Steamroller" is also one of the weaker tracks, which is a shame since Chip once said he wrote this with the intention of it being their "signature" song. As for now, "Going To Another Place" from Fresh Aire 2 still holds that crown. "Fractals" is an acquired taste. You won't like it on your first listen, you might on your second. Ultimately, if you're a fan of the Steamroller, you'll like much of what you hear. I'm not sure it's all that it could have been, but it's well-worth having, and a fitting conclusion to the Fresh Aire Series."

Infinitely boring

James Wilson | 08/28/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Fresh Aire VIII is based on the concept of infinity. All of the songs are (loosely) written with this in mind. One big problem with this album is that it is largely recycling old Mannheim Steamroller material. The opening Greek Suite is a ripoff of the beginning of Fresh Aire VI. "The Big Bang" is mostly a spacey sound effect fest. "Leonardo" is good, but sounds very much like previous Fresh Aire material. "Fractals" is insanely repetitive and annoying, apparently trying to show us the mathematical concept of fractals. "The Circle of Love" isn't bad, but "The Steamroller", with it's ho-hum melody and irritating saxes, is quite bad. "The Heart and the Feather" is one of the best songs on the album. Overall, it contains way too many simplistic melodies. It's a shame that Chip Davis couldn't close the Fresh Aire series gracefully."

An honest review.

James Wilson | Colorado Springs, CO USA | 10/21/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Fresh Aire 8 was the first non-holiday, Mannheim Steamroller CD I purchased and at the time I thought the criticism against it was unfair. But after purchasing and listening to the rest of the Fresh Aire series, I understand where the long time fans of Chip's music are coming from.

Simply put Fresh 8 has a great concept (Infinity) but just is not executed up to the standards set by the prior 7 Fresh Aire albums. A few tracks stand out, 'Leonardo (The Infinite Thinker)' and 'Circle of Love (Infinity in the Wedding Band)' are exceptional tracks that in themselves validate the purchase of this album. Unfortunately the remaining tracks slide into mediocrity and keep this effort from being great.

Anyone looking to complete the Fresh Aire series should proceed without hesitation, but anyone looking to make the leap from Mannheim Holiday music to the Fresh Aire series should start elsewhere (I personally recommend Fresh Aire 7,5 & 2 as my favorites).

In conclusion, Fresh Aire 8 is good but doesn't stand up against the rest of the series."

Disappointing

M. Wise | 06/10/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge fan of the "old" Mannheim Steamroller, mainly the first four albums of the Fresh Aire series. Listen to those albums and you'll hear carefully crafted music, very much with the earth and of the earth, as I like to say, considering the themes of the seasons for these albums. Unlike Fresh Aire VIII, the first four albums are not desperately overproduced. Ten years have not been kind to Chip's musical abilities. I had the opportunity to hear most of this album live, and it bored me to tears. It's manufactured, plain and simple, and whoever thought of that saxophone in the title track must have been out of their mind. Contrast "Prelude/Chocolate Fudge" from Fresh Aire (I) with any track of this album. What we have been given in Fresh Aire VIII by the Steamroller is not a growth and worthy successor to the track I listed above, but a pale imitation, trying to make up the total lack of "voice" in this album with ornate production. This is a CD that would have been better left unproduced. Truly, Chip Davis reached perfection with "7" and should have left well enough alone.Why three stars? Even at its worst, the Steamroller still manages to create pleasing music. Many of the tracks are pleasing to the ear, if repetitive. That being said, I give every other album in the series five stars. Three stars are insult enough."

We waited so long for the finale!

thomasbc | Kents Store, VA USA | 08/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chip Davis must be a graduate student at heart. His grand plan was to have eight albums represented in his Fresh Aire series which he started way back in 1974 (my first "new age" album). He "rushed" right through the first seven albums, releasing Fresh Aire 7 by 1990. But, like any doctoral candidate, he got caught up in all his other diversions and took FOREVER to finish his thesis, Fresh Aire 8. TEN YEARS later we finally get the pleasure of listening to his crowning achievement. And what an achievement it is!

The Fresh Aire series has always been at the forefront of sound recording technology. Whenever an audio store needed to demo a piece of expensive equipment, invariably the music chosen to sample on the equipment was by Mannheim Steamroller. That trend will continue even today as Fresh Aire 8 will be the definitive medium by which to judge new digital surround-sound audio systems (and video home-theater systems with the upcoming DVD version).

The music, itself, continues to explore new realms of the human condition which is the general theme of the second quartet of albums, FA 5 through 8 (the first four celebrated the four seasons or conditions of nature). In Fresh Aire 8, Chip tackles the topic of Infinity and how it relates to all facets of human life: love, art, philosophy, mathematics and of course music, to name a few.

Classic Mannheim Steamroller riffs weave their way through the tapistry of new sounds; the most obvious of which is the song 'Leonardo' whose "Renaissance Le-do-dah" sound harkens back to classics like 'Four Rows of Jacks' on FA 4 and 'The Olympics' on FA 6. There is even a new 'Interlude 8' woven into the 'Greek Thinkers Suite'; a style which hasn't been utilized since Fresh Aire 4 (and has been sorely missed)!

I was a little leery at first about the inclusion of the song 'The Steamroller', after I read that it was based on a children's story about a steamroller named "Steamy" (plus, it featured a saxophone, for godsakes). It turns out to be one of my favorite songs on the CD! I'll probably cringe whenever I see the video, though. Flashbacks to 'Rudolph the Red..' on Christmas In The Aire.

After listening to the CD in its entirety, I can now see how it could have taken that long to find a way to wrap up the Fresh Aire series appropriately. My hat goes off to Chip Davis and his brilliant accomplishment. I truly hope this is not the end of Chip Davis music. I hope we hear a lot more from him in the future. And, not just little snippets here and there on various 'Day Parts' compilations and Christmas projects!"

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