Customer Reviews

Mannheim Steamroller Meets The Mouse: Unique Musical Creations Based On Disney Songs

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This 1964 Academy Award winner for Best Song "CHIM CHIM CHER-EE", performed by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the Disney's multi-hit "Mary Poppins", is nothing less than spectacular by Chip Davis and Mannheim Steamroller gang.

Each selection seems to have that original sound, works so well with the tunes we grew up with and still enjoy to this day, thanks to the clever arrangements of Chip Davis. A wonderful compilation of songs from today and the past, given the "steamroller" treatment, fresh and upbeat.

Chip never ceases to amaze his fans, with "HAKUNA MATATA", "GO THE DISTANCE", "YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME" simply outstanding...but the highlight is "WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR" the 1940 Academy Award winner for Best Song, beginning with "twinkle, twinkle little star", blending and interwoven beautifully by Davis and the Mannheim gang. Chip sets his standards to the highest level with every album, and his impeccable rhythm and incredible control of dynamics is the mainstay to all of his fans...Mr. Davis, you're ONE OF A KIND!

Total Time: 41:53 on 12 Tracks...Disney/American Gramaphone 12835...(1998)

In all fairness, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with this CD. After the brilliance of "Fresh Aire 7," Chip Davis seemed to have lost something. His tracks on the Day Parts series never came close to his earlier works, and although "Impressions" was good, it lacked the dramatic punch of Fresh Aire 7. With "Meets The Mouse," he has redeemed himself at least partially, even if much of the album is made up of Mannheim cliches.

Almost every track on this album has an equivalent on an earlier album. "Mickey Mouse March" gets almost the exact same treatment as "Jingle Bells" did on "Christmas In The Aire." "Davey Crocket" uses the 12/8 beat found on "Escape From The Atmosphere" and "Deck The Halls." "Go The Distance" has subtle traces of "Sunday Morning Coffee," and it ends with the theme from "Going To Another Place," which Chip seems to have included at least once on every album since "Fresh Aire 2." Does any of this matter? Not really, other than that it makes the album sound more like a "How To Sound Like Steamroller" instructional tape than an album in and of itself. In other words, if you have their other albums, don't expect to hear much new here.

Still, it's a pleasant enough experience, and Chip did do some interesting arrangements. He has a genuine knack for making music that invokes fond memories with a touch of sadness. He did it most brilliantly on "A Fresh Aire Christmas," and to a lesser extent, he does it here, too.

My only real complaint with this album is that, despite the fact he uses an orchestra, the arrangements often sound as though they're coming entirely from a MIDI keyboard. Steamroller has had this thin sound on their last few releases, and I can only hope that the upcoming "Fresh Aire 8" will go back to the fuller, orchestral sound of the latter half of the "Fresh Aire" series.

I almost did not get this CD after listening to the 30 second samples, but I'm now glad I have the CD. Anyone who likes Disney tunes will appreciate these fun arrangements. Chim Chim Cher-ee, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Under the Sea, Davy Crockett, Heigh-Ho, and When You Wish Upon a Star are the best of the lot. Although Hakuna Matata is not faithful to the original song from the score of The Lion King, it is an absolute hoot...you gotta listen to it.

I hate to say this, but the cover art is the best part, by far, of this CD. I own EVERYTHING Mannheim Steamroller has ever produced, and I know what to expect from Chip Davis' eclectic arrangements. That being said, I was very underwhelmed by this offering. What it seems to be is a collection of intros that end before getting to the "meat" of the songs.

If you are looking for something that will leave you whistling familiar Disney tunes, this isn't it.

I just received and listened to this selection. I totally disagree with sboloch's review. This person is obviously not familiar with Mannheim Steamroller's/Chip Davis' work, which is to build their own sound AROUND a familiar tune, to add and tweak it, as well as create their own original music. I had no problem finding traces or whole sections of the Disney music, which was totally acceptable within this structure, with the exception of HAKUNA MATATA. Nothing except the words was kept from that piece but perhaps the words were the only thing they were after. I usually purchase the Xmas CD's but thoroughly enjoyed this one. As a person who watched the original Mickey Mouse Club, I found the last selection to be positively haunting, akin to my favorite Mannheim Steamroller piece, SILENT NIGHT. If we all wanted to hear the original tunes as produced by Disney, Disney makes their own CD's. Kudos to Chip Davis!

This album put together two of my favorites--Mannheim Steamroller and Disney. The arrangements are creative and quite surprising. I imagined myself inside the "Haunted Mansion" when I first heard "Chim-chim-chiree" and "Davy Crockett" was done so naturally that I could envision "Frontierland" vistas. All in all, a really fun listening experience.

Mannheim Steamroller's style of music hasn't changed as long as their first Christmas CD. They have a talent of taking original music and transforming it into another world of synthisizer and adding their own creative works.

The reason I gave it four stars is because I know Mannheim Steamroller likes to add their own touch, but this music was a little too off, especially "Hakuna Matata." They spent too much time on the startup, the ending, the background, and on top of all that, the tracks were too short. For example, the average track on the CD took about one minute to reach the actual tune, and took a minute to end it without using the tune, and the tracks were all about three minutes an thirty seconds so the actual tune went on for only thirty seconds! The point is they went too off track.

But although the tracks are a little off, Mannheim Steamroller succeeded once more in making a wonderful CD that takes original songs and transforming them into a world of imagination. For any Disney freaks, buy this CD.

Having heard the samples online, I was a little concerned, but I really enjoy the album. I find it quite "sleepy", not exactly the typical excitement found in many Mannheim Steamroller stuff. I hope that in future albums, the variations follow the emotion of the original. Under the Sea, for example, in the movie is the show-stopping big production number, but on this album, it's really quite slow and peaceful. The album is a must for a Disney music collector like myself, and definitely something to look at for those who like Mannheim Steamroller.

Even tho not available to everyone yet this CD has made it into the hands of Mannheim Steamroller fans and people at Disneyworld. If you know the Steamroller sound you will find practically every nuance from previous Steamroller albums including the Fresh Aire series. If you are more of a Disney "music fan" you might be a little disappointed. For Steamroller fans it is in many ways a "classic". Bringing out the "Chip Davis" sounds from all previous albums and putting them on one. A favorite of mine is "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" followed by "The Ballad of Davy Crockett". It's too bad that there are only 12 cuts on the disk. But maybe "Meets the Mouse II" will be coming in the future. Some of my favorites were not found on this album...but still many made the cut for this first album.

I like Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas music. I also like some of their earlier "Fresh Aire" music. And I really like Disneyland and most of the Disney movies. So you'd think it would be a no-brainer that I'd like "Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse," as in Mickey Mouse, right? Well, I thought the same thing and unfortunately we're both wrong on that one.

There's not much originality here - each song sounds pretty much the same. It's all got the same cheesy fake new-agey synth sound to it that ruined the Fresh Aire series when it came to numbers 5 and 6. Gone is the variety and freshness of sound that characterized the first three and made them so delightful to listen to. You can pick out the Disney tunes easily enough, but it sounds like Chip Davis was on autopilot when he cranked these out, and it pretty much stinks of commerciality. I kind of like a couple of the songs ("Chim Chim Cher-Ee" from Mary Poppins and "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinnochio) but some are downright dreadful (the "Mickey Mouse March" sounds more like a funeral march). And none are worth listening to anywhere but Disneyland (I think they play a few of them around the park, including the evening parades) which is the only place these songs will have any magic.