Customer Reviews

Romantic Melodies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This set does live up to the title, with some lush and romantic themes. However it is merely a collection of previously released tracks, not new material. The songs come from the Fresh Aire CDs, other Steamroller discs, and the Day Parts series. (Technically speaking the Day Parts cuts are NOT Steamroller music, since Chip Davis put those CDs out under his own name and not M.S. But since Davis is the guy behind MS, that's a fairly meaningless distinction.) Anyhow, the selections here are romantic, especially the beautiful "Nepenthe" from FA6. The song sequence was also thoughtfully laid out so that the songs flow from one to the next pretty seamlessly. Still, the lack of new material makes this not much better than a "mix tape" you could have assembled yourself. As a curiosity point I counted all of the M.S. collections of re-packaged material. There are now nearly as many of those (6) as there are Fresh Aire albums (8).

This is collection of Davis' romantic melodies from other CD's and some added for this.

Especially fond of the beautiful oboe on "Bittersweet," "The Sign of Love," and "Nephenthe."

There is variety here, from some big-band type in "Slo Dancin' in the Living Room" for Chip's mom to nature inspired pieces of "Moonlight at Cove Castle" and "The Seven Stars of the Big Dipper."

Good mood music to set tone or just for enjoyable backdrop. These also make great special occasion pieces, as notes suggest some have even used at weddings, etc.

Chp Davis don't have any new complete record, from FA8 (it doesn't include the summer song and bird song records, most ambient than music. This one is onlya a compilation, if you have a FA and Chip collection, don't buy it. If you don't have any, buy it, is good.

1. Serenity: Impressions
2. Sunday Morning Breeze: Sunday Morning Coffe II
3. Bittersweet: Summer song
4. Slo Dancin' in the Living Room: Romance II
5. Kanbai: Romance I

6. The Sign of Love: Impressions
7. Teardrops, Raindrops: Summer song
8. Chakra 4: FA7
9. Amber: FA3
10. The Seven Stars of the Big Dipper: FA7
11. Moonlight at Cove Castle: Romance II
12. Nepenthe: FA6

I have a lot of the Mannheim Steamroller CDs. I enjoy them greatly, however, this CD was disapointing. Instead of feeling in a romantic mood, it made me sad. Although, I still love the group, and will continue to buy their CDs, this one I would recommend passing up if you want a romantic evening. If you just like music for the sake of music, it is a great album.

All I had from Chip were Christmas songs, so I wanted to try this one. Like it very much!! Very relaxing and for me that is grand after a day of working with noisy students. I could also picture a couple dancing in the living room. Like it very much.

I love all aspects of the beauty of the instrumentals by Mannheim
steamroller. The cuts are soft and very soothing to listen.

This is one group that I can keep listening to daily. My collection of Manheim will soon be full. Music so different and so pleasing to this senior citizen who's usual choice is the classics.

Much more interesting than Fresh Aire I or II. I must explore more Mannnheim Steamroller like this.

I was really anxious for this to come out. I love most everything Mannheim Steamroller does, and this is another great CD. Very relaxing. Chip Davis has another winner on his hands!

Good news and bad news about this album:
First, the bad news-- NONE of it is new. If you're like me, and you own all of Chip Davis' previous albums, there is no point in buying this one. You can compile the tracks yourself and save some money.

The good news is that most of the tracks on this album are pretty decent, and if you are only familiar with Mannheim's Christmas stuff, this could be a good way to introduce yourself to some of their other works (though the 25 Year Celebration CD does a far better job of this.) Appropriately enough, the music here is all fairly slow and, well, romantic. It's good background music for a quiet dinner, so it succeeds in its intentions, I just would have liked to see some new material, rather than a cleverly packaged compilation.