Christmas 25th Anniversary Collection

Mannheim Steamroller

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 2009)
• Original Release Date: October 13, 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: American Gramaphone
• ASIN: B002MW50C2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,894 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

2009 two CD holiday collection celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the very first Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album: the one that started the phenomenon! This double CD set features 25 tracks hand-picked by Chip Davis from the previous Christmas albums: Mannheim Steamroller Christmas (1984), A Fresh Aire Christmas (1988), Christmas In The Aire (1995), Christmas Extraordinaire (2001), Christmas Song (2007) and Christmasville (2008).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Redundant, but nice for new fans, October 15, 2009

By	dliamt (nyc) - See all my reviews

If you're new to Mannheim Steamroller, or just a casual fan who doesn't already own all of their CDs, this is a good "greatest hits" collection to get you up to speed. This two disc set offers a solid sampling of previously released material. It omits some essentials, such as "Deck The Halls" and "Silent Night," but those were already included on their previous Christmas compilation disc, so that's actually a good thing.

Steamroller's sound, for those five people out there who still haven't heard of them, runs the gamut from traditional acoustic to highly synthetic. Personally, I think they're at their best when they stick to the acoustic style. Their classic takes on songs like "We Three Kings," "Still Still Still", "O Holy Night" and "Little Town Of Bethlehem" are absolutely beautiful, perfectly capturing the quieter, poignant side of Christmas. But what Mannheim is probably most famous for are their up-tempo synth-pop versions of Christmas songs. Frankly, I find these tend to be a bit more "hit or miss", and definitely more of an acquired taste (I enjoy most of them, but I know plenty of people who get turned off by the highly synthetic, and admittedly cheesy/outdated, sound.) The good news is, this 2 disc collection shows off all of Mannheim's styles, so while you may not like some tracks, you'll certainly find at least a good number of them that you do like.

My only real complaint with this collection is that it offers absolutely nothing new to entice long-time fans, and ultimately comes off as little more than an easy way for the Steamroller to pad its wallet. I understand that this is meant to be a retrospective, but I had hoped for at least a FEW new tracks. As it is, there's simply no reason to buy this if you already own their older albums. The only track that long-time fans might not already have is "My Little Christmas Tree." This was previously only available with a pop-up book that Chip created back in the late 90s. It's a weak track, though, and sounds like it was thrown together one afternoon, so that's not much incentive to shell out money on this set.

Here's hoping Chip returns soon with an all NEW Christmas album (and hey, Chip, go back and listen to your first two Christmas albums if you need some inspiration-- those remain your best efforts to date.)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No Stille Nacht?, October 24, 2009

By	MM (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mannheim Steamroller Christmas 25th Anniversary Collection (MP3 Download)

How can they release an anniversary Mannheim Christmas CD and not have the single greatest and most popular Christmas song Mannheim has ever recorded, Stille Nacht (Silent Night)? Don't get me wrong, the compilation is amazing, but without that song, this edition just falls short. Sad day.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not Great, November 23, 2009

By	Terry G. Beasley "Chucker" (Mount Airy, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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If you are looking for their upbeat Christmas songs there are not that many but it still is a good CD for Christmas.