2008 Woodie Awards
Mannheim steamrolls Christmas spirit, leaving album flat, sterile
Jonathan Stutte
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: TruLife
Maybe it's because they've been doing it for 23 years. Or maybe it's because "Christmas Song" is Mannheim Steamroller's 28th album and 10th Christmas compilation. After so many albums dedicated to a single season, "Christmas Song" proves that Mannheim Steamroller has nothing left to say about Christmas.
Mannheim Steamroller is the moniker of Chip Davis, the composer for the neo-classical new-age band. Davis began the holiday trend back in 1984 with the appropriately-titled "Christmas 1984." This debut Christmas album (Davis had released five Steamroller albums previous to it) featured the band's enthusiastic and now classic rendition of "Deck the Halls." The sound of the album was easy-going and breezy, with every instrument sounding like it was floating in the brisk Christmas air of the 1980s.
Unfortunately, their 10th Christmas album sounds no different. The production appeals to people who favor smooth jazz and distilled music. The drums sound like someone is hitting an electronic drum pad from the new Rock Band video game, the classical guitar sounds like it's being filtered through cotton candy and the flutes belong on a porno soundtrack. The production is so clean and gauzy that it makes the music sterile and incapable of holding life.
Mannheim Steamroller aims the opening track "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" at malls and department stores so that it can be lost in the hustle and bustle of shoppers who apparently don't want to hear anything more than a maudlin reinterpretation of a holiday jingle that sounds like a Casio keyboard preset rhythm track. Johnny Mathis turns the following schmaltz, aptly named "The Christmas Song," into a boring trod through Christmas clichés and references. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" scores points for being able to outdo the first track in sounding more like it was composed entirely of keyboard presets. Every variable for goofy, comical and squelchy sounds is tested in the familiar refrain for "Santa Claus," making it a laughable yet endearing should-be addition to a toddler's Christmas album. "Masters in This Hall" is a mock Middle English court tune that could be mistaken for a Christmas song if played at the right time of the year. The horns in the song sound suspiciously like they're being played from a synthesizer.
The production eerily suits "Above the Northern Lights," lending the song an almost atmospheric quality that escapes every other song on the album. The vocals, turned in by Gene Nery, are confident and full of mystery. He sounds as though he's trying to seduce someone into going somewhere they might actually want to go. Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn't want to cooperate with this vision. Some of it is sappy, and some of it is downright corny in its approach to Christmas music that's been around for who-knows-how-long.
None of Mannheim Steamroller's pieces from "Christmas Songs" will be remembered for their originality. Rather, some of the songs will be replayed for novelty value or because someone wanted to please his or her mother by giving her background music to which the whole family can open presents - and not notice anything other than anonymous "Christmas music" playing behind them.
Mannheim Steamroller is the moniker of Chip Davis, the composer for the neo-classical new-age band. Davis began the holiday trend back in 1984 with the appropriately-titled "Christmas 1984." This debut Christmas album (Davis had released five Steamroller albums previous to it) featured the band's enthusiastic and now classic rendition of "Deck the Halls." The sound of the album was easy-going and breezy, with every instrument sounding like it was floating in the brisk Christmas air of the 1980s.
Unfortunately, their 10th Christmas album sounds no different. The production appeals to people who favor smooth jazz and distilled music. The drums sound like someone is hitting an electronic drum pad from the new Rock Band video game, the classical guitar sounds like it's being filtered through cotton candy and the flutes belong on a porno soundtrack. The production is so clean and gauzy that it makes the music sterile and incapable of holding life.
Mannheim Steamroller aims the opening track "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" at malls and department stores so that it can be lost in the hustle and bustle of shoppers who apparently don't want to hear anything more than a maudlin reinterpretation of a holiday jingle that sounds like a Casio keyboard preset rhythm track. Johnny Mathis turns the following schmaltz, aptly named "The Christmas Song," into a boring trod through Christmas clichés and references. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" scores points for being able to outdo the first track in sounding more like it was composed entirely of keyboard presets. Every variable for goofy, comical and squelchy sounds is tested in the familiar refrain for "Santa Claus," making it a laughable yet endearing should-be addition to a toddler's Christmas album. "Masters in This Hall" is a mock Middle English court tune that could be mistaken for a Christmas song if played at the right time of the year. The horns in the song sound suspiciously like they're being played from a synthesizer.
The production eerily suits "Above the Northern Lights," lending the song an almost atmospheric quality that escapes every other song on the album. The vocals, turned in by Gene Nery, are confident and full of mystery. He sounds as though he's trying to seduce someone into going somewhere they might actually want to go. Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn't want to cooperate with this vision. Some of it is sappy, and some of it is downright corny in its approach to Christmas music that's been around for who-knows-how-long.
None of Mannheim Steamroller's pieces from "Christmas Songs" will be remembered for their originality. Rather, some of the songs will be replayed for novelty value or because someone wanted to please his or her mother by giving her background music to which the whole family can open presents - and not notice anything other than anonymous "Christmas music" playing behind them.
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