Fresh Aire VI

Nick


A soaring intro, and then...?   July 31, 2002
Ashurra (Kirkland, WA United States)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

Fresh Aire VI opens with perhaps Mannheim Steamroller's best song ever: Come Home to the Sea. It's a stirring piano and orchestra 5 minute symphony with (surprisingly) very little synthesizer augmentation. It simply soars. The rest of the album struggles to reach the heights it set for itself with its first song. The Rhodes sequence is mostly undeveloped, though Night Festival is an interesting if forgettable time signature experiment. Nepenthe is very pretty, but then again we've heard a derivative of it on nearly every previous album. The descent sequence has some cool musical themes....but Chip plays them once and turns on the "loop" button. All of them repeat three times, with no bridge, and fade out. Sirens attempts the collage sound of Escape from the Atmosphere (FA5) but ends up sounding unconnected.

Sadly, the fact is that despite all these critiques some of the musical themes displayed here are among Mannheim Steamrollers more original work. It just seems like not enough time was spent on them. Only recommended if you must have the entire series or Come Home to the Sea.


Timeless even after 15 years   April 21, 2002
Terry C. (Boston, MA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Last night, I heard a radio station broadcast this album in its entirety, and boy did it bring back so many memories! "Fresh Aire VI" was one of my most favorite albums during my high school years, and upon listening to it again the other night I was really surprised just how well the music works even today. Not only do many of the tracks stand the test of time, they also leave so much to the imagination with fantastic references to Greek mythology and maritime traditions. Finally, with electronic instruments seamlessly weaved into orchestral and choral sounds, what we have here is very a interesting, very rich, very musically noteworthy album.

Just a couple tracks sound dated. "Ascent From Hell" sounds 80'ish and a little annoying. "The Olympics" suffers from age as well, as it sounds like something from the TV show "CHiPs." Still I always get a kick out of listening to it.

As for the remaining tracks, musically they stand very well on their own, some better than others. I think the best tracks in this album are the raw "Descent Into the Underworld," the mysterious "Sirens" suite, and the highly memorable "Come Home To the Sea."

So, am I glad that I happened to catch that broadcast on the radio... It would have been a pity to have all this great music be lost from my life. Now that I have the recording once again, I am confident I can draw much pleasure from listening to this CD for a very, very long time.


Mannheim Steamroller goes to the symphony   March 21, 2001
Dick K (Centreville, VA United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Although placed in the Freshe Aire Series for marketing purposes, this CD shows Chip going off on an tangent from his previous work. That's not a bad thing at all, by the way, but the character of this CD is, for me, quite different from I-IV for instance.

I always find it difficult to describe Mannheim Steamroller to someone new, Chip's music just doesn't fit any category very well. It's usually categorized as "new age" but Chip's description of "18th Century Classical Rock" is at least as good! An eclectic combination of modern and classical styles, modern and classical instruments, exciting and relaxing... like I said it simply defies a comfy fit in any one spot.

I find this one more cohesive than Fresh Aire I-IV with an overall "feel" that's more like a symphonic work. Overall, its excellent, althought I don't rank this one at the top of my Mannheim Steamroller, I enjoy it a lot. In fact, if I didn't have the others to compare it to this would be a favorite, for sure. The recording quality and musicianship are first rate as always.

If you liked others in the series and you're looking to add to your Mannheim Steamroller collection, then this one is highly recommended. If you're completely new to Chip's non-Christmas music I'd recommend starting with one of the others in the series tho', especially III or II.


"Impressions of Greek Mythology via Mannheim Steamroller"   December 11, 2000
J. Lovins (Missouri-USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

In order to review the sixth album in the "Fresh Aire" series - one must dismiss the fact that I am a big fan, my mother was Greek (Maria Patestas) and Chip Davis is a genius, aside from that believe this album is an outstanding contribution to today's musical genre, we call - New Age!

Over 24 million albums sold on American Gramaphone - 20 million records sold on previous labels - Mannheim Steamroller is the "best selling" Christmas artist of the decade - All seven albums in the "Fresh Aire" series are "Certified Gold" and have sold more than four million copies - Chip Davis won a "Grammy Award" for BEST NEW AGE RECORDING for "Fresh Aire 7" - "Yellowstone:The Music of Nature" has raised over $500,000 for Park making Chip the largest contributor to the National Park Service, way to go Mr. Davis - Mannheim Steamroller performed at the "WHITE HOUSE" for President Bill Clinton...not to shabby for a guy who started out writing jingles for a local advertising agency.

Now let's look at this symphonic gem, inspiring highlights - "SUNRISE AT RHODES" as the God, Helios readies his chariot to take up the sun from the crystal gates on the horizon of the ocean, wings flap, horses whinny in the clouds as the ocean disappears below, this cue is extraordinary, simply captivating with musical passages and epic proportions of percussion mixed with choral, that raise the hair on the back of your neck...while the mood change of "NEPENTHE" the Egyptian drug, meant "no sorrow" to the Greeks, beautiful piano solo, blending with strings, harp and wind instruments, so touching as the depths of your heart feel the tugging of connected strings, let's you drift with a feeling that all the burdens of the day have been lifted from your mind, simply superb.

American Gramaphone has remastered this album in HDCD, which include all in this series - sound quality is amazing...entire CD leaves you spell-bound as you enjoy the Greek legends courtesy of MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER...and that my friends, is my final answer!

Total Time: 44:50 on 10 Tracks...American Gramaphone 5006...(1986/2000)