Welcome to the group! There is typically not a lot of activity here in the Fresh
Aire 5 group. Perhaps because of the lack of activity from Mannheim
Steamroller, as you've pointed out. They do continue to tour every summer and
Christmas season, which takes up much of their time. Creatively though, I would
tend to agree with you. There is not much new coming from Chip. I'm sure a lot
has to do with other projects he's been working on (i.e. all the food products).
I also believe that there has also been a falling out, so to speak, to the fan
base. I know that Fresh Aire 8 just didn't have the impact or sales that the
earlier FA albums had. And the Christmas stuff is not as unique as it once was,
with all the other "new age" artists that are out there.

I think it might be fun if the group begin to expand it's interest to other
artists similar to Mannheim, if Eric (our moderator) wouldn't mind.

Marcus

dawiltro <dawiltro@...> wrote:
Hey,
I just discovered this message board, and having been a long time fan
of Steamroller, figured I'd drop in and say Hello.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of activity here, so maybe
everyone else has quit. But, just in case anyone is still around,
what are your thoughts on Mannheim lately? I have to say, as much as
I like their stuff, I think they're on a downward spiral. They
release too many compilation albums (Romantic Themes, Romantic
Melodies, American Spirit, etc, etc), and overall, the quality of
their work lately just doesn't compare to the stuff they were doing in
the late 80s, early 90s ("Fresh Aire Christmas" and "Fresh Aire 7"
remain their best albums, IMO.)

Ambience is a so-so series, certainly not on par with the Fresh Aire
series. Honestly, Bird Song was pretty bad, Summer Song had a few
pretty good tracks, and Autumn Song was a decent album overall, though
it falls short of any Fresh Aire album. I think Chip has become TOO
reliant on MIDI. Yeah, I know Steamroller always had synth elements,
and that's cool, but lately, he's become a one-man band and I think
the music suffers as a result. I would have loved to here some "real"
instruments on Autumn song.

And what's the deal with Night Song? According to their website it's
due out, "First half of 2005." Well, the first half has come and
gone, and still no Night Song. Anyone know of a new release date?

Okay, that was a longer post than I intended. Hopefully someone is
still using this group and will read it!





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