About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

Essentially the creation of one Chip Davis, Mannheim Steamroller wraps up its Fresh Aire series with this eighth offering. A cleverly placed sideways "8" on the album's cover also symbolizes the album's theme of infinity. And the little nuances don't end there: The liner notes describe eight tracks when in fact there are a healthy 12! The first five comprise the opening suite, "Greek Thinkers: Infinity in Philosophy." A sweeping processional with orchestra, harp, and balalaika expands to a take on the rhythms of Ravel's "Bolero" and the feeling of climbing a widening cerebral staircase. Davis has a ball with space winds, rumbling blasts, and the zing of zooming particles on "The Big Bang: Infinity in Cosmology" (which should really come alive in surround sound, though the neighbors may complain). "Leonardo: The Infinite Thinker" employs strings, harpsichord, and drum set (Davis's instrument) for a merry romp through the imagination. The vastly romantic bolero "Waterfall: Infinity in Art" is inspired by the famous M. C. Escher print of a mill's endless waterways. "The Circle of Love: Infinity in the Wedding Band" sandwiches a piano-orchestra rhapsody with trippy swaths of electronic infinity sounds. With text provided by the liner notes, "The Steamroller: Infinity in Music" tells the musical tale of a certain steamroller that falls for "Dreamy," a rock band groupie -- it's charming, funky, and steamy. The whole affair culminates with the most story-like of all the pieces, "The Heart & the Feather." An Egyptian painter completes a tomb's decor, only to find himself swept away into the marvelous expanse of the heavens. Fresh Aire 8 delivers plenty of speaker-stretching sounds, real orchestral scope, outrageous themes, and catchy rhythms, adding up to an infinity of amusement. Carol Wright, Barnes & Noble

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