Mannheim Steamroller - Halloween, Vol. 2: Creatures Collection

Mannheim Steamroller composer and founder Chip Davis has done it again. After hitting the #1 spot on the Billboard charts with 2003's Halloween, his first foray into the nation's second biggest retail holiday, Chip is continuing his holiday takeover with a new 3-disc set that includes a 13-track music disc, a brand new sound effects CD, and in true over-the-top Steamroller style, a DVD complete with a new "Creatures of the Night" dance (a.k.a. "Thriller" meets "The Macarena") created specially for Mannheim Steamroller.

Halloween 2 features new digital takes of traditional Halloween fare like "Monster Mash" and theme songs from The Addams Family, Dr. Who, X Files, The Munsters, and Psycho. The album also gives a Halloween spin to other favorites such as Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and the rock classic "Black Magic Woman," plus several dance remixes by noted club DJs from London and Baltimore. Utilizing the latest in state-of-the-art digital recording, the sound effects disc is sure to raise the hairs on necks everywhere.

Highlighted is a DVD containing a debut dance created especially for Mannheim Steamroller, set to the original Chip Davis song "Creatures of the Night." Guaranteed to become the latest dance craze, this choreographed group dance in "Thriller"-meets-"Macarena" fashion will be launched in dance clubs across the nation as part of Mannheim Steamroller's Halloween invasion.

Davis first ventured into Halloween with the album Mannheim Steamroller Halloween back in 2003. Mannheim Steamroller then released Monster Mix, which combined favorites of the first album with original sound effects, breaking records in 2004 as the first single act to ever own the top 3 positions (#1 - Monster Mix, #2 - Christmas Celebration, #3 - Halloween) on Billboard's Top New Age Albums Chart. Album Description

Steamroller Flattens Halloween Yet Again!

Considering the wonderfully fresh and innovative interpretations of traditional Christmas music that the Techno-Classical New Age ensemble Mannheim Steamroller has put out in the past couple of decades, one would think that the band's interpretation of macabre Halloween ditties would be diabolically delicious, a fresh on which lovers of Halloween could happily feast. Sadly, even with a second helping of Halloween tunes from this celebrated band, the children of the night still hunger.

Either composer/arranger/band leader Chip Davis has lost his touch, or he simply is not in contact with the true "spirit" of Halloween. As every "body" knows, the music for celebrating All Hallows' Eve should be macabre, creepy, or dreary. Certain passages should even make your skin crawl or your spine tingle. However, in spite of the inclusion of spooky standards like the theme from TV's DARK SHADOWS and Bernard Herrmann's eerie theme music from PSYCHO, most of Mr. Davis' arrangements just aren't creepy enough to evoke an ambiance worthy of October 31!

Curiously, the most egregious aspects of this CD are the tracks that include singing and lyrics. Mannheim Steamroller developed their reputation as a primarily instrumental group whose music included little, if any, vocalizations (and virtually no actual singing). The singing on this CD seems way out of step with the band's instrumental back-up music, almost as if each were conceived separately and each recorded totally without regard for the other. (For this reviewer, the singing for the cover of Santana's classic hit BLACK MAGIC WOMAN was especially difficult to listen to.)

As with the first Steamroller Halloween CD, this set includes some sound FX tracks, but also as with the first release, there is really nothing of note (excuse the pun) in this group of computer-created night noises. Mr. Davis just doesn't seem to understand that his synthesizer-generated FX simply are NOT scary, nor are they particularly convincing.

In short, the reputation of Mannheim Steamroller and the cool-looking jack-o'-lanterns on the jacket of this CD promise much more than is actually delivered. If you want hip, scary tunes for your Halloween celebrations, you'll have to look elsewhere, as this offering from Mannheim Steamroller is definitely flat. September 8, 2008

Problems outweigh advantages

There are three cds in this package, but they are not identified as 1, 2 and 3, so it is easy to mix them up. Each has some good music and some hokey or kinky tracks. It would have been much better to deliver the good classical stuff on one cd, so it wouldn't be interrupted by the less attractive music. I like about one third of it, but it is mixed throughout, so, I probably won't listen to it often. January 18, 2008

A few good songs - The spooky sounds and Creatures of the Night are worth 5 stars!

The spooky songs on the second disc are the best spooky sounds I have ever found. They are very creepy and disturbing! Perfect for background noise at a party, haunted house, or trick or treating!

Also, the Remixes of Creatures on the night on Disc Two is very cool, exactly the kind of party Halloween music I was looking for.

The music on the first CD is for the most part too "Mannheim Steamroller" to really be good for an adult Halloween party. I think it would be fine for kids. There were a few songs that I did like though. The Dark Shadows and Psycho theme songs sounded cool.

Overall, I recommend this CD to anyone who is collecting Halloween music. There is enough on here that you might not easily find somewhere else to warrant you purchasing this Cd. December 25, 2007

Somewhat disappointing...

Not what I expected based on having heard the first one, which had more of a genuine "oooh, spooky" Halloween feel to it. This second one seemed more like what they would have done on their Christmas albums, which were really good for Christmas, but not for Halloween. It was still good...but lacking. December 4, 2007

Good.

This has 3 discs. 2 of the discs aren't worth the waste of a disc. However, the music disc is very enjoyable. I don't like the packaging either. December 3, 2007

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