A harbinger of the
new age
movement,
Mannheim Steamroller
's debut is a unique mix of light
classical
piano music,
progressive rock
, and
medieval
songs. Composer
Chip Davis
breaks the album into 12 semi-
structures (sonatas, interludes, even a disguised passacaglia) that match up to the seasons, rendering
Fresh Aire
a concept album about nature and life. Most of the music is played by
Jackson Berkey
, dubbing piano, harpsichord, and synthesizers atop one another with a minimal rhythm section from
Davis
and
Eric Hansen
. At its spaciest,
sounds like
Keith Emerson
or
Camel
; when the band's in a
mood,
Gentle Giant
(notably
"Talybont"
) comes to mind. Audiophiles took a real shine to
, both for the superior album packaging and the clean sound (if memory serves,
American Gramaphone
used to charge on the high side for their LPs). As CD technology was introduced, the
series was reissued and became a popular demo for its inoffensive high-mindedness as much as its dynamic range. While sections of
are very pretty, the frequent interludes cost the album its momentum (and are a full half of the months really sad?). When
cuts loose -- as on
"Rondo,"
"Chocolate Fudge,"
"Saras Band"
-- they're a hoot. The solo piano passages are all right, but listeners would do better to turn to budding
ambient
composers (
Brian Eno
),
electronic
acts (
Tangerine Dream
), and the original masters (
Claude Debussy
,
Sergei Rachmaninoff
) themselves. Then again, a mix of
prog
and mawkish piano melodies might be just what you're looking for. ~ Dave Connolly