Christmas Celebration
Christmas Celebration is a compilation album by Mannheim Steamroller. It is the group's seventh Christmas album overall. The album was released in 2004 on CD and DVD-Audio by American Gramaphone to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the group's first Christmas album.
| Christmas Celebration | ||||
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| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | October 12, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 1984-2004 | |||
| Genre | Christmas | |||
| Length | 65:08 | |||
| Label | American Gramaphone | |||
| Producer | Chip Davis | |||
| Mannheim Steamroller chronology | ||||
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| Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    link |
The album features eighteen Christmas songs in progressive rock and Renaissance styles, and includes a new track, "Celebration." A vocal version of "Traditions of Christmas," previously released only on a sampler CD included with the book Christmas: A Night Like No Other, is also included. The remaining songs are new mixes of previously released songs.
An edition of the album available exclusively at Target stores featured two extra songs: "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Messengers of Christmas."
Featured keyboard artist and Steamroller co-founder Jackson Berkey makes his final appearance on a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album.
Track listing
Writing credits adapted from liner notes except as indicated.[1]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Celebration" | Chip Davis | Previously unreleased | 2:37 | |
| 2. | "Christmas Lullaby" | Davis | Christmas in the Aire | 4:09 | |
| 3. | "Deck the Halls" | Traditional (Welsh ayre) | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 3:37 | |
| 4. | "Veni Veni (O Come O Come Emanuel)" (featuring the Cambridge Singers) | Traditional | Traditional (12th century French) | A Fresh Aire Christmas | 4:21 |
| 5. | "Away in a Manger" | James R. Murray | Christmas Extraordinaire | 3:22 | |
| 6. | "Hallelujah" (from The Messiah) | George F. Handel | Christmas Extraordinaire | 4:43 | |
| 7. | "O Tannenbaum" (featuring Johnny Mathis and the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club) | Ernst Anschütz | Traditional (German) | Christmas Extraordinaire | 3:01 |
| 8. | "Wassail, Wassail" | Traditional (English carol) | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 2:25 | |
| 9. | "Carol of the Birds" | Traditional (Bas-Quercy) | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 2:07 | |
| 10. | "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" (Renaissance version) | Traditional (English carol) | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 1:42 | |
| 11. | "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (rock version) | Traditional (English carol) | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 4:31 | |
| 12. | "Greensleeves" | Traditional (16th century English) | A Fresh Aire Christmas | 3:29 | |
| 13. | "Traditions of Christmas" (featuring LynnDee Mueller) | Davis | Davis | Christmas: A Night Like No Other[lower-alpha 1] | 3:40 |
| 14. | "Good King Wenceslas" | Traditional | Traditional (English carol) | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 3:32 |
| 15. | "Carol of the Bells" | Peter Wilhousky | Mykola Leontovych[lower-alpha 2] | A Fresh Aire Christmas | 3:53 |
| 16. | "Auld Lang Syne" | Robert Burns | Traditional (Scottish ayre) | Christmas Extraordinaire | 3:40 |
| 17. | "Fum, Fum, Fum" | Traditional (Spanish carol) | Christmas Extraordinaire | 4:54 | |
| 18. | "Stille Nacht (Silent Night)" | Franz Gruber | Mannheim Steamroller Christmas | 5:25 |
| No. | Title | Music | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19. | "The Holly and the Ivy" | Traditional (French melody) | A Fresh Aire Christmas | 3:03 |
| 20. | "Messengers of Christmas" | Davis[2] | Previously unreleased[lower-alpha 3] | 3:30 |
- Original recording from A Fresh Aire Christmas.
- Neither Wilhousky nor Leontovych is credited on the album, which simply describes the song as "19th century Ukrainian."
- Originally released with narration on The Christmas Angel; later re-released in this form on Christmasville.
References
- Christmas Celebration (booklet). Mannheim Steamroller. American Gramaphone. AG2020-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Christmasville (booklet). Mannheim Steamroller. American Gramaphone. AG1231-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)