A Fresh Aire Christmas

A Fresh Aire Christmas is the tenth studio album and second Christmas album by American musical group Mannheim Steamroller, released in 1988.

A Fresh Aire Christmas
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 15, 1988 (1988-09-15)
Recorded1987–1988
GenreChristmas, symphonic pop
Length40:57
LabelAmerican Gramaphone
ProducerChip Davis
Mannheim Steamroller chronology
Classical Gas
(1987)
A Fresh Aire Christmas
(1988)
Yellowstone: The Music of Nature
(1989)
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums chronology
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
(1984)
A Fresh Aire Christmas
(1988)
Christmas in the Aire
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

The album was the last to feature Eric Hansen as a member of the band. It is the highest selling album in the Chip Davis/Mannheim Steamroller music catalog.[2]

When selecting the tracks, Chip Davis had requested of fans to submit three of their favorite Christmas songs. He then tabulated the results and sent a note of thanks and a copy of the album to those fans who had a song selected.[3]

On June 21, 2004, A Fresh Aire Christmas was certified by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of six million copies in the United States, making it one of the best-selling holiday albums in the U.S.[4]

Four of the album's tracks were included in the group's 2004 compilation Christmas Celebration.

As of November 2014, A Fresh Aire Christmas is the sixth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. for the Nielsen SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 3,660,000 copies during this period according to SoundScan.[5] The album has become the band's biggest success, even surpassing their first Christmas release, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.

Track listing

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A Fresh Aire Christmas track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Hark! The Herald Trumpets Sing" Chip Davis[a]1:23
2."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Traditional (18th century German)3:27
3."Veni Veni (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)" (featuring the Cambridge Singers)TraditionalTraditional (12th century French)4:15
4."The Holly and the Ivy" Traditional (ancient French)2:58
5."The Little Drummer Boy" Katherine Kennicott Davis[b]4:06
6."Still, still, still" Traditional (Austrian)3:39
7."Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" Traditional (15th century German)2:23
8."In Dulci Jubilo" Traditional (16th century German)2:43
9."Greensleeves" Traditional (16th century English)3:24
10."Carol of the Bells"Peter WilhouskyMykola Leontovych[c]3:48
11."Traditions of Christmas" Davis3:32
12."Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night)" Adolphe Adam[d]5:19
  1. ^ Uncredited in the tracklist, described as "20th century (16th century style)." Davis credits himself in the liner notes, acknowledging the influence of composer Giovanni Gabrieli.
  2. ^ Uncredited; attributed as "20th century American."
  3. ^ Neither Wilhousky nor Leontovych is credited; attributed as "19th century Ukrainian."
  4. ^ Uncredited in tracklist and attributed as "19th century French"; Davis credits Adam in the liner notes.

References

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  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ "Mannheim Steamroller Albums ranked by sales". Best Selling Albums.org.
  3. ^ Newman, Melinda (October 16, 2015). "Mannheim Steamroller's Chip Davis On How To Build A Multi-Million Dollar Brand". Forbes.com. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  5. ^ "The Gifts That Keep on Giving: Biggest Radio and Album Hits of the Holidays". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.