Mannheim Steamroller: Halloween Monster Mix
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This was first released in 2004, which is the year I bought it. I listened to it in 2024 to review it. I know Mannheim Steamroller has done a bunch of Christmas albums (none of which I have, though I am familiar with at least one of their pieces of Christmas music), and probably a few Halloween ones, as well as countless other things, but this is the only album of theirs I've ever heard. It's actually a mix of music and sound effects (EFX) that originally appeared on an earlier Halloween 2-CD set, which I haven't got, plus three new tracks.

1. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice": It's more than a minute before this even starts to sound anything like the familiar piece of music. And throughout the piece, it sounds very different, more sort of tinny and mechanical. It's okay, but I prefer the original composition.

2. "Enchanted Forest" (EFX): It doesn't sound very realistically like a forest, but it's okay.

3. "Hall of the Mountain King": This is another familiar piece of which I prefer the original composition. Again, it's okay, but too mechanical. I suppose that's just the group's style.

4. "The Other Side" (EFX): This sounds a bit less mechanical, because I suppose it's not easy to make wind sound too artificial and still sound like wind. And eventually it gets into some, like, moaning sounds, or whatever. It's kinda ghostly. Not bad.

5. "Harvest Dance": This music has a Medieval sound to it, which I like, but it also sounds a bit modern, and obviously in the group's style.

6. "Enchanted Forest II" (EFX): I think this sounds almost more like a swamp than a forest, aside from the wolf howls and whatnot. But it's pretty similar to the first "Enchanted Forest".

7. "The Reaper" (EFX): This one's only 50 seconds long. It's a bunch of clocks, though the group manages to make it sound, somehow, even more mechanical than real clocks.

8. "Night on Bald Mountain": Another piece of familiar music that's been pretty much rearranged and modernized. And of course I prefer the original. But it's maybe a bit better than some of the other music on the CD, at least for half of its runtime. After that it gets even more... different.

9. "Ghost Voices" (EFX): This is even more ghostly than "The Other Side". I wish it were a bit longer than 35 seconds.

10. "Enchanted Forest III" (EFX): This is pretty much the same as the first two "Enchanted Forest" tracks. It doesn't seem worth making different ones.

11. "Crystal": The first 30 seconds or so of this sounds like the previous track was still going. After that it starts sounding properly crystal-ish. Still rather synth-y, though. But I do like it. It's kinda haunting, at least for the first half or so. Then it gets into some other sounds I don't like as much.

12. "Mountain King" (EFX): This is some ghoulish noises and screeches and whatnot, and a bit of wind in the background. Kinda scary I guess, but also kind of annoying.

13. "Night Ambience" (EFX): Crickets. 52 seconds of crickets.

14. "Full Moon": The crickets are still going, but some music starts, as well. It's actually kind of relaxing. Prettier than the other tracks, for sure.

15. "Enchanted Forest IV" (EFX): Again, too similar to the earlier tracks, but not bad.

16. "The Flying Dutchman": I'mt not at all sure if I've ever heard the original composition before, but I don't doubt I'd like it more than this. Not that I don't like this version. Just like all the tracks on the album, it's okay.

Well, I guess I'm just not wild about the group's style. It's all too sort of metallic, or something. (And I don't mean that as in metal music as a genre.) It's all... fine. I just don't feel the need to listen to it again, so I don't think I'll keep the CD. I should probably get a CD with Halloween-ish classical music that actually sounds like classical music.