Mannheim Steamroller: Chip Davis.

Recorded at Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, Illinois.

Personnel: Jennifer Cappelli, Carmen Llop, Mark Agnor, Fox Fehling, Roberta Freier, Nisanne Graff, Sando Xia, Steven Boe, Alison Dalton, Ronald Satkiewicz, Amy Cutler, David Earl Taylor, Paul Phillips, Clara Lindner, Arnie Roth, Michael Shelton (violin); Clara Takarabe, Karen Dirks, Benton Wedge, Marlou Johnston, Loretta Gillespie, Daniel Strba (viola); Lewis Kirk, Robert Barris (bassoon); Christine Worthing, Gregory Flint, Jason Herrick, Dale Clevenger (horns); Brenda Donati, Scott Rosenthal, Robert Kassinger, Larry Gray (double bass).

Audio Remixer: Brian Ackley.

Recording information: Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL; University Of Downstairs, Chip's House.

Halloween is further proof that Chip Davis and his American Gramaphone outfit plan to provide and market proper musical accompaniment for all holidays, themes, and moods. Davis and his Mannheim Steamroller hit that categorical trifecta in 2003 by releasing three discs within months of each other: Romantic Melodies (mood), American Spirit (theme), and Halloween (holiday). While Romantic Melodies collected previously released compositions from the Fresh Aire series and American Spirit combined old and new material, Halloween features original, Mannheim-style arrangements of appropriately dark classical pieces and a few new Davis compositions, with only a couple of catalog songs revisited to pad the disc. This ultimately helps make Halloween's music the best among these three highly marketable products. Creepy classical pieces usually heard around the holiday by composers such as Bach, Wagner, and Mussorgsky are given the signature synthetic Mannheim flare while going light on the scare. Davis' playful approach gives these standards a more comical feel, as if they were to be included on a soundtrack to a Munsters movie rather than a frightening monster movie. Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King is the most effective of these pieces as ghostly groans accompany the pizzicato string melody that is backed by an almost danceable drumbeat. Davis' own compositions, both old and new, serve the theme quite well, with the chugging rhythm of Rite of Twilight being the most interesting and amusing as strains from the theme song to TV's Twilight Zone provide the song's foundation. In addition to the music, a second disc of sound effects is included that is meant to be "shuffled" along with the music disc on a multi-CD player. While it may be utilized to good effect in conjunction with the music, on its own the "EFX" disc is quite repetitive and banal with a large portion of the tracks centered around the sounds of a nighttime forest enhanced by a synthesizer and only a few eerie sounds heard during The Other Side and Mountain King. Although Mannheim Steamroller may not provide any real thrills or chills for the holiday, it does emphasize (and synthesize) the happy in Happy Halloween, as the disc's jovial atmosphere makes one prone to having simple, pumpkin-carving fun rather than actually Smashing Pumpkins. ~ Aaron Latham

With more than half a dozen Christmas albums under his belt, Chip Davis drives his Mannheim Steamroller over to another beloved holiday: Halloween. On this supernatural-themed outing, Davis brings his trademark synth-and-orchestra bombast to compositions such as "Hall of the Mountain King," "The Flying Dutchman," "Night on Bald Mountain," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and more. Perhaps the most successful tune, however, is the opening track, "Toccata in Demole," which calls mad scientists and dark castles to mind. Throughout the album, Davis seems to be having a good, goofy time, and this consistently shows through, making it the musical equivalent of a fun Halloween night spent trick or treating.