When it comes to Christmas music, there are two kinds of people in this world: the die-hards for Trans-Siberian Orchestra and the same for Mannheim Steamroller. Though I have always appreciated the sound of the former, I have been listening to the latter for much longer, and think that they have a better sounding, wider range of songs, and that there is some tradition behind what they do, given their playing and restoring of music from the Renaissance and Medieval Times that would have been all but forgotten otherwise. For 2011, they are back and better than ever, with their eleventh Christmas album alone, titled, Christmas Symphony. Though there are not any new songs on the album, each one has been completely re-orchestrated, led by the band’s founder and drummer Chip Davis, with some help from the Czech Republic Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Arnie Roth.
