National Anthem [Explicit Lyrics]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
In the tradition of Gang Starr and Reflection Eternal, THE AWAY TEAM pairs the tried-and-true tandem of the producer and MC tag-team. SEAN BOOG (the MC) and KHRYSIS (the producer) craft hard-hitting hip-hop that reflects both their East Coast roots, and their days in North Carolina. The album's production is handled entirely by KHRYSIS and features guest shots from SMIF-N-WESSUN, L.E.G.A.C.Y, RAPPER BIG POOH & PHONTE (of LITTLE BROTHER) and more.

National Anthem,Away Team,6 Hole,Pop,Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop

National Anthem [Explicit Lyrics]

Tracks:

Romance Anonyme - Jeux Interdits
I Love You
Italiana
Barcarolle
La Paloma
Lagune Waltz
Intermezzo From Cavalleria Rusticana
Roses From Tyrol
Chanson d'Amour
O Mio Babbino Caro From Madame Butterfly
William Tell Overture
Opera Medley
Italian National Anthem
Light Cavalry
Ode To Joy From Symphony No. 9

Customer Reviews:

Music to your ears..........2007-04-05

I can't say enough about this musician. The music will sooth your soul. A must have for your car CD player, it will help you through the traffic :}

Very relaxing to listen to .......2007-03-07

I'm a new fan to Andre Rieu. I didn't start getting into his music until I caught his Christmas special on my local PBS station last year. I found his performances highly energetic and playful which is rare in this often serious musical genre. After catching a repeat performance of "Tuscany", I decided to make the cd version my next Andre Rieu purchase. Whenever I listen to "Tuscany", I can easily see Andre Rieu performing with his orchestra. His skills as a violinist is exquisite. He is very subtle and is never out of tune. "Tuscany" begins with three of the most beautiful classical numbers I have ever heard. The beautiful orchestral melodies puts me at ease. I wished that the cd included "The Rose" (the Bette Midler tune) that can be seen on the dvd. I loved the operatic version. It would have been a nice addition to the cd. Of all the operatic numbers my favorite has to be "Ode to Joy". I have to admit though the singers have a terrible tendency to caterwaul on the songs which can be quite disconcerting for these ears. On the other hand the same can be said about a lot of opera singers as well as modern pop singers. There wasn't a single song on the cd that I didn't enjoy listening to. Andre Rieu's love for music really does shine through his music here. I hope some day I will have the opportunity to see him perform live. I don't think nothing can compare to seeing this talented artist live. Until then his cds will do nicely.

Outstanding program.......2007-02-10

What wouldn't I give to have been enjoying this magnificent program in that beautiful square in Italy? Fantastic performance of unbelievabe quality and program choices. I wouldn't trade this DVD for anything.

Andre Rieu's Tuscany.......2007-01-10

Haunting melodies taking you to the hills of Tuscany where this concert was originally held. Plays well while travelling as well as at home.

"Tuscany" is one of Andre Rieu's best shows! Excellent CD!.......2007-01-10

I'm an Andre Rieu fan and can definitely review this CD as one of his best! It was well-recorded with good sound quality, and you can hear the excitement of that evening in Tuscany as you listen to this CD. I would also recommend the DVD/Video of that performance.

Average customer rating:

Soviet Army Band & Chorus aren't taking any prisoners!
Good music.
Magnificent!
I loved it!
The ultimate collection

Best of the Red Army Choir
Red Army Choir
Manufacturer: Silva America
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Soviet Army Chorus & Band
Russian Favourites
The Hunt For Red October: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Best of Communism: Revolutionary Songs
Echoes of a Red Empire

ASIN: B000066RMJ
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Tracks:

Kalinka
Partisan's Song
Souliko
Korobelniki
On The Road (A Soldier's Song)
My Country
The Red Army Is The Strongest
Moscow Nights
Along Peterskaia Street
Smuglianka
Troika Gallop
Ah Nastassia
Echelon's Song
My Army
Civil War Songs
Bella Ciao

Tracks:

National Anthem Of The USSR
Oh Fields, My Fields
The Cliff
The Cossacks
In The Central Steppes
Gandzia
Cossack's Song
The Roads
Song Of The Volga Boatman
Dark Eyes
Let's Go
The Birch Tree
The Road Song
The Samovars
Varchavianka
Slavery And Suffering

Customer Reviews:

Soviet Army Band & Chorus aren't taking any prisoners!.......2007-05-12

If you enjoy a good stiring martial male chorus then spend some time with these guys. They're all graduates of Soviet musical acadamies and any one of them could have graced the top opera houses of the world. You don't have to know any Russian to appreciate this CD. The songs are glorious (just don't translate them -- machine guns, death to foes, etc.), and will make you want to march on Berlin all over again.

Good music........2007-03-09

I had heard a few songs by the Red Army Choir in the past and happened upon this CD set a while back, I found it to be far better than I had hoped and would reccoment it to anyone who enjoys Russian folk music, choir in general, and cultural items from when Russia was still the Soviet Union.

Magnificent!.......2007-02-27

I'm so glad I stumbled onto this.

Spirited, committed, manly singing. Soul-shaking stuff! The ensemble is incisive; soloists are marvelous. The folk melodies are enchanting. The songs--and the singers--are bound up in the cultural fabric of the Cossacks, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky...on and on.., Chekhov, Trotsky, Nabakov... This music conveys the great romantic, dignified, boistrous soul of the Russian People. (Loosely speaking. Some members of the chorus were presumably of other nationalities once part of the Soviet Union. And some of the songs are not Russian).

I don't speak Russian, but listening to this makes me wish I did. What a beautiful-sounding language it is.

I loved it!.......2007-02-22

Even though I cannot speak Russian, the quality of this choral group is beyond excellent. Many of these pieces are extremely moving and stirring. The rendering of the Soviet anthem and the song "Let's Go" (V'put) come to my mind. "Let's Go" became a huge hit in Russia when it was featured in a movie about the Great Patriotic War, and indeed, hearing it - you can well imagine ranks upon ranks of hard-eyed, grim-faced Soviet soldiers striding into battle against the Wehrmacht.

The ultimate collection.......2004-06-15

Excellent performance by the choir and the orchestra. The grandeur, the charm, and the romance! Great collection of songs, sure to bring back memories!

The Military Band: Salute to the Services

Average customer rating:

Marching along
Traditional American marches
GREAT MUSIC!
Why not ZERO?
Great Military Music

The Military Band: Salute to the Services
Francis Saltus Van Boskerek , Robert M. Crawford , John Stafford Smith , John Philip Sousa , American Traditional , Joseph Franz Wagner , Charles A. Zimmerman , and Felix Slatkin
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Sousa's Greatest Hits
Stars & Stripes Forever and the Greatest Marches
Music of the U.S. Armed Forces
America's Bugle Calls
God Bless America: Ult Patriotic Album

ASIN: B000006OGX
Release Date: 1998-06-02

Tracks:

Reveille
Salute To The Services: The US Field Artillery March
Salute To The Services: Anchors Aweigh
US Marines On Parade
Salute To The Services: US Air Force Song
Salute To The Services: Semper Paratus
Salute To The Services: The Stars & Stripes Forever
Salute To The Services: Semper Fidelis
Salute To The Services: National Emblem
Salute To The Services: El Capitan
Salute To The Services: Washington Post
Salute To The Services: The Thunderer
Salute To The Services: Under The Double Eagle
Salute To The Services: American Patrol
Salute To The Services: The Star Spangled Banner
Taps

Customer Reviews:

Marching along.......2007-05-12

I am a walker..(up to 15 miles per week) Having made this purchase... I now march along with Sousa and the other greats on this fine album....I heartily recommend it to all....as well as Amazon's timely and fairly priced services...

Traditional American marches.......2007-03-22

These are traditional American marches well played and stirring. The CD and case are of good quality, and the sound is excellent.

GREAT MUSIC!.......2007-03-11

This is an unusual Music CD to a great price.
Something to celebrate July 4 and our nation.
Highly recommended.

Why not ZERO? .......2007-01-27

I would give this one ZERO.....absolutely waste of money. The sound quality is terrible on my Made in Japan SONY / Kenwood / Panasonic CD / MP3 Players. Also, the collection of the noise is not all that impressive, I have seen much better calming peaceful MUSIC. Do not waste money, I think it is rediculous to have a band for military, How about a band for PEACE?

Great Military Music.......2007-01-11

The CD was just what I needed for a special memorial tribute to our service people that have passed on. The recording was clear and bright. The music selections were well performed and TAPS was especially evoking.

Average customer rating:

The Story Of Haydn

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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The Story of Beethoven
The Story Of Handel
The Story of Mozart
The Story of Bach
The Story of Schubert

ASIN: B000001KD1
Release Date: 1995-04-16

Tracks:

Symphony No. 104 In D Major 'London': Menuetto - Allegro
Harpsicord Concerto In D Major: Vivace
Symphony No. 100 In G Major 'Miltary': Allegretto
Mass No. 2 In E- Flat Major: Great Organ Mass
Symphony No. 82 In C Major 'The Bear': Vivace assai
Keyboard Sonata No. 48 In C Major: Allegro con brio
Symphony No. 45 In F-Sharp Minor 'Farewell': Allegro assai
Violin Concerto No. 1 In C Major: Allegro moderato
Allegro con spirito
Symphony No. 96 In D Major 'Miracle': Allegro
Symphony No. 96 In D Major 'Miracle': Andante
Baryton Divertimento No. 107 In D Major: Minuet and Trio
Music Clock
Trumpet Concerto In E-Flat Major: Adagio
Symphony No. 45 In F-Sharp Minor 'Farewell': Adagio
Symphony No. 82 In C Major 'The Bear': Vivace
Symphony No.11 In G Major 'Miltary': Excerpts
Philemon And Baucis: Tenor Aria 'Nemo'
Symphony No. 104 In D Major 'London': Allegro spiritoso
Horn Concerto No. 2 In D Major: Allegro
Symphony No. 101 In D Major 'Clock': Presto; Menuetto (Allegretto)
Symphony No. 94 In G Major 'Surprise': Andante
Symphony No. 96 In D Major 'Miracle': Vivace assai
Symphony No. 101 In D Major 'Clock': Andante
Symphony No. 104 In D Major 'London': Andante
Mass in D-flat Major: Gloria
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76 No. 3 Emperor
The Creation: Chrous: 'The Heavens are Telling'
Austrian National Anthem
Cello Concerto In D Major, Hob. VIIb, No. 2: Moderato
Cello Concerto In D Major, Hob. VIIb, No. 2: Adagio
Cello Concerto In D Major, Hob. VIIb, No. 2: Allegro molto

Average customer rating:

Eeww!
this land is your land
America's Favorite Patriotic Songs
Great Place to Start a Patriotic Music Collection

America's Favorite Patriotic Songs
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Brentwood
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

United We Stand: Songs for America
American Pride: Sixteen Stirring Patriotic Themes
God Bless America
Patriotic Country
God Bless America: Ult Patriotic Album

ASIN: B0000649N4
Release Date: 2002-04-23

Tracks:

America, The Beautiful - Katherine Lee Bates
God Bless America - Irving Berlin
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
The Star Spangled Banner - Francis Scott Key
Armed Forces Medley - The Caissons Go Rolling Along, Anchors Aweigh, Semper Paratus, The Wild Blue Yonder, From The Halls Of Montezuma - Don Marsh
My Country 'Tis Of Thee - Don Marsh
God Bless The USA - Lee Greenwood
The Battle Hymn Of The Republic - Julia Ward Howe
If My People - Joel Lindsey
God Save America - Dean Diehl
The Stars And Stripes Forever Medley - John Phillip Sousa

Customer Reviews:

Eeww!.......2006-06-19

This is like the music to one of those theme park Celebrate America type shows. The musical arrangements have that hokey, somewhat dated, overly sweet and enthusiatic feel I hate. I thought I was getting the standard versions of these songs but what I got was the cruise ship extravaganza, yuck!

this land is your land.......2006-04-17

to think that "this land is your land" is a patriotic song is laughable at best, however is a common misconception of the song. you'd think that the creators of this cd would research the songs they put on the cd a little more, and find that "this land is your land" is actually a protest song (original lyrics contained lyrics such as "on that sign there it said private property/but on the other side it didn't say nothing/that side was made for you and me", an obvious attack on capitalism".

America's Favorite Patriotic Songs.......2005-09-30

The title says it all.
Good old fashioned "goose bump" music.

Great Place to Start a Patriotic Music Collection.......2002-09-12

This choral collection features a majority of the best known and loved patriotic songs from our country's history. I'll admit I was a little leery of the choral part when I first picked it up, but I've found that, for the most part, it works really well.

It especially stands out on the acappella version of "My Country 'Tis of Thee." It's absolutely stunning. Other fun songs are "This Land is Your Land," which I really wasn't familiar with before I bought this, and a personal recent favorite song "God Bless the USA." I love having the "Armed Forces Medley" on here so I can learn these songs. And the instrumental arrangement on "Stars and Stripes Forever Medley" at the end has me taping my toes every time I hear it.

There are a couple missteps, however. I've heard better versions of "The Star Spangled Banner." I think one reason I'm disappointed with it is that they only include one verse. I love the other verses of our national anthem, and wished they'd included at least one more since they included multiple verses of all the other songs. Also, "If My People" and "God Save America," while find songs, just don't seem to fit here.

Overall, you can't go wrong with this collection. I'm just starting to look for patriotic music, and this has been a wonderful first CD.

God Bless America: Ult Patriotic Album
Average customer rating:

Music we all need to hear once in a while.

A very good CD

Revision of history

Lovely CD--shameful misspelling on the song titles

The Ultimate Patriotic Album

God Bless America: Ult Patriotic Album

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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God Bless America

America's Favorite Patriotic Songs

The Military Band: Salute to the Services

Stars & Stripes Forever, Vol. 2

Music of the U.S. Armed Forces

ASIN: B000068C7V
Release Date: 2002-06-11

Tracks:

Yankee Doodle
Star Bangled Banner (vocal)
God Bless America
Battle Hymn Of The Republic
Shenandoah
Amazing Grace
America The Beautiful
Simple Gifts
America (My Country 'Tis Of Thee)
Over There
You're A Grand Old Flag
Thru The Years 1776-1969
Semper Fidelis
Washington Post
American Patrol
Star Bangled Banner (instrumental)
The Caissons Go Rolling Along
Anchors Aweigh
Semper Paratus
The Air Force Song
The Marines' Hymn
The Stars And Stripes Forever

Customer Reviews:

Music we all need to hear once in a while........2007-01-04

This album is well put together and I enjoy the old standards. Music is an integral part of our heritage. Often when I listen to this album, I think about what our country has been through and how very, very important it is to appreciate what we have. I spent 3 years living in France in the 60's and I cannot tell you how much all Americans looked forward to going "Home!"

Enjoy!!

A very good CD.......2005-06-16

If you like a mix of songs and marches very well played, this CD is for you. The voices of the singers are good, the music support the lyrics and it is easy to listen or to sing along. Also, nearby half of the tunes are played by the Band of the Grenadier Guards and for me, this Band is the best band to play Sousa marches and military marches. The precision of the execution is perfect, the sound is lovely and the technical quality of the recording is perfect. When I listen Anchors Aweigh, I always hear the sound of the waves and it is one of the only bands that gives me this feeling. If you have just one CD of military music to buy, you may buy this one; it is a best buy.

Revision of history.......2005-03-27

As usual, "Dixie," "The Bonnie Blue Flag," and other songs of a Southern genre are conspicuously absent. Why not throw in a couple of rap tunes to make this album truly "American?"

Lovely CD--shameful misspelling on the song titles.......2002-11-22

I do not own this CD--though it appears it would be a wonderful album to listen to. I was compelled to write my review because of the misspelling of our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner (as opposed to "The Star Bangled Banner" as it appears not once but twice on the song list). I do hope this error is corrected.

The Ultimate Patriotic Album.......2002-07-20

For all those patriots out there who want to listen to classical patriotic music, then get this album. This has a lot of tracks from yankee doodle march to the Washington post march. Even Amazing grace is here. The orchestras and the chorus here, gave there best performance ever.

Enjoy

Assassins (2004 Broadway Revival Cast)
Average customer rating:

Unworthy of This Show

Great.

Deserves a place in your Sondheim Discography

Dashed high hopes

Letdown from the original

Assassins (2004 Broadway Revival Cast)
Stephen Sondheim , Neil Patrick Harris , Marc Kudisch , Michael Cerveris , Denis O'Hare , and James Barbour
Manufacturer: P.S. Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
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Sweeney Todd (2005 Broadway Revival Cast)

Assassins (1991 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

Assassins

The Frogs (2004 Broadway Cast)

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005 Original Broadway Cast)

ASIN: B0002B161Y
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Tracks:

Everybody's Got The Right
Ballad Of Booth
Ladies And Gentlemen, A Toast!
How I Saved Roosevelt
What Does A Man Do...?
Gun Song
Ballad Of Czolgosz
Unworthy Of Your Love
I Am A Terrifying And Imposing Figure...!
Ballad Of Guiteau
Have It Your Way
Another National Anthem
Take A Look Lee
Something Just Broke
Everybody's Got The Right

Amazon.com

"Everybody's got a right/To their dream." So begins Stephen Sondheim's 1991 show Assassins--and in this case, said dreams involve killing an American president. The characters form a veritable rogues' gallery, including John Hinckley, Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth of course, but also half-forgotten luminaries such as Leon Czolgosz (who killed McKinley) and "Squeaky" Fromme (who aimed for Gerald Ford with an unloaded gun). While Sondheim's lyrics are trenchant as ever, his music, which ranges from Sousa pomp to clever little waltzes, is technically brilliant but also oddly uninvolving. (Many fans prefer the recording of the 1991 Off-Broadway version, though "Something Just Broke," which was added to the 1992 London production, makes its recorded debut here.) Still, there are several high points. In "Unworthy of Your Love," for instance, Hinckley and Fromme wax poetic about their unrequited love for Jodie Foster and Charles Manson, respectively, in a Burt Bacharach-style ballad that's deliberately (I hope!) sappy. And of course as with most Sondheim shows, the cast of this revival--Michael Cerveris, Mario Cantone, Becky Ann Baker, Marc Kudisch, Denis O'Hare--is very good. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Unworthy of This Show.......2007-03-01

Assassins is a masterpiece of American theatre. Through a revue of skits and songs, it examines ideas we don't want to face, and shows us the flip side of the American Dream. The score rates as one of Sondheim's best, and the overall effect, when the show is performed well, is incredibly powerful. For years, people have wanted to mount a production on Broadway.

Given this result, they needn't have bothered.

I am still amazed at how much this production got wrong. The principal cast is nothing short of dreadful: the acting is almost laughably overwrought; the pacing keeps getting disrupted by pauses held too long and lines spoken too slowly; some singers are frequently behind the tempo (notably Michael Ceveris as Booth), while others are painful to listen to (like Jeffrey Kuhn as Zangara and Mario Cantone as Sam Byck); the new orchestrations allow for more musicians in the pit, but are much less effective than the earlier arrangements.

To top it all off, this production includes "Something Just Broke", a song sung by the Ensemble as various "average" Americans of different time periods recalling where they were when the president was shot. The song was introduced in the London production, presumably for people who didn't understand the show to have something to latch on to, but it was mercifully kept out of the published vocal score and libretto. It's not a bad song in and of itself, but musically it does not fit in with the rest of the score, and dramatically it doesn't fit in with the rest of the script. Worse, it is placed right between the Kennedy assassination -- the climax of the show -- and the finale, thus skewing all the dramatic momentum and depriving the show of an effective resolution.

The result of all this is that the comic moments aren't funny, the powerful moments fail to move, and the wonderful music is left ho-hum.

I realize that the extraordinary cast of the original production of Assassins presents a dauntingly high standard for everyone else to compare to, but the college productions I've seen were better than this.

Great. .......2006-11-08

What an amazingly talented cast! Neil Patrick Harris, Marc Kudisch, Alex Gemignani (The new Valjean in the revival of Les Miserables) and of course, the former demon barber of Fleet Street, Michael Cerveris (in the role that won him a Tony)...Just to hear these giants of musical theatre perform together as an ensemble alone is worth the price of this recording. This recording is so wonderfully done, and I can't recommend this enough.

'Unworthy of your Love' and 'The Ballad of Booth' are heartbreakingly beautiful, strange that I say that considering the subject matter, but it's true, those two songs alone will stay with you for days on end. The Ballad of Booth has poetic and tragic lyrics like 'Damn my soul, if you must, let my body turn to dust, let it mingle with the ashes of my country...What I did, I did well, and I did it for my country. Let them cry 'Dirty Traitor!', they will understand later...'. and the hauntingly gorgeous melody that goes with those lyrics is just so well, romantic! But then you have the tongue-in-cheek, slightly macabre numbers like 'The Gun Song' and 'Everybody's Got The Right' with lyrics like, 'Everybody's got the right to be happy. Life's not as bad as it seems! Everybody deserves a little sunshine...' and 'All you have to do is, move your little finger...and you can change the world!'

What a rollarcoaster of emotion! I mean, seriously, who else but Sondheim could pull that off and make it the brilliant masterpiece that it clearly is?

One of my biggest regrets is not seeing this during it's brief run in 2004. :(

Deserves a place in your Sondheim Discography.......2006-07-28

Like other reviewers I was fortunate enough to see Roundabout's revival production but perhaps unfortunate that my total enjoyment of that production may bias my critical listening. I can't help but recall the proprietor (Marc Kudish) caressing a pistol into the hand of each assassin when listening to the opening Everybody's Got The Right.

However, while fans of Sondheim and musical theater will argue over every nuance, I find that both this and the original are excellent in their own way. Yes, the voices in the first recording are more refined, yet this recording seems to better capture the character's mannerisms in the vocal stylization, whether the twitchy madness of Guiteau (Dennis O'Hare) or the depressed howl of Sam Byck (Mario Cantone).

This is a worthwhile recording and one that provides me with a reprise of the excellent staging and acting of this quirky play.

Dashed high hopes.......2006-07-14

Assassins is a fascinating and surprising show. You can't imagine a more unlikely topic for a musical and yet, when you hear and/or see the show, you can't help to be impressed by the entire production. Maybe if I'd never heard the original cast recording, I would have given this a higher rating, but, to be frank, this recording suffers in comparison to the original recording in nearly every way.

While the diction on this recording is often impressive...especially Neil Patrick Harris's...too often it is accomplished at the price of tempo. Too many times the musical director has made the choice to slow down portions of the songs to the point of sluggishness. Absolutely NONE of the performances is superior to the original. That doesn't mean that any of the newer performances are horrible, it's just that they don't measure up. The one who comes the closest is Neil Patrick Harris whom I find naturally charming and vulnerable in anything he does.

The best addition to this recording is Mario Cantone's rant as Sam Byck. Unfortunately, I can't recommend getting this recording based solely on that. The biggest mis-step is the omission of the full, final, Kennedy scene. Hearing it on the original recording for the first time is an absolutely thrilling and chilling experience. Not having it all here is a MAJOR disappointment.

Buy the original recording first and check this one out from the library.

Letdown from the original.......2006-04-10

I have been a huge fan of Assassins since it first came out back in '91. While I've never had the pleasure of seeing the play in person, I've read it several times and listened to the original cast recording so often one can hardly believe it. So when I saw "Broadway Cast Recording" I was thrilled. Then I listened to it. I went from thrilled to appalled.

John Weideman, who wrote the music, seems to prefer the Broadway cast recording--at least he says so in its liner notes. I'm not sure why. While some of the songs are still excellent (like the Hinckley-Fromme duet "Unworthy of Your Love"), many of them are just plain painful to listen to. Most of the time the singing vaccilates between being totally flat of affect (most notably Moore in "The Gun Song") to hyperbolic melodrama. Booth mumbles to the point of near-unintelligibility in several songs; Zangara sounds eerily like the mob boss from 'Johnny Dangerously' that keeps calling everyone "farging bastages"; Moore sings nearly the whole time as if she'd OD'd on sedatives; and Guiteau sounds so stereotypically gay that GLAAD should be suing the producer.

It almost seems as if the cast are not sure what do do with their characters. The cast of the Original Cast Recording hit the characters perfectly--an outstanding mix of suffering, despair, anger and hostility. The Broadway cast can't seem to, in the language of the musical, "connect" to the characters. For me this is a huge failing, as the "charcaters" here are real individuals; if the performers can't connect to them, how can we be expected to?

There are also some content differences between this recording and the original. Several brief additions are made from elsewhere in the musical, and the new song "Something Just Broke" written for the Broadway revival is included on the recording. However, about half of the last act (which is included on the original) is cut out. Sadly, the material cut out is far more moving, unsettling and significant than the material added. Also, "Something Just Broke", while a fine song (and performed better than most of the rest of the material), unfortunately breaks up the natural link between the Kennedy assassination's triumphalist ending and the closing version of "Everybody's Got the Right".

I gave this three stars because I love Assassins. It is a brilliant and unnerving drama. But the Original Cast Recording is immensely superior to the Broadway Cast Recording in its ability to reveal this to the audience. I'm glad it was revived, and I'm glad it won three Tony awards--now it can get the recognition it deserves; but for me, I'll stick to the original version I fell in love with years ago. If only the Broadway recording has found a way to be "worthy of your love"...

Thank God It's Friday!: The Music of Shabbat

Average customer rating:

Shabbat not.
powerfully spiritual
Poignant musical celebration of the holiness of Shabbat
I want my money back
Although It's Not What I Was Looking For . . .

Thank God It's Friday!: The Music of Shabbat

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Classic Jewish Holiday & Shabbat Songs
Shalom: Music Of The Jewish People
Most Popular Songs From Israel: Hava Nagila
Shaarei Shabbat: Songs & Blessings For Your Jewish Home
Sacred Chants of the Contemporary Synagogue

ASIN: B000001KF3
Release Date: 1997-11-18

Tracks:

Shalom Aleichem
Tzadik Katamar
V'ahavta
L'cha Dodi
Mi Kamocha
V'Ahavta Chaissidic
Aleinu, Va'Nachnu, The Lord Shall Reign
Kiddush (Erev Shabbat)
Adon Olam
Mah Tovu
V'ahavta
Kedushah Responses
Yismechu
He That Shall Endure
Ein Kamocha
Shema, Echad & L'cha
Torah B'rachot
Hado Al Eretz
Eitz Chayim
Adon Olam
Adir Hu
Maoz Tsur
Hatikvah (Violin Version)
Hatikvah (Choir Version)

Customer Reviews:

Shabbat not........2006-06-26

This CD is just a little too much churchy. Choir and organ music not what I remember from Shabbat services. Otherwise good.

powerfully spiritual.......2005-11-24

I usually play this when I am home alone. It is very moving and brings me to tears also. The solo voices are very beautiful. The music is also serene in some ways and I feel close to God when listening to it. I want to find more like it.

Poignant musical celebration of the holiness of Shabbat.......2005-11-22

Thank God It's Friday has a completely different meaning for Jews. Sure, it's the end of the work week, but it's also a sacred time to devote ourselves to exploring our relationship with G-d. Depending on the branch of Judaism, anything from turning on the lights, turning the key in the ignition, or even writing falls under the 39 categories of forbidden work. Eighteen minutes before sunset, the Shabbat candles are lit and blessed, and the evening and next day is "a rest of love freely given, a rest of truth and sincerity, a rest in peace and tranquility, in quietude and safety." Shabbat has been likened to a bride (Shabbat ha-Kallah) and queen (Shabbat ha-Malkah), immortalized in Solomon ben Moses HaLvi Alkabets' poem L'kha Dodi.

Jews have always used music in worship (Psalm 150 is a good example); in the First and Second Temples, the Levites engaged in vocal and instrumental music, with the liturgy being sung chorally. Jewish liturgical music rapidly came into its own during the Middle Ages, with Sephardic music being strongly influenced by the Muslim occupation. The Reform movement sought to incorporate organ and trained choirs based on German Protestantism, and this is the sound present on "Thank God It's Friday."

There are 24 beautiful tracks, some instrumental (Shalom Aleichem, V'ahavta, Hatikvah), some with soloists (V'ahavta, L'cha Dodi, Aleinu, Va'Nachnu, Kiddush, Kedusha), and many with organ and full choir. This CD brought tears to my eyes with its beautiful, uplifting renditions of sacred songs, the combination of violin, organ, flute and full choir sounding very rich. Although other reviewers have mentioned the "echoey" sound, I didn't notice it at all. An absolute bargain for the current price, and a wonderful gift for those who love Jewish, classical, or liturgical choral music. Shabbat shalom!

I want my money back.......2005-07-28

This is worse than Kumbya over and over and over again.

Although It's Not What I Was Looking For . . ........2003-06-27

It might address your needs . . . Think classical orchestra with classical choir . . . With the tempo running a tad on the slow side (actually more than just a tad) . . . It's not bad. You might enjoy the pompous nature of its classical renditions . . . I was hoping for a little more joy . . . This CD is just not what I wanted. Sigh.

Tracks:

Star Spangled Banner
American Spirit
America The Beautiful
Convoy
Fanfare For The Common Man
Yellowstone Morning
Heritage
Wolf Creek Pass
Home On The Range
Mt. Mckinley
Cloudburst
Tin Type
Battle Hymn Of The Republic

Customer Reviews:

I liked it.......2007-06-30

I liked the CD overall. The choral numbers build very nicely and Home on the Range is a unique item done in this style.

Almost as Good as the Christmas Music.......2007-05-27

I love Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas music, so I've been collecting their music for other holidays as well. I wish they'd avoided the occasional speaking parts in this but I love most of the musical parts. They did a good job on the Aaron Copland piece! I'll be listening to it other than on July 4th.

igottaview.......2007-03-08

GREAT ALBUM! Not quite as BIG as Trans Siberian but still a keeper!

Manheim Steamroller's American Spirit.......2007-02-13

Another excellent CD I'd recommend to all ages, even us oldsters!

American Spirit: Mannheim Stemroller.......2007-01-09

Adequate, but not as inspirational as I'd hoped. Much reciting.

Blessings to Amazon!

Three Hit Albums from the U.S. Military Bands

Average customer rating:

Bicentennial Military Music
Disappointed listener
Classic US Service Band Recordings!

Three Hit Albums from the U.S. Military Bands

Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Hymns | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Forward March! Great American Marches
Sousa's Greatest Hits
Stars & Stripes Forever and the Greatest Marches
Music of the U.S. Armed Forces
The Military Band: Salute to the Services

ASIN: B00020QWXW
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Tracks:

Marines' Hymn (From The Hall Of
Montezuma)
Semper Fidelis
Bugler's Holiday
Commando March
March Of The Women Marines
March Of The Olympians
Stars And Stripes Forever
The Chimes Of Liberty
American Patrol
America The Beautiful
The Star-Spangled Banner
Anchors Aweigh
El Capitan
The Jack Tar Match
U.S. Navy March
Allies On The March (from "Victory At
Sea")
The Thunderer
Washington Post March
National Emblem
The National Cultural Center March
King Cotton March
The Star-Spangled Banner
The U.S. Air Force
American Salute
Boys Of The Old Brigade
Oh, Men Who Fly
Fairest Of The Fair
Seventy-Six Trombones
Liberty Bell
U.S. Air Force Blue
Bullets And Bayonets
Falcons' Victory March
The Star-Spangled Banner

Product Description

Disc 1:
1. Marine's Hymn
2. Semper Fidelis
3. Bugler's Holiday
4. Commando March
5. March of The Women Marines
6. March of the Olympians
7. Stars and Stripes Forever
8. Chimes of Liberty, The
9. American Patrol
10. America the Beautiful
11. Star-Spangled Banner, The
12. Anchors Aweigh
13. El Capitan
14. Jack Tar March, The
15. U.S. Navy March
16. Allies on the March

Disc 2:
1. Thunderer, The
2. Washington Post March
3. National Emblem
4. National Cultural Center March, The
5. King Cotton March
6. Star-Spangled Banner, The
7. U.S. Air Force, The
8. American Salute
9. Boys Of The Old Brigade
10. Oh, Men Who Fly
11. Fairest of the Fair
12. Seventy-Six Trombones
13. Liberty Bell
14. U.S. Air Force Blue
15. Bullets and Bayonets
16. Falcons' Victory March
17. Star-Spangeld Banner, The

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

Bicentennial Military Music.......2007-03-28

The music from these three US Military Bands was originally released in 1977 as single Long Playing Records to celebrate the Nation's Bicentennial Celebration. It is missing the US ARMY BAND (which I regret) but otherwise the music is GREAT and the Bands are FIRST CLASS as you might expect. Except for the different services renderings of THE NATIONAL ANTHEM, no marches are duplicated. If you enjoy good foot tapping Martial Music...this 2-CD set is worth the price.

Disappointed listener.......2006-05-13

I have been listening to military band music for years, and am rarely disappointed. However, this compendium of music by the U.S. Navy, Army, and Marine bands and associated choral groups is not to my taste. Many of the arrangements are strange, and there is much too much vocal music when what I want to hear is the bands play. I would not have bought this album hhad I known beforehand what I know now.

Classic US Service Band Recordings!.......2005-08-10

Its nice to see these old RCA recordings brought out on CD. These were originally released on LP back in the early 1960s to help finance the Kennedy Center in DC. They were popular recordings then. Unfortunatley only three out of the original four are offered here. Missing is the US Army Band which also recorded as part of this series. The sound qaulity has been left largely as it was, which wes pretty good for early 1960s. The only problem with the original recordings was that they tended to sound poor on the inner tracks of the LP. Fortunately that problem no longer exists on CD. Due to the format there tends to be some repeat material here. How many times do we have to hear the national anthem played by each band! Still, there are some good selections played when these bands were in their prime and larger than they are today. Its good to see recordings being re-issued on US service bands other than Altissimo! which tends to use just in-the-can material from band libraries. Here we have the original stuff played in a manner which is no longer done today. For those seeking vintage recordings of US service bands you can't go wrong here.

Soul Music:

Soul Music

soul music

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