Audio CD review:
Edwin Eugene Bagley, Philip Egner, Morton Gould, Lee Greenwood, Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, G. S. Scofield, John Philip Sousa, Mark Taylor [composer], Randall Thompson, Various Composers - God Bless The USA / U.S. Army Band & Chorus

Edwin Eugene Bagley, Philip Egner, Morton Gould, Lee Greenwood, Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, G. S. Scofield, John Philip Sousa, Mark Taylor [composer], Randall Thompson, Various Composers - God Bless The USA / U.S. Army Band & Chorus

Band: Edwin Eugene Bagley, Philip Egner, Morton Gould, Lee Greenwood, Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, G. S. Scofield, John Philip Sousa, Mark Taylor [composer], Randall Thompson, Various Composers Title: God Bless The USA / U.S. Army Band & Chorus Rating: Release Date: 16 February, 1999 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: American Overture For Band 2: Testament Of Freedom 3: Official West Point March 4: Battle Hymn Of The Republic 5: Armed Forces Medley 6: God Bless The USA 7: American Salute 8: National Emblem March 9: America The Beautiful 10: Freedom Isn't Free 11: God Of Our Fathers 12: Stars And Stripes Forever

Customer Reviews A Very Solid Album The songs are all very patriotic, which can be taken in many different ways. I was very pleased with the US Army Band and Chorus compilation. For me it stirs feelings of well founded nationalism - a gratitude for complete freedom. The musicianship is outstanding, and who better to sing songs about our country that own United States Army. The CD quality is great and packaging is pleasing. I would highly recommend this album. Great Band, Mediocre Music These premiere bands of world class quality too often restrict themslves playing patriotic dribble! Instead of sticking to marches, and other standard band fare they too often perform pretencious music with embarrassing patriotic overtones. The music found on this CD represents a problem found with many of the US service bands today. One can be patriotic without having it hammered over your head like a lot of this music does. Also, the selections are odd because the music on this CD was not intended for commercial use in this way. The US Army Band in common with all US service bands produces free recordings for public use. What has been packaged here for sale is not a good example of that. Hence the different sound qaulity on some of the tracks, as well as the overall short duration of the CD. Less than 50 minutes total. A Fine Band Concert As a saxophonist with nearly thirty years' of concerts and parades under his belt, I can tell you that this is a fine and very enjoyable concert! The playing is outstanding, the men's chorus exactly as it should be, and the selection of music will be familiar to anyone who spent an evening under the stars listening to the local musicians play Sousa and other crowd-pleasing, but not hackneyed favorites as found on this album. This CD captures the spirit of that soon to be lost bit of authentic Americana--the band concert on the village green. The only flaw I detected is a change to the lyrics of the title song, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". In a bow to political correctness, the line "and I won't forget the MEN who died, to keep that right for me" was altered to a gender-neutered "the ONES who died. . . ". Let's face it--of the millions of American war-dead, only a small handful were female. Am I the last remaining American to understand that a man fights not because he wants to, but because he understands that it is his manly duty to fight? By neutering a "man" into a "one", to please the tender sensibilities of an academic feminist, we insult those men who gave their lives that their womenfolk, among others, might live in freedom. I say that stinks. The Army ought to know better. . You can see a complete list of all Edwin Eugene Bagley, Philip Egner, Morton Gould, Lee Greenwood, Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, G. S. Scofield, John Philip Sousa, Mark Taylor [composer], Randall Thompson, Various Composers discography, or go back to the Edwin Eugene Bagley, Philip Egner, Morton Gould, Lee Greenwood, Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, G. S. Scofield, John Philip Sousa, Mark Taylor [composer], Randall Thompson, Various Composers tabs