Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. A Life On The Ocean Wave – Band of the Royal Marines
2. Anchors Aweigh – Band of the Royal Marines
3. Heart Of Oak – Band of the Royal Marines
4. Hands Across The Sea – Band of the Royal Marines
5. Stars And Stripes Forever - Band of the Royal Marines
6. Semper Fidelis March – Band of the Royal Marines
7. Washington Post – Band of the Royal Marines
8. Hail To The Spirit Of Liberty – Band of the Royal Marines
9. Warship – Band of the Royal Marines
10. The Battle Of Trafalgar – Band of the Royal Marines
11. The Garb Of Old Gaul - Musicains from The Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards
12. Men Of Harlech Musicains from The Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards
13. National Emblem – March Musicains from The Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards
14. Gathering Of The Clans - The Band of the Scots Guards
15. Birdcage Walk - The Band of the Scots Guards
16. Lilliburlero - The Band of the Scots Guards
17. Golden Spurs - The Band of the Scots Guards
18. Flower Of Scotland – The Regimental Band, Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
19. Mull Of Kintyre – The Regimental Band, Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
20. Medley - Scotland The Brave / The Black Bear – The Regimental Band, Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Disc 2:

1. Royal Air Force March Past – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
2. 633 Squadron - The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
3. The Dambusters March – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
4. Aces High – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
5. The Battle Of Britain – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
6. Crown Imperial (Coronation March) – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
7. Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
8. Evening Hymn, Last Post And Sunset – The Central Band of the Royal Airforce
9. Old Comrades – The Grenadier Guards
10. Duke Of York Slow March – The Grenadier Guards
11. Blaze Away – The Grenadier Guards
12. Colonel Bogey – The Grenadier Guards
13. Radetzky March Op 228 – The Grenadier Guards
14. Liberty Bell – The Grenadier Guards
15. Amazing Grace – The Regimental Band, Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
16. Light Of Foot – Band of the Royal Hussars
17. God Bless The Prince Of Wales - Band of the Royal Hussars
18. Holyrood – Band of the Gordon Highlanders
19. Army Of The Nile - Band of the Gordon Highlanders
20. The Standard Of St George - Band of the Gordon Highlanders

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2891 in Music
• Released on: 2005-05-02
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

It may be unfashionable, but you'll like it
I would guess that most people these days, upon seeing this album in the listings, would opine that the marketing department at EMI must be scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with this for their "Best...In The World...Ever" series. Fans of band music will shun it for its pick-and-mix composition, and everyone else will not give it a second thought.

Unfashionable it may be, but there is nothing quite like the raw power and stirring sound of a military band playing live, unadulterated by electronics and amplification, and, while it is almost impossible to transfer this energy satisfactorily to record, to simply ignore it is to miss out on some blistering tunes and harmonies, and great music overall, and I would argue that there's a place in everybody's collection for at least one CD such as this.

Most of the famous marches from the likes of Sousa and Kenneth Alford are included, together with some pieces from 1960s/70s film and TV series; you may not recognise all the titles, but I'm sure you'll know the tunes when you hear them. Quite topically there's also a 12-minute suite of nautical themes to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar. And of course it wouldn't be complete without the genre's finest (commercial) moment, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards' "Amazing Grace". (Five weeks at No 1 - those were the days.)

As you will see from the tracklisting various bands are represented and, quite apart from the obvious pipes and drums, each has quite a different sound - for example, the Band of the Royal Marines sounds quite sharp and brisk, the Central Band of the RAF is warmer in tone and slightly more stately in rhythm. Recording dates also vary, even those of the same band, and this does not exactly help to give consistency of sound level and tone. However, only the four tracks from the Band of the Scots Guards, which date from 1955, really show any age.

This collection is great as a sampler, and to dip into now and again - I appreciate that not many people will listen to all two hours ten minutes of it straight through. Just now and then, stick it on, turn the volume up, and blow a few aural cobwebs away.