"What would have been an otherwise exciting and stirring recording recalling all the pomp and circumstance of the French Military is completely ruined by loud crackling and popping in some of the tracks. In fact, the first time I listened to this CD (full of excited anticipation), I was in my car travelling down the interstate behind a truck which I thought was throwing gravel up on my windshield. It wasn't--it was the CD. I firmly believe that Amazon.com should contact the producer of this recording and demand that it be done over properly."
Quality vs Recording
Richard P Marsden | Scottsdale, Arizona United States | 08/04/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"While the music was indeed stirring, suitably imperious, and full of French martial pride, the recording was of a rather poor quality. The brass instruments sounded off key and very "tin" like. In the background I could hear what sounded like a static which reminded me of a record player. It was as if the CD had just been a direct copy from an old slightly worn out vinyl record. The poor recording quality makes listening enjoyment difficult. The music is great but the recording quality will most likely grate upon the ears. Timeless, good, stirring music loses its effect when accompanied by "fft..skip...ffft..skip...fft.""
Save your money
Peter L Reader | Portland, OR USA | 02/27/2004
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I was severely disappointed in this recording. I love military music of all kinds, but the unnamed group or groups on this recording failed to present this music adequately. On most tracks, the percussion was so loud that it was hard to hear the brass and winds, which was probably a good thing in a way in that both sections displayed serious problems with intonation and rhythmic integrity. From now on, I think I'll stick with recordings by groups which aren't unwilling to put their names on them."
The absolute worst CD ever.
Michael J. Taylor | Hamilton, Ontario Canada | 10/31/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"DO NOT BUY.
This is a waste of money. It must have been recorded with a paper bag held over a single microphone. Absolute garbage.
Amazon should be ashamed of selling this."
The record must have been better
Stephen Rosenstein | East Central Tennessee | 04/19/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"It is obvious that whoever produced this record did so by dubbing an old vinyl version onto CD. There was no effort even use a good quality original or to clean up the noise. One track has so much hissing, popping and surface noise you can barely hear the music. From the sound of the band(s) I would guess the original was made somewhere in the 50's or 60's. Also, the varied quality suggests it was sourced from several different records. I have quite an extensive collection of military music and would date the original to that period. The boominess of the drums is because French military bands (and I believe this is such) have a very full percussion section. The reason the drums sound so overdone and the upper brass are tinny is because the whole recording is overmodulated. Again, I have many CD recordings of old analog originals, but this was made by somebody without professional equipment or production technique."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1