The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - Spirit Of The Glen (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Modern Scottish music

Kurt A. Johnson | North-Central Illinois, USA | 01/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was formed in 1971, by the amalgamation of two earlier regiments (the Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards and The Royal Scots Greys). They are a crack armored regiment, equipped with Challenger 2 tanks, which saw action in the 1991 Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the recent invasion of Iraq. All this is to say that this is a real regiment of real soldiers. But, they are also real musicians.

This album is not just a collection of bagpipe tunes, but is instead a wonderful selection of wonderful, modern Scottish musical pieces. All of the tunes include bagpipes, which is considered by many to be THE Scottish musical instrument, but they are backed up by a many other instruments, including the keyboard and guitar.

Overall, I found the effect to be excellent, reminiscent of the more modern Scottish music I have heard at Scottish music festival. It has a more rounded sound that your older pipe-and-drum music, one that is sure to please anyone that likes ethnic music. I must say that I liked the selection of older and newer tunes, including Mull of Kintyre and Dances With Wolves.

I think that this is a great album, and I don't hesitate to recommend it to everyone!"

Was Hoping...

Ron | Jersey | 01/24/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I love the bagpipes and drums, so this album was right up my alley. The instruments are played flawlessly. The song choices are a nice mix of what you would expect from the bagpipes along with a few nice surprises. What I didn't enjoy was the vocals accompanying several of the songs. I personally would have proffered this to be an all instrumental album. But that is my own opinion and has nothing to do with the quality of the songs themselves."

Cannot Be Faulted - A Perfect Gift

Mark K. Mcdonough | Reston, VA USA | 01/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a casual celtic music fan, not an expert. But here's been my experience with recorded bagpipe music. You always think you want to hear bagpipes and bagpipes alone, but you don't. Live in full power, they're wonderful, but unaccompanied bagpipe music on the stereo will empty a room even faster than my collection of polka records.

What you really want is something like this: beautifully played bagpipes with other elements tastefully blended in. This collection of mostly mournful tunes includes everything from a symphony orchestra to voice to keyboards, but the bagpipes never get lost and the music is never sappy.

This would make a perfect gift for all your relatives who are not hardcore folkie purists, but would love something Scots-flavored to listen to now and then. In fact, I whipped it out of the box, and after 10 minutes my sister wanted a copy and my father said he was going to buy two for his brothers. And if only Grandma McDonough (nee Maxwell) were still with us, I'd get her a copy to enjoy with her Laphroaig."

A Wee Bit Overproduced

Caesar M. Warrington | Lansdowne, PA United States | 02/19/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I grabbed this when I saw it listed in the Amazon Vine newsletter; I love the mood and texture of the bagpipes and one would be hard pressed to find better bagpipers than the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

The opening rendition of "Amazing Grace" is simply beautiful. Same for their version of "Over the Hills and Far Away," which was a surprising and especial treat for a Sean Bean/Sharpe's Adventures fan like myself.

The CD, however, is not pure pipes and drums. There is an orchestra with flutes, cellos and violins involved here. And, to be honest, the slick orchestration and vocals on some of the tracks tend to detract from the beauty of the pipes, leaving the work with an almost new age sound.

"

Bagpipes are wonderful!

Michael Meredith | St. Louis, MO United States | 02/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Somewhere out there, there is a bagpipe ensemble that is just itching to record a collection of disco favorites. Fortunately, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is not it! With Spirit of the Glen they manage to stay true to the pipes' highland roots, even while touching other genres like Pachelbel and Stewart (as in Rod).

Spirit of the Glen is a masterful collection of traditional and modern that will have you researching your family tartan and wondering how you might look in a kilt. But even more so, it's wonderful music, beautifully played with excellent lyricism.

Actually, it's not that big a stretch for a bagpipe ensemble to borrow from Rod Stewart, given his Scottish roots and fondness for his home country. But the Dragoon Guards give Stewart's Sailing a plaintive soulfulness that rivals even Rod's recording. On the more traditional side, if Amazing Grace wasn't written solely for the pipes, it should have been. And the version offered here is one of the richest I've ever heard.

For the traditionalist, there's a Scottish Medley and Highland Cathedral. But the most memorable tune might well be Mull of Kintyre (written by some guy named Paul McCartney...) with vocal work by a wonderful tenor. For better or worse, that's been an aural tick in my head for a couple of weeks now.

That said, Pachelbel's Canon is just as boring when performed by bagpipes as violins (I know... for many people it's their favorite classical piece. I just happen to think it's boring).

One final aspect that I appreciate about the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is that these musicians are soldiers first and musicians second. They've served two tours in Iraq and have endured the same training as any other military unit. That's not always the case with top rank military ensembles. For example, members of the "President's Own" United States Marine Band are auditioned from the musical community at large, and then receive an abbreviated military training.

"

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