Jobie Reviews Music 12: The Best of The Red Army Choir (album) by The Red Army Choir. Requested by F
- ChemicalSkylines
- Mar 7, 2021
- 4 min read
The Best of The Red Army Choir is a 32 track album of music by - well, the Red Army Choir. This review is gonna be lengthy as hell, so get ready for this shit.
The album opens with the banger track, “Kalinka”. Has very fast paced parts to it, and overall has great composition. The song is about the snowball tree.
“Little red berry, red berry, red berry of mine!
In the garden (there is) a berry - little raspberry, raspberry of mine!
Ah, under the pine, the green one,
Lay me down to sleep,
Oh-swing, sway, Oh-swing, sway,
Lay me down to sleep.”
Nice track.
“Partisan’s Song” supposedly refers to a battle in Primyore. Nice track.
“Souliko” is a song about someone finding their loved one. It has a melancholic feel to it, and I’m not entirely sure why. Nice track.
“Korobeiniki” is a song about , well to quote Wikipedia, “...the story of a meeting between a peddler and a girl, describing their haggling over goods in a metaphor for courtship.” Fun fact about this song: This is actually the A-Type tetris theme.
“On the Road (A Soldier’s Song)” is another good song.
“My Country” is a song about Russia and everything great about it. Nice track.
“The Red Army is the Strongest” is basically a song about the Russian army being the strongest. Basically, Russia best. Good track.
“Moscow Nights” is a song about..probably Moscow at night, I’m not sure. I can’t find any information regarding the lyrics of this song. But it is a good song!
“Along Perestroika Street” is a song that’s supposedly political in nature (information is dodgy online, no real reliable sources). Good song.
“Smuglianka” is a love song about trying to get a female partisan (this was written during the Russian Civil War) to date the singer, but this is unsuccessful, and instead she tries to get the singer to join the ranks. Take this information lightly though, as not a many sources are cited on the Wikipedia page.
“Troika Galop” is basically a song about horse carriages and shit. Good track.
“Ah Nastassia” is a song about...I’m not really certain. Google the lyrics for yourself and try to figure them out, I don’t know. Good track.
“Echelon’s Song” is a song dedicated to Voroshilov. The song is composed to reflect that of a locomotive. Nice track. “My Army” is of course about the soviet army, very patriotic indeed. Nice track. “Civil War Songs” seems to be more of a combination of songs rather than one song, hence the name. Good track.
“Bella Ciao” is a song about freedom and anti-fascism (at least the not partisan version is). Good track.
“National Anthem of the USSR” needs no explanation. It’s the national anthem of the fucking USSR. It’s a classic! Good track.
“Oh Fields, My Fields” is a track about a guy who leaves home to protect his homeland from enemies. Another good track, indeed.
“The Cliff” is about - a cliff. No, really! The song describes a cliff on the Volga. Despite this, the song manages to be musically interesting.
“The Cossacks” is a song about some cossack people trying to get away from a village (or rather some people trying to get THEM away from a village) good track.
“In the Central Steppes” is about the region of Russia. Nice track.
“Gandzia” is about a man desperate to be in love with a girl, but he cannot get with her. At the end of the song, he says he’s rather be dead than not be loved by said girl. Good track.
“Cossack’s Song” is supposedly about the place of the same name. Good track.
“The Roads” is a WWII songs about things one might’ve experienced during that era. Good track.
“Song of the Volga Boatmen” is a song about moving trees and shit. Was sung by barge-haulers on the Volga River in the 1860s. Good track.
“Dark Eyes” is a yet another Russian love song. Nice track.
“Let’s Go” is another patriotic Russian song. Again, nice song.
“The Birch Tree” is about birch trees. Supposedly, birch trees represent spring, light, and beauty in Russian culture, and are a very important symbol of Russian culture. Good track.
“The Road Song” is about - well, I can’t actually find information on this one. Mainly because Roads (an entirely different song) is prominent in search results. Still a good track.
Not entirely sure what “The Samovars” is about either, but it might be about the container of the same name. Good track.
“Varchavianka” is a (originally Polish) socialist revolutionary song about rising up and utterly destroying everything in order to reign victorious. Good track, once again.
And finally, “Slavery And Suffering” is a song that takes lines from the poem “The Last Farewell” by Chernyshev. It was written as the writer had contracted tuberculosis while in prison. Good track.
Overall rating: The Red Army Choir manages to deliver a patriotic soviet sound with their 32 track album The Best of the Red Army Choir. Throughout its over 2 hour run time, we get to hear Soviet ballads, adaptations of other songs, and more. Listen to this album for a unique experience - and quite a lengthy one. 8.7/10
Link to album:
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