Jobie Reviews Music 164: Patriotic Music for All Occasions (album) by Various Military Bands*.

(partially requested by KyleReborn500: he only requested me to review "Battle Hymn of the Republic", but I decided to review the entire album instead)

Patriotic Music for All Occasions is a 2008 American patriotic music album by Various Military Bands*. It is 23 tracks long, encompassing 56 minutes and 31 seconds of music. The album certainly lives up to its name, containing performances of a large number of American classics. The song selection is through the roof, with various marches and other miscellaneous tunes being presented on the nearly hour-long patriotic album.

The album offers up a wide amount of variety, due to the aforementioned song selection being so expansive. Not only does this album contain excellent performances of well known patriotic staples such as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, but it also contains lesser known songs such as the bugle song “Reveille” and the somewhat popular march song “Auld Lang Syne”.

The various bands* that performed on the album did an excellent job of bringing these (sometimes hundreds of years old) tunes to life, with each track on the album clearly being performed by an experienced ensemble. Each element of the compositions that are contained on the album is executed greatly, with every instrument in play enhancing the patriotic nature of each track.

The album is certainly not without its surprises. Though most of the 23 tracks on the album are orchestral in nature, the last track, “America” (a cover of “America (My Country Tis’ of Thee”), is a suped up rock version of the patriotic classic, with well-executed vocals blending quite nicely with the great instrumentation contained on the track.

The album also contains the Lee Greenwood original “God Bless the U.S.A.”, modified to have more of an orchestral focus than the original and performed by an entirely different singer. The cover keeps the essence of the original while also building upon it, which is always the sign of a great cover.

My favorite tracks from the album are “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “Armed Forces Medley”, “Yankee Doodle”, “God Bless the USA”, “Lights Out”, and “America”.

Overall, Patriotic Music for All Occasions lives up to its name in an excellent way, defying expectations with its intriguing instrumentation and surprises that encompass the entirety of the patriotic hour-long album. The song selection is incredibly well thought out, with the inclusion of 23 patriotic songs that range from classic march tunes to reworks of American classics. Nothing worth complaining about here.

*FULL LIST: US Military Bands, US Army Band, US Marine Band, United States Air Force Band, US Air Force Heritage of America Band, United States Coast Guard Band, US Navy Band, Edwin Eugene Bagley, Edwin Franko Goldman, Kenneth Alford, Earl McCoy, John Philip Sousa.

Overall rating:

9.3/10

LINK TO ALBUM:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6HIYzSEWAV1J0kY6KAceOF