Search - 101 Strings :: Soul of Greece

Doesn't feel authentic.

B. Whitt | Columbus, GA USA | 08/28/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The music on this CD is nicely arranged and played, but it sounds too orchestrated! To be fair, it is performed by the 101 Strings Orchestra and it wasn't misrepresented in the write-up. But I was looking for music with a folksy feel like you might hear at a cafe in Greece, and this is not it."

Real bouzoukis on a string orchestra pillow.

simnia | snowy bayou country, USA | 04/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for string orchestrated, romanticized versions of popular Greek songs, this is a good album. This version of "Never on Sunday" beats Percy Faith's overly cute, string orchestrated version on his "Tara's Theme" album (1961), since this version has real bouzoukis in it and also the full intro. Most of these songs do have bouzoukis, without which they wouldn't sound very Greek. A few songs here like "Athens By Night" have vocals, but most are instrumental. Many of these melodies will be recognizable to anyone who collects American pop Greek song albums, especially "Hassaposer Vico" and all the songs on the last half of the CD. I'm not sure how many of these songs are authentic Greek songs; "Zorba the Greek" and "Never On Sunday" of course are modern American pop songs from movie soundtracks, written in a Greek style. This album cover used to show a nice old photo of a bouzouki; I'm not sure why they changed it. If you're in the U.S.A. looking for authentic Greek folk music without strings, you'd be better off checking out stores that specialize in international music, or the stores in Tarpon Springs, Florida."