"This CD contains 27 orchestral snippets (average length 81 sec.) of many of the world's great national anthems. And that is the disappointment. Too short and contains no lyrics whatsoever of any of the anthems (for example the Stars Spangled Banner (USA) is 92 seconds long and contains none of the words - just band music).As for the band music itself I would rate it as okay. Sort of the quality one would expect from a decent college marching band at half time. Each anthem begins with a corny little drum roll (as if to say, "Listen up everyone, this is the part of the program where we stand up and take of our hats") and then walks through enough of each anthem to provide the listener with the basic melodies - which are often very pretty and uplifting. One gets a taste of these great songs but not much more.You will have to look elsewhere if you want to hear the full-length versions of these national anthems the way the people of their respective countries would actually play (and sing) them. I don't recommend the CD for much of anything except perhaps as background music at some patriotic function."
Very Good CD
Robert Vreugde | 08/13/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a good CD to get if you like national anthems. This CD was produced in 1992, so former countries like Czechoslovakia are still on it."
Wrong composer for romania's
DJ2813 | 02/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"composer for romania's anthem on this CD's NOT Matei Socor.
Matei Socor composed romania's anthem used during 1953-1977
but certainly not this one (namely the "Three Colours")on this CD. please correct it and prevent confusions"
Not reliable, but...
DJ2813 | 01/08/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Waltzing Matilda certainly isn't the national anthem of australia, but speaking as an australian it is a much better, much more australian song than advance australia fair and SHOULD be the national anthem. Granted, it's an inexcuseable mistake but personally it makes the purchase a better one"
All anthems have very poor audio quality.
DJDave | San Diego, CA | 08/10/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"The poor audio quality of the recorded anthems makes this CD unusable for public events and personal listening. The highs are are not clean and the mids and lows are missing. Each anthem is performed so much like the next one that the unique flavors of each does not come through."