Customer Reviews

Total Balalaika Show

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Im-possible'. - Oliver Hardy
On TOTAL BALALAIKA SHOW, recorded live at Senate Square, Helsinki 12.6.1993 before 70 000 people, we have a Finnish Rock'n Roll group ('The worst in the world') - Leningrad Cowboys - perform together with one of the most famous and magnificent choruses in the world - The Red Army Ensemble!
Two nations and more kinds of music ("It's only Rock'n Roll", "Just a Gigolo (I ain't got nobody)", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Kalinka", "Stairway to heaven", ...), fused together into an unforgettable whole. The message was there. It was simply larger than life. Happy together!

Absolutely brilliant ! You will love every minute of this amazing double CD, the heavy Russian accents will bring a smile to the face as they sing things like "California Girls" and the Chorus to "Stairway to heaven"! May i also suggest you get hold of the DVD too which conveys the whole atmosphere of the evening , complete with some lovely traditional Russian Folk dancing between the pop numbers. Typically the CD is expensive but they do show up from time to time at lower prices, get one now Comrade and you "vill enjoy" !!

I'm not a concert film guy, but this is still one of the coolest things that I've ever seen. A potential culture clash that comes together in a a wonderful display of empathy and mutual respect ...with some great music to bind it together. I've always liked eastern-euro roken-roll (Red Elvises et al)so this was really up my alley. I firmly believe every 10th person should have a copy.

I first heard this many years ago from a Finnish friend and eventually purchased it during a visit to Finland. The concept of the album is great: the audacity of wacky/cheesy comic-rockers Leningrad Cowboys putting together a concert with the Red Army choir and the amazing fact the they could pull it together, presumably in the cash-strapped wake of the collapsed Soviet Union. Most of the music is good too; it certainly is a thrill to hear the large choir on "It's only rock 'n' roll" and "Sweet home Alabama." The traditional Russion folk segments are also good. However, it does get a little tired after a while, in part due to the fact that the lead singer of the Cowboys is not really very good, and in part due to the fluffy nature of some of the material, like "Happy together." I would have been satisfied with a single CD of the best material. But all in all, it's a lot of fun.

Take a Finnish cover band, started as a joke, add one highly-acclaimed 160+ member Russian chorus, and set them loose on Rock'n'Roll classics. The result is awesome. Also very, very weird. Don't let the oddness fool you, though, the music is actually good. The Red Army Ensemble is, as always, technically flawless, and deliver a strength and power to the light-hearted covers which is truly stirring.

I have enjoyed the Red Army Ensemble for years, and had to buy this CD after watching the concert DVD of the Total Balalaika Show. I'm very pleased with it.