Customer Reviews

University of Michigan Band - Revelli

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

 

 

Excellent symphonic band arrangements of some great favorites. These college kids are remarkable players. My only criticism is that some of the arrangements seem to make these marches into Broadway showstoppers and take excessive liberties with the original scores. Good audio quality for a recording made at the beginning of the digital era.

I bought this record when it first came out. My father and I used to listen to it on the way to Football games. The songs are performed by U of M's concert band, not their marching band, so the sound is even more incredible. If you ever hear commercials with fight songs in the background, this is their source!! My record is long been scratched so now I'm getting it on CD. Best when listened to on saturday mornings.

It would be very difficult to match these arrangements. Each is a jewel. The percussions make the difference, or is it the brass, or is it the wood winds.......

I bought this CD in order to replace its older vinyl version for company on a treadmill. For that purpose, the tempos are terrific.

The recording contains symphonic arrangements of college fight songs and is outstanding. Of course, you can't go wrong with any of the collections done by U of M bands.

First of all this recording is the Michigan Symphony Band. I am not sure about this but I believe this was recorded live at Carnegie Hall. This band is probably the wordls greatest band. There are several world class bands, Eastmen Wind Ensemble, Sousa's Band, the Goldman Band, and a few other college bands, but in my opinion the Michigan Symphony Band is the best. All the Big Ten schools concert bands are excellent. This group is just superior to the rest. If you don't believe me check out the original LP recording which had reviews on the back after this performance. Any one who can't tell this band is extrodinary has no ear for music. I love the arrangements but I can understand how some might not like them. These are symphonic arrangements of the fight songs. If you expect to hear arrangements that you might hear at the game while you drink a beer and eat a hot dog this is probably not for you. No matter what you think of the arrangements the band is incedible. Anyone who loves the sound of a great concert band should enjoy this.

It doesn't get any better than this! The University of Michigan band, recognized for excellence throughout the world, playing the fight songs of the "Big Ten" universities is a must for every alumni and fan of these institutions. Play this CD every Saturday morning during the season, and you're "psyched" and ready for the game!

If the University of Michigan band performed everything here with the zest and gusto they put into their own fight song, "Hail To The Victors," we'd have had a fantastic album. As it is, that's the only song in this collection that is truly up to Saturday afternoon football tradition. The others are very politely performed as if they were recorded during a senior day program in a gymnasium where the players were doing everything possible to make sure they didn't make any mistakes. They lack the rollicking, go for the throat zeal bands have when the home team just scored to take the lead from their arch-rival.

This recording has been around for years; I've owned it in both the LP and cassette versions. I was hopeful another Big 10 band would put together a collection like this that had more brio. Sadly, the U-M collection seems to be the only game in town for Big 10 fans. This comes in an expanded version -- Fight On: The Greatest College Fight Songs -- that also includes newer Big 10 teams Nebraska and Penn State. It also comes in a third rendition -- 41 Great College Footbal Victory Songs.

This collection has fine sound with good depth and, occasionally, the U-M band almost captures the passion of another school's song. But this doesn't happen very often and, most of the time, it is a professional production done somewhat generically. The best alternative, to date, is the Florida State production of Touchdown: Favorite College Fight Songs which is done with more enthusiasm and grit but isn't recorded as well. Though it has more than 30 tracks, a lot of favorites are left off Florida's collection including On Wisconsin from the Big 10. So the perfect Big 10 fight song collection still awaits recording.

Although the concert band in Ann Arbor puts in a yoeman-like performance, the arrangements are just awful. UM's band always seems to fumble the ball when it comes to arranging the fight songs of other teams in the Big Ten, and that tendency shows through on this album. At least the concert band doesn't "jump-march" during their performance, so there isn't that annoying drop in tone, tenor and constancy every two beats, like there is at live performances.
With any luck, maybe the University of Illinois - the nation's best band - will put out a comparable CD. Once they play even an opposing team's fight song, they own it...no questions asked.

Hahaha - who thought an amazon.com review list could turn into a college rivalry? Well, maybe once the Ohio State bands develop a 100 year reputation equal to U of M bands, they can release some great CDs of their own!

As for the CD, it sounds fantastic! Listen to these people, "Oh they screwed up all the arrangements--it doesn't sound like it does when my crappy marching band full of hung-over college kids was splatting it out in the stadium when I was drunk on Saturday afternoon!" Good Lord. Just.... Good Lord. You wouldn't know good arrangements, music, or musicianship if it slapped you in the face.

This recording has been around for years. While I generally respect Jerry Bilik as an arranger, his style falls flat when applied to fight songs. You wind up with altered rhythms, strange combinations of instruments (such as sousaphones and piccolos) carrying the lead and so forth. It sounds like a concert band trying to take artistic license with fight songs, and it just doesn't work. As a former college marching band member, I find this recording leaving me uninspired. The musicianship is exemplary, but the end product isn't what I expected.