Battle Royal - Woody Herman & Charlie Barnet Orchestras/Stan Kenton (The)

Advantages: Great songs - wonderful, popular tunes
Disadvantages: A few songs aren't as good as the others

...of Paganini's violin pieces, the one that found fame as the theme to LWT's 'The South Band Show'. This is really lovely; it has a great tune and great orchestra accompaniment to the main tune on piano. It is so calming and soothing - great for relaxing - absolutely wonderful. 15. Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout" - fourth movement (06:58) This piece, played by Boris Berezovsky on piano as well as soloists of the Royal Opera house, Covent Gardens, is taken from the song written by Schubert in 1817 which tells the story of a trout's losing battle against a man. It is in the structure of theme and variations. Each variation has different instrumentation, with each instrument playing the main tune in at least one of the variations. The variations also change keys and have changing tempo. In the fourth variation the tune is lost... Read review

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Advantages: Great jazz tunes from the Golden Age
Disadvantages: None

...Parker. Doggin' Around, is another By Royal Appointment tune, this time from the orchestra of Count Basie. A rather lush, full sound, perhaps a little less avant-garde than Duke Ellington? Out of Nowhere by Coleman Hawkins makes use of jazz guitar (many of the jazz bands didn't) but this, combined with the other "traditional" instruments make for a satisfying jazz classic. Eventually Jango Rhinehart, the Gypsy/Roma jazz guitarist would change all that… Lester Young's Sad Eyes, is a no-nonsense jazz piece, with more than a nod to the Blues. Moving, firm piano, which moves round a central theme, soon joined by the other instruments to show how to make Sad Eyes glad again. Whose Honey Are You, by Fats Waller and his Rhythm starts with a smattering of scat singing, and then uses piano, rhythm, and jazz guitar to back a song sung by man asking... Read review

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Advantages: A top quality orchestra playing Meat Loaf, great back or foreground music
Disadvantages: As predicted, some of the songs aren't full length.

...This CD is just what it claims to be, classic Meaty favourites performed by a full blown orchestra (I didn't know there was a piano in an orchestra, but there is in this one {there may even be a guitar but I can't remember}). The songs are performed to the highest quality and are instantly recognisable (assuming you know the original of course). This album is full of tracks spanning Bat 1 right up to Welcome to the Neighbourhood, and although epics like "I'd do anything for love" have been cut down to under 6 minutes, you get good value for money. I bought my copy on ebay for £4, but would have happily paid double now I've heard it. It'll be great background music for cocktail parties or anything that needs jazzing up, and I particularly enjoy listening to it as I drift to sleep at night...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful