"Lightning War"
Marc Roland | Minneapolis, MN USA | 01/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Of all the cover art featured on PzG's c.d. collection of original Third Reich music, none are more compelling than the image of a Hitler Youth drummer facing out beneath a single word, "Blitzkrieg".
The term, "lightning war", is usually applied to German Wehrmacht close coordination of armor, infantry and air-power in stunning an opponent, then moving on as quickly as possible to the next objective, thereby keeping the initiative always rolling forward, never giving the enemy a chance to breathe.
Although some conservative generals, after the war, claimed to have invented the Blitzkrieg, it actually emerged from Adolf Hitler's eye-witness experiences in the static attrition and four-year stalemate on the Western Front, during World War One. He vowed that Germany would never again be hamstrung by the kind of military inertia that cost the lives of two million of his comrades. His first Blitzkrieg was unleashed, not on Poland, but twenty years earlier, in the streets of Munich, where his Stormtroopers made up in ruthless attack what they lacked in numbers.
As such, the appearance on this c.d. of S.A. songs, "Flamme Empor" ("Rising Flames") and "Volk ans Gewehr" ("A People in Arms"), plus the S.S. anthem, "Wenn alle untreu werden" ("When all others are disloyal"), stem from the "Kampfzeit", that period from 1919 until 1933, when the National Socialists were battling for political power in Germany.
Some listeners may find equally unusual the inclusion of the Parade March of the Condor Legion, that group of German flyers who volunteered for duty against the Communists in Spain, from 1936 to 1939. Yet, it was there that the new Luftwaffe drew and lost its first blood against Stalin's Red Air Force, and nurtured those advanced tactics that served it so well in World War Two.
The famous "Desert Fox", celebrated in "Unser Rommel" , personified the Blitzkrieg. It is here here performed by his men, who sing, "We are the German Afrikakorps, the Fuehrer's irrepressible troops. We storm forward like the devil himself, scaring off the Tommies (the British). We're not afraid of the desert sand. Despite thirst and the burning sun, we march in step with our Rommel. Forward, forward, forward with our Rommel! The British fear us like the Plague. Although Churchill and Roosevelt are burning with rage against us, we throw the enemy out of every land. The drum beats a general march: `Forward with our Rommel!' With us, battle and victory are one and the same thing. We march along side the Italian armies. When once again the sun of peace shines on us, we'll go back to Germany. But if an enemy bullet finds us, then we'll be laid in peace under the desert sands, and listen once more to the drum-beat: `Forward with our Rommel!'"
This new c.d. is different than most in its genre, because it opens with a long medley of German military songs and marches, well orchestrated and performed by a large chorus. While selections such as "Erika", "Das Funkerlied" ("Song of the Radio Man"), and "Das Panzerlied" were Second World War favorites, "Drei Lilien" ("Three Lilies"), "Zehntausend Mann" ("Ten Thousand Men"), "In gruenen Wald" ("In the green woods"), and "Wohlan, die Zeit ist kommen" ("Well, the time is coming") are vintage World War One.
The Blitzkrieg was not confined to the land, as suggested by several Kriegsmarine songs featured here, including ""Ein Schifflein sah ich fahren" ("I saw a little ship sailing"), "Hamburg ist ein schoenes Staedchen" ("Hamburg is a beautiful city"), and "Heut' geht es an Bord" ("Today we go on board"). For all its success, the Blitzkrieg demanded a high price to pay in terms of human loss, as expressed in the Wehrmacht dirge, "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" ("I once had a comrade"), which mourns the death of those who made victory possible.
PzG's latest c.d. of the same name goes far to capture something of the spirit that motivated the remarkable times in which this haunting music was performed. - Marc Roland"
Missing March Music
Celso Martinez | Florida , USA | 03/20/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After careful listening i discovered that track 2 ends while still playing a song. Lili marleen, a love song from word war 2 should be next, I don't know why the maker of this album did NOT INCLUDE this beautiful song. Also track 6 ends while Schon bluh'n die heckenrosen is still playing. There is an album is sold in Amazon germany that includes lili Marleen.I translated the page to english and ordered the album. Here is the link http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00006JLLI/ref=oss_product
NOTE: This album(drei lilien) is POST war and not the third reich marches such as " Wenn Alle Untreu Werden" or "Unser Rommel".The album "drei lilien" Has LESS Marching songs compared to the BLITZKRIEG album. I like the blitzkrieg album for the quality of the sound, my suggestion is to download the missing songs somewhere else like ***U ****Tube."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1