Hear the dynamic spirit that once fused an entire continent
Marc Roland | 11/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"SS Schutzstaffel (PzG 300) will come as a surprise to listeners convinced Adolf Hitler's "Black Corps" was an entirely German affair. This latest CD goes a long way to show that the elite formations of the Third Reich sought to embody the National Socialist ethic of pan-European unity. This idea was articulated as long ago as the composition of Mein Kampf in 1924, but it was only with the author's campaign against the Soviet Union seventeen years later that it truly blossomed into material reality. This CD is proof of that transformation from the Fuehrer's written words to the colossal armies of volunteers his struggle attracted from every land in Europe.
Along with something as thoroughly German as the Revuemarsch des SS Regiments Deutschland is Hungary's Isazegi March, C'est le Lutt Finale of the French SS, Norway's Pa Vikingtog, the March of the 34th SS Netherlands Brigade, and Finland's Aseveikko. There is even"Comrades, the Voices" of the British Free Corps attached to the SS-Freiwiligen Panzer Grenadier Nordland, whose English volunteers repulsed Soviet attacks at the Oder River in the last days of the war.
The rarity of these recordings has made them particularly valuable to collectors of period music and historians intent on capturing the militant atmosphere of the times. Although these selections were first released before the middle of the last century, their reproduction quality is extraordinarily high, and doubtless benefited from modern re-mastering on a compact disk.
In any case, World War Two reinactors and researchers, music lovers, or anyone interested in the past will hear in these authentic recordings the dynamic spirit that once fused an entire continent into a single will."
I liked it
Charles F. Solie | Tennessee | 05/26/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It could use some more songs rather than just instrumentals. But what is there is good. You could here a couple of scratches but that was more than expected and give it character."
Heavy, but rousing
K. Stefan Jansson | 01/04/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I love this music. It's heavy and powerful, but rousing at the same time. It's "get up and go" music if there ever was such a thing."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1