Music Review: America's Favorite Patriotic Songs

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: A capella version of "My Country 'Tis of Thee"

Cons: Only one verse of "Star Spangled Banner," two original songs

The Bottom Line:

Patriotic songs

Many you already know

Sung well by a choir

Great Place to Start a Patriotic Music Collection

America's Favorite Patriotic Songs features full orchestra and choir on a majority of the best known and loved patriotic songs from our country's history. I'll admit I was a little leery of the choral part when I first picked it up, but I've found that, for the most part, it works really well.

It especially stands out on the a cappella version of "My Country 'Tis of Thee." It's absolutely stunning. After four years, it still gives me chills.

Another fun song is "This Land is Your Land," which I really wasn't familiar with before I bought this. I've heard it was originally a protest song, but here it is a celebration of landscape of America.

A personal recent favorite, "God Bless the USA," is also included. This Lee Greenwood classic works well with solos on the verses and the choir coming in on the chorus.

I love having the "Armed Forces Medley" on here. The songs of all branches, including the Coast Guard, are included, so this is a great way to learn these songs.

The disc closes with an instrumental arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever" with bits of the other songs included. I love that song and find this version toe tapping fun.

There are a couple missteps, however. The choral arrangements are a bit limiting at times and can all sound the same after a while. They have a basic arrangement that builds to a harmony climax at the end. Of course, this is also a plus since it allows the listener to sing along easily the very first time.

I've heard better versions of "The Star Spangled Banner." Part of this is because I am used to solo versions and hearing a choir do the entire thing seems weird. I have gotten used to this part of it, however. My biggest complaint is they only include one verse. I love the other verses of our national anthem, and wished they'd included at least one more since they included multiple verses of all the other songs.

Finally, there are two new songs. "If My People" and "God Save America," while fine songs, just don't seem to fit here. They certainly give away the fact that this CD was done by a Christian company. But for a collection of "America's Favorite" it seems like they could have found something else that people already know like the hymn "God of Our Fathers."

Overall, you can't go wrong with America's Favorite Patriotic Songs. This was the first CD I bought when I started trying to get some patriotic music in my collection and is still the one I pull out the most.

CD Length: 35:01

Tracks:

1. America, the Beautiful

2. God Bless America

3. This Land is Your Land

4. The Star Spangled Banner

5. Armed Forces Medley

6. My Country 'Tis of Thee

7. God Bless the USA

8. The Battle Hymn of the Republic

9. If My People

10. God Save America

11. The Stars and Stripes Forever Medley