The Bandits:
Tomas Kalnoky-guitar/vocals
Nick Afflitto-trumpet
Marcy Ciuffreda-cello
Jamie Egan-trombone
Rachel Goldstein-viola/vocals
Layton Hayes-piano
Achilles Kalnoky-violin
Paul Lowndes-drums
Chris Paszik-upright bass
Mark Rendeiro-french horn
Dan Ross-bari/alto sax
Pete Sibilia-tenor sax
Shane Thomson-congas/timbales
Natalia Ushak-vocals
1-Intro: This is a Call to Arms- This is nice intro that brings you into everything.
Rating:4/5
2-Here's to Life- This is For those of you who are Streetlight fans know this song. But for those of you who dont know, it is BOTAR song. This original is slower (yet still pretty quick), and is quite different from the SM cover. For one its about 30 seconds longers. In a few places there are string features and piano solos as opposed to horn solos/breakdowns. The SM also lacks the presence of a female voice which adds a nice touch to the BOTAR version.
Rating:5/5
3-Dear Sergio- Here is yet another familiar song for you Keasbey Nights era Catch 22 fans. This is an excellent cover. Again, slower yet still pretty quick. Although the original was really good, it was meant to have a string section.
Rating 5/5
4-It's a Wonderful Life- Starts off with a nice string/french horn ditty, then goes into a light melody with the horns and strings. This is a relatively serious song about appreciating life and war, but the instrumentation really lightens the mood/overtone of the song.
Rating:5/5
5-They Provide The Paint For The Picture-Perfect Masterpiece That You Will Paint On The Insides Of Your Eyelids- Yeah, thats really the title. Heres another song with war overtones. (Catch the pattern? "Bandits of the Acoustic
Revolution", "A Call to Arms", song dealing with war.) Theres a really sweet guitar breakdown in the middle that speeds up the song, then goes back into the melody.
Overall:
This is a unqiue album. All fans of ska, jazz, classical music should really check this out, a definate must have for the music collection. Nothing bad can be said about this other than its only 5 songs. Rating: 5/5
This cd has been out of print for sometime, but here's a link for all of the songs (courtesy of Zappa): [url]http://skachilles.com/music/botar/[/url]
