High School Salute

Album Review

The venerable British military marching (and horse-riding) band known as the Band of the Blues and Royals have made many tours of the U.S., apparently gaining an appreciation of American marching bands in the process, specifically, the bands that support high-school football teams. For this album, the Blues and Royals present their version of the kind of repertoire favored by such ensembles, a repertoire that of course has been infiltrated over the past few decades by pop songs and movie themes. Thus, the disc features marching band versions of songs like "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Billie Jean," and even some ballads, such as Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Elton John's "Your Song." And then there are familiar themes from Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The band even essays a medley of hits from High School Musical. Having thus established their versatility, the Blues and Royals end the album with some more conventional marching band fare, such as "The Stars and Stripes Forever." But even here, a sense of humor lurks, as it's impossible to hear "Liberty Bell" without being reminded of its use as the theme to Monty Python's Flying Circus. The Blues and Royals lose nothing of their dignity by acknowledging that their native country is known as much for the power ballad and the pratfall as it is for its queen.