Anthology

by

The Royal Guardsmen

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Remember that odd, little collection of songs about Snoopy, the Peanuts' dog? Yep, the Royal Guardsmen. And, this collection gathers those, naturally. But, thankfully, it showcases their airplane themed songs, as well as hitting a few other numbers that deserved being included.

The Snoopy themed songs are back again to give a grin, like in the past. "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron," "The Return Of The Red Baron," "Snoopy For President," "The Smallest Astronaut," and "Snoopy's Christmas" are on here.

Purists may want to take one note. And, it's this one note that prevented me from giving this CD 5 stars. One of the Snoopy cuts, "Snoopy For President," has its first line edited. The words "in 68" have apparently been removed because it's no longer 1968. An odd edit that destroys the meter of the first line somewhat. My only complaint at all with the collection.

Two overlooked, for the most part, numbers are gratefully added. The nicely hopeful and uplifting ballad of the "Biplane Evermore," and "Mother, Where's Your Daughter?" The last one is a vast departure from what is expected of the Guardsmen, but, don't write it off! A wonderfully poignant essay, designed for the times, but applicable today, about what one says versus what one does, and the possible consequences.

So, all in all, get it!

I waited a long time for a compilation of the Royal Guardsmen's work and, boy, was this a disappointment! All of the tracks from the Snoopy and His Friends LP are muddy sounding. Return of the Red Baron has an entire channel missing which cuts out all of the sound effects and the intro is chopped off. Snoopy for President has two words edited out of the opening line, making it sound like a record that skipped while it was playing! Also, the compilation is not exactly perfect either, as lame covers of sixties classics like I'm A Man (which the Guardsmen cannot do justice to) and So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star (which they do as an instrumental! ) are included over tracks like So Right (to be in love) and It Kinda Looks Like Christmas. Someone needs to do another compilation like this and make some improvements.