I may be mis-rememberng, but I believe that this was released on LP in the late '50s as one of the very first stereo records released by Capitol Records. It was phenominal then. It remains so.

The recording quality is as good as analog tape ever gets. The trombones snarl, the picolos are shrill enough to send your dog howling. The huge ensemble spreads out all across the end of my listening room. I could wish for a bit deeper bass, but otherwise, this is still one very fine recording, technically.

The ensemble is huge, but they play almost like one. You'll have to look a long way for Sousa, or military marches, played anywhere near as well.

It is always difficult to find the "best" military CD but it is an excellent one. I agree with some critics that the bands are unknown but that does not mean that it is a bad recording. On the contrary, it is a very good recording better than some "well known" band. The orchestration is good, the sound is excellent, it is well played and the quality of recording is excellent too. So, it is a good choice.

There are a lot of march CDs like this out there. Random collections of music put together on one record or CD. Sousa in particular has inspired lots of these potporri collections. All the standards are here, the top 10 Sousa greats that we hear over and over again. Sousa wrote close to 140 marches, but from collections like this you would not think he composed more than 10 or 15! Also, as a serious military band listener I like to know who is performing the music. This band is unkown, like so many produced in this fashion. The recording quality is also not that great. Buy this CD if you want the top 10 hits of Sousa along with a few other standards, and if you are not too particular about who plays the music and you don't mind a lack of linear notes. Otherwise there are other much better Sousa and patriotic collections out there. Try seaching for the US Army Band or US Marine band, Air Force, Navy bands, etc. These are real ensembles who will provide great versions of this music.