Dark Tranquillity Album: “Here Come the Polka Heroe”

I recently picked up this cd at a local store in Denver just to try it out. Although there were some interesting choices of repertoire and musicians (leading off with Wanda and Stephanie didn't exactly encourage me to continue listening!) I was pleasantly surprised at the mix of musical styles and overall level of playing. I particularly enjoyed "Zivio Slovenci" by The Al Meixner Trio- which had a unique blend of a driving Cleveland- Slovenian beat, solid accordion work and tight 3 part harmonies.... If there are any other CDs out by this group in specific I'd definitely recommend checking them out... Besides that John Gora and Gorale, the Polka Quads and Eric Knoltkamper turn in some great contemporary American polka performances, next to classic cuts by Happy Louie and Markic and Zagger.

How many "various artists" CDs produce consistently top-notch performances and sound quality from beginning to end? Only Cleveland International seems able to pull this off. There's not a bad track in the works, despite the large track count (27). The Cleveland-Slovenian polka style ROCKS! If I had to pick favorites, I guess I'd choose Eddie Rodick, Frank Stanger, Fritz, Gary Seibert, and a couple of others, but this list doesn't do justice to the ones I left out. This CD, along with its predecessor, Volume 1, are also the LOUDEST discs I have ever heard. If you play them on a changer, you'll have to adjust the volume between this recording and the others in your collection -- unless you want this one to blast out, to impress your friends. Impressing people is easy with performances like these.

I only bought this for the song, "Not Supposed to Polka," after I heard it on the radio. I don't pretend to be a polka expert, but thought that the rest of the songs were great, too. It's just a lot of fun. It's also one incredibly loud CD! How did they master it that loud without distortion?