Old Soviet Music is actually...pretty good!

Say what you want about the Soviet Union, but the Russian music produced in that era - particularly this style of what I would call folk music - is utterly fantastic, powerful, sweeping, epic, joyous, riveting, etc. The way it slows down and speeds up at certain parts, like in the song "Kalinka" (go to minute marker 6:56 to start that song) is very tasteful indeed.

What do you guys think of Soviet music? Despite the bad rep the Soviet Union rightfully deserves, I don't think we should condemn the music, even if some of the lyrics in Russian can be very propagandistic and distastefully ideological at times. The music itself is superb.

The most badass song is probably the Cossack one, starting at minute marker 24:00, followed by another foot-stomping, knee-slapping song about the Cossacks.

"The Hunt for Red October" is also at minute marker 51:36.

It better be good... or else.

Comrade Stalin shall make it good... or the choir children will die.
(did Stalin kill children?)

Katyusha I like to listen to when I am playing the Battle of Kursk in Battlefield 1942.

Say what you want about the Soviets, but they had great performances of the classic folk songs. Personally, this is one of the best performances of the Song of the Volga Boatsman I have ever heard:



Sorry about the quality, by the way. I couldn't find a higher quality version.

Originally Posted by Roma_Victrix

Say what you want about the Soviet Union, but the Russian music produced in that era - particularly this style of what I would call folk music - is utterly fantastic, powerful, sweeping, epic, joyous, riveting, etc.

This style of Soviet/Russian music is like the power metal of folk music. I don't think there's anything more uplifting than this in the genre. A powerful propagandistic instrument but also a very enjoyable one nevertheless.

Originally Posted by Condottiere 40K

Why not the ten hour version?



I think I have a brain bleed... though admitedly this level of madness makes me kind of curious about what looks like a fan service schlock anime...

Soviet music is very enjoyable, not only their folk music but also their military marches.

The partisan's song is also very powerfull.

Originally Posted by Lord Oda Nobunaga

Comrade Stalin shall make it good... or the choir children will die.
(did Stalin kill children?)

I don't think they were a big part of the Great Purge. Also, the rep comment you gave me was hysterical.

Originally Posted by Euphoric

Sorry about the quality, by the way. I couldn't find a higher quality version.

Poor quality or not, it was truly moving and overwhelming when the choir kicked in together. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Maximinus Thrax

This style of Soviet/Russian music is like the power metal of folk music.

Like the power metal of folk music...Lol...I wish I could rep you for this, but I cannot with my raised warning level.

Stav, y u no Pyotr Wrangel?

Check out Smuglyanka, it's great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24hYJueeQ0

This was one is probably my favorite.

But not seriously, their songs were pretty epic. I remember my insensitivity of playing the Soviet National Anthem on blast quite frequently while working at the American embassy in Prague. Those sweetheart Czechs were not fans .

Originally Posted by Captain Jin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24hYJueeQ0

This was one is probably my favorite.

But not seriously, their songs were pretty epic. I remember my insensitivity of playing the Soviet National Anthem on blast quite frequently while working at the American embassy in Prague. Those sweetheart Czechs were not fans .

I'm fairly certain a large percentage of Eastern Europeans who are not Russian and were born before 1985 dislike - if not despise - the more patriotic tunes in Soviet music. They probably conjure up a lot of bad memories.

Originally Posted by Captain Jin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24hYJueeQ0

This was one is probably my favorite.

But not seriously, their songs were pretty epic. I remember my insensitivity of playing the Soviet National Anthem on blast quite frequently while working at the American embassy in Prague. Those sweetheart Czechs were not fans .

The irony of it being blasted from the US embassy should have been enough to cause a few heart attacks.

Originally Posted by Stavroforos

The irony of it being blasted from the US embassy should have been enough to cause a few heart attacks.

Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.

I'm currently trying to learn to sing along to the Cossack song, which has the lyrics posted in this video:



I can speak some Russian, but trying to sing along at this pace is a different beast altogether. It is the hardest single endeavor I've ever undertaken in my entire life... ...but it sounds great.

I considered the option.

For something just as cutesy but far more somber, try the AMV in the signature.

Well I really like Vladimir Vysotski's songs, there are quite a few made into Finnish as well.





Of course the marching songs and songs by military bands are unique, very powerful and something you just can't not to like.



I have been listening to quite a few socialist protelarian propaganda songs too, but they are Finnish and I won't bother linking them here. The lyrics is what matters in them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPeriSAdum0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjINuMEuSKA

these 2 and the Volga boatmen are my favourites

Vladimir Vysotsky...tasteful choice right there. I remember seeing a movie about him (in Russian) while acting as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, and it struck me as being very much like the movies on Johnny Cash and Ray Charles produced recently in the States. It's apparently a wee bit controversial as a film in Russia, entitled Vysotsky. Thank You For Being Alive (2011), or in Russian, Высоцкий. Спасибо, что живой.

@Neoptolemos: the "Let's Go" song is truly a masterpiece, the rising and falling of its cadence as the song proceeds. It would sound excellent as background music for clandestine military operations in a film, if you think about it.

People shouldn't be too surprised that Russian music during the Soviet Union is so good, seeing how amazing and iconic Russian music was during the late Czarist era. For instance, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" or Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee," some of the most well-known Russian songs that any American would easily recognize but perhaps (some would) not realize were made by Russian composers: