The package lists nine tracks on the disc. But in reality there are eight. The first six are renditions of Amazing Grace, followed by a vocal of Barefootin' and an eleven minute instrumental that I could not identify. The six Graces are as listed on the package: traditional, bagpipes, vocal, flute, steel band, and ragtime.
All eight tracks are good recordings of good perfomances, and almost all done on a good, sampling synthesizer. The two vocals must be real. The lead on the flute track sounds real also, due to the breathing and transitions. And the steel drums kept me guessing. But there was nothing real about those bagpipes.
This disc does not include the actual recording of actual bagpipes that we heard as we pulled the actual halyards that raised the actual sails. That, of course, was what I had in mind when I bought it. I suspect this is due to a matter of copyrights. Curiously, there is no copyright notice anywhere on either the disc or its package. Under modern law, I believe it is protected anyway. But this is very unusual for a commercial recording. Also noticably missing is any reference to either BMI or ASCAP.
I suspect that Windjammer could not get any reasonable license to publish the same recording that they use on their ships. Perhaps they commissioned these recordings to be made for them in an effort to satisfy passengers' demands. If so, I'd say they did a pretty good job of it. But those ain't no bagpipes!
Peter Midnight, 1998