Which country's do you think sounds best? My vote goes to the Soviet Union/Russian anthem for the most uplifting tune, whereas Fiji is right at the bottom of my list for sounding horribly annoying.
Sweden's Du Gamla Du Fria is quite nice, especially the metal version by the Black Ingvars.
Peru and Germany
Saudi Arabia's is really jazzy!
I must say Japan's is pretty distinctive. You gotta give them credit for sticking to their imperial court traditions with this one. most Country's national anthems are lame marches.
Another one that's got a nice ring is Mongolia's:
http://david.national-anthems.net/mn.htm
And I gotta say, the US's is hard to sing, but it sure has presence, nothing beats an old drinking song!
The defunct Ottoman Empire's one up to 1861 was pretty kick-ass too:
http://david.national-anthems.net/ote.htm
Kurdistan's is just silly:
http://david.national-anthems.net/krd.htm
The illegal Tibetan Anthem is awesome, I think:
http://david.national-anthems.net/tib.htm
And I guess you can't beat the EU's Bechtoven "ode to joy", although it's a little tame. They could have picked something more badass, like number 5 or something.
Mexico's isn't bad as the whole march thing goes, it almost sounds like Rossini:
http://david.national-anthems.net/mx.htm
Bhutan's is nice:
http://david.national-anthems.net/bt.htm
Kenya's isn't bad as the African one's go, I think it's my favorite:
France has the bloodiest.
http://david.national-anthems.net/fr.htm
>>5
Actually, the tune for Japan's anthem was composed by an European. Can't remember if it was a German or a Brit though.
>>8
The first melody was composed by a British guy, Fenton which was discarded in 1876 because it wasn't popular.
In 1880, a new melody was composed by Yoshiisa Oku and Akimori Hayashi. Franz von Eckert then applied western-style harmony to that melody. But the tune is definitely Japanese, and the lyrics are based off of an old Heian-era Waka.
It's also nice because it's so short.
Soviet Union's was great, and so is the french one!