Pope Francis Releasing Rock Album

You heard right. The 266th man to bear the title, Pope Francis is going to be releasing a rock n' roll album.

This does not come entirely as a surprise however, considering the fact that it has been uncovered in recent years that the Holy Father was at one point a metal head. The Pope's album’s overall sound will range from prog rock to Gregorian chant. As for the lyrical content (which will be in English, Spanish, and Portuguese) the message will feature uplifting pieces of wisdom from the Pope’s speeches as well as some of his favorite hymns.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, the album's producer Don Giulio Neroni says:

"For many years, I’ve been the producer and the artistic director of albums by the Pope. I had the honor to work with John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis… As in the past, for this album too, I tried to be strongly faithful to the pastoral and personality of Pope Francis: the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality. For this reason, the voice of Pope Francis in Wake Up! dialogues music. And contemporary music (rock, pop, Latin etc.) dialogues with the Christian tradition of sacred hymns."

Personally I'm quite interested to hear this album despite the fact that I'm not even Catholic. The single Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward! (which can be listened to here) actually rocks. I dig the blend of heavy rock music with bits of melodic horns. If the rest of the album is anything like that I may actually go out and pick up a copy of it.