Abramo
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Pope Francis Made a Wacky Prog Rock Album

11.29.15

Yes, the current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church just released a delightfully strange prog rock-inspired album, presumably to connect with the world’s youth.
Last year, prior to his much-ballyhooed popemobile tour of America, Pope Francis delivered a fiery speech at the International Drug Enforcement Conference in Rome. Despite peeving America’s conservatives with his more progressive views on climate change, gun control, and—to a degree—homosexuality, the white-robed capo di tutti capi of the Roman Catholic Church is more Reefer Madness than Dazed and Confused when it comes to the Devil’s Lettuce.
“The scourge of drug use continues to spread inexorably, fed by a deplorable commerce which transcends national and continental borders,” Pope Francis declared. “Attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called ‘recreational drugs’ are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce desired effects.”
Perhaps the 266th Pope should’ve made a stop-off in Colorado on his Serfin’ USA tour, where the economy has flourished thanks to legalized weed, but regardless, it’s more than a little strange that one of the world’s premier hallucinogen-shamers just dropped a trippy, experimental prog rock/pop album that all but requires drug accompaniment.
The pontiff’s Wake Up!, not to be confused with the excellent (and diametrically opposed) Rage Against the Machine song of the same name, was released by the imprint Believe Digital on Nov. 27, and is being pushed by the PR company Girlie Action—which typically represents indie acts like Cut Copy and My Morning Jacket. They also rep Pussy Riot, which is pretty damn ironic given how the punk rebels were thrown in the slammer. And, since the Pope knows better than to compete with popular music’s titans, his debut LP comes sandwiched between the blockbuster releases of Adele’s 25, which sold an unreal 3.38 million in its first week stateside, and Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams. We could collect the tears produced by these two releases and end the drought in California.
Then again, if you’re expecting a Christian album that’ll have you hands-up-and-weeping like those late-night Prosperity Cloth commercials, Wake Up! isn’t it. From the swirling ’80s synths of opening track “Annuntio Vobis Gaudium Magnum!”—the intro to the Habemus Papam!, naturally—it’s clear that this enterprise is going to be one weird mindf*ck. And those synths soon give way to ethereal Gregorian chants and snippets from Pope Francis’s speeches.

Full article:
www.thedailybeast.com/…/pope-francis-s-…
St Turibio Romo
Indeed, a terrible chastisement.
Abramo
Imitating the world will not bring any fruits. We have done it already for so long. Those who want the world prefer the original to the copy.
Uncle Joe
Brilliant! It doesn't get any better. I've been humming it all day. 🙄