Pope Francis To Release Prog-Inspired Album ‘Wake Up!’

Popemania has taken over the U.S. this week as his holiness visits NYC as part of a trip that also features stops in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Pope Francis’s visit comes as Rolling Stone shares the surprising news that “His Holiness will spread his message of hope, faith and unity in the form of a prog-rock-infused album titled Wake Up! this November.” This is not a joke, Wake Up! has been approved by the Vatican and is due November 27 with an iTunes pre-order available now.

So what is the Pope’s album all about? The collaboration with Believe Digital “features the Pontiff delivering sacred hymns and excerpts of his most moving speeches in multiple languages paired with uplifting musical accompaniment ranging from pop-rock to Gregorian chant,” as per Rolling Stone. Take a listen to a sample from the new LP:

Wake Up! features 11 tracks some of which we’re composed by musician Tony Pagliuca. “In the Seventies, I founded the prog-rock band Le Orme and topped the charts, toured Italy and U.K. and had the chance to collaborate with international artists like Peter Hammil and David Jackson (Van Der Graaf Generator). During the years, I also made an important journey of faith. When Don Giulio Neroni (producer and artistic director of the project) asked me to collaborate on this CD, I immediately accepted with enthusiasm. Putting my music in the service of the words and the voice of Pope Francis has been a fantastic experience and a very interesting artistic challenge,” Pagliuca told Rolling Stone.

“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,” producer Neroni revealed to Rolling Stone. “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.”