Pope Francis Is Actually Releasing A Rock Album

He premiered his first track with 'Rolling Stone.'

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Pope Francis is on a historic visit to the United States, currently taking in New York City as evidenced by all the Pope traffic. The 266th Pope of the Catholic Church is about to make another historical contribution with the release of his debut album, Wake Up!, this November. Announced this morning on Rolling Stonethe 11-track album will deliver sacred hymns and excerpts from his most moving speeches in Italian, Spanish, English and Portuguese. His debut track titled "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward" features both horns and guitars swelling into an instrumental build before spoken lyrics taken from a speech he gave in South Korea last year begin to play.

For the album, the Pope tapped prog veteran Tony Pagliuca who composed "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!" and several other tracks on the LP. "In the '70s, 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," Pagliuca told Rolling Stone. "During the years, I also made an important journey of faith. When Don Giulio Neroni 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." 

Listen to "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward" below. The album will be released simultaneously worldwide Nov. 27 but you can pre-order the album on iTunes and receive the debut single instantly.

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