A LULLABY FOR MANKIND

Se here we have Rodrigo San Martín's fourth album in four years. What first drew me to this album was the weirdness of the concept, something about the cloning of Jesus that I still can't figure out.

Rodrigo's compositional skills are growing and he's surrounded himself with an all-star team to record this one.

01 A Lullaby for Mankind I (Intro): just like the title implies it's an instrumental intro to the album, featuring many of the motifs that would appear later. The Hammond Organ solo steals the show in my opinion!

02 A Lullaby for Mankind II: now the music goes into a -kind of- pop terrain, featuring the singing of Jelena Perisic who sounds like a mother singing to her child to get him to sleep over some acoustic guitar. The composition reminds me of Neal Morse.

03 The Sky Falls Down I: Osvaldo Mellace, a great male singer, makes his appearance for this one bringing a lot more energy. If I have to compare it with something I would name the heavy section in 5/8 on Thick as a Brick. Great guitar work!

04 The Masterplan: here we have some lovely melodies sung by Osvaldo over a guitar arpeggio. The melodic bass lines from Robert Lynch are fantastic. The second part of the track is a crescendo with beautiful harmonies from the two singers that leads to...

05 Intermission I: something completely unexpected. A jazzy instrumental piece with an amazing piano solo, this one is nice but feels quite out of place actually.

06 The Dark Ages: this is a heavy piece more familiar with what we have been hearing from Rodrigo on past albums. The best part is the "hindu" cut where Jelena sings with a sitar, in the middle of heavy riffing, that was unexpected. Fernando Refay shows some amazing skills with a very long synth solo at the end of the track.

07 Colonization: and we continue with the surprises. Here we have a flamenco tune sung mostly in spanish. Great spanish guitar work from Rodrigo and Piano from Fernando. Osvaldo proves he's an amazing singer once more.

08 Intermission II: nothing like the first Intermission, this one is used to bring the energy back to the mix. Featuring Hammond and guitar solos over a cool riff.

09 A Lullaby for Mankind III: Jelena comes back with the motif from A Lullaby for Mankind II that leads straight into the repetition of the crescendo that appeared on The Masterplan, this time with acoustic guitar and what I guess it's a xylophone that sounds lovely. They don't interfere with the build up this time and resolve it in an amazing guitar solo that kind of reminds me of the ending of Con Los Ojos Abiertos (from Rodrigo's Eyes album)

10 Two Children are Born: here we have a piano riff quite resemblant to Tubular Bells playing over some Pink Floyd-like sound effects. The rest of the band appears briefly to shock you everytime you feel comfortable enough to relax, be warned!

11 He's Here: Osvaldo and Jelena sing over a clean guitar riff that remids me of Transatlantic's Evermore. The lyrics start to get weirder here, the chorus (sung by the two of them) being "We have cloned our lord, he's here!".

12 No One Knew: every single song in here is quite a surprise but I never thought I'd hear something like this on a Rodrigo San Martín album. The verse is a (kind of)funky bass line over a drum loop and the chorus features an orchestra, there's quite a contrast between the two. Maybe it owes something to Blackfield?

13 Mass: things are getting weirder by the minute. This one is a gregorian chant piece in latin, sung very operatically by Canela Sol. After the vocal section there is a reprise of the Colonization verse, this time played by a very Wakeman-like moog over a church organ.

14 The Sky Falls Down II: a reprise of the track of the same name, this time sung by Jelena instead of Osvaldo. Cool heavy guitar solo and, another jazzy section with a great solo by Refay.

15 For Everyone to See: this is an odd little waltz. The music seems very naive but the lyrics are quite crude actually.

16 We Will Drown in a Sea of Ignorance Until We Evolve Into Something That Can Turn It To Oxygen I: great hammond riffing reminds us of the late Jon Lord.

17 We Will Drown in a Sea of Ignorance Until We Evolve Into Something That Can Turn It To Oxygen II: and here comes the Crimson King, at first at least. This track is a duel between Refay's keyboards and San Martín's guitar, playing over a the great rhythm section of Lynch- Black.

18 Coda: a very melancholic guitar solo playing over the piano theme from "Two Chlidren are Born" close the album as it fades out.

I rate the album four stars because of it's constant surprised to the listener and amazing musicianship. It's free on Rodrigo's bandcamp so give it a try!